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| Presented By PhRMA |
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| Axios Vitals |
| By Tina Reed ·Oct 14, 2021 |
| Good morning, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 801 words or a 3-minute read. 🎙 Listen up: The Axios Today podcast caught up with Axios' Caitlin Owens to talk about COVID-19 boosters ahead of a key FDA advisory panel meeting today. |
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| 1 big thing: Moderna has become the world's vaccine boogeyman |
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| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios |
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| Moderna is under fire for not doing enough to vaccinate the world, particularly low-income countries — and the Biden administration is being criticized for not doing enough to force Moderna's hand, Axios' Caitlin Owens writes. Why it matters: Low-income countries are desperate for more vaccine, and experts warn that higher levels of global spread will increase the likelihood of a vaccine-resistant variant emerging. Driving the news: A top Biden official publicly threatened Moderna on Wednesday with more aggressive government action if it doesn't voluntarily provide enough vaccines to the global initiative COVAX at not-for-profit prices. - "Do not underestimate the resolve of the United States government in addressing these issues," David Kessler, the chief science officer of the Biden administration's COVID-19 response, said at an event yesterday.
State of play: Moderna has been supplying its vaccine almost exclusively to wealthy nations, the New York Times reported over the weekend. - Pfizer, on the other hand, has agreed to sell its vaccine at a low price to the U.S. government to donate to lower-income countries.
- Activists speaking on the panel said that it's time for the federal government to give up on Moderna voluntarily taking action, and to take much more aggressive steps to increase global vaccine capacity.
- A group of Democratic lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, wrote a letter to the Biden administration yesterday with a similar message, the Washington Post reports.
What they're saying: "We are committed to doubling our manufacturing and expanding supply even further until our vaccine is no longer needed in low-income countries," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel recently wrote in a letter. |
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| 2. New COVID cases down, but the West is at risk |
 Data: N.Y. Times; Cartogram: Kavya Beheraj/Axios For the first time in months, the U.S. is averaging fewer than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, Axios' Sam Baker writes. - Nationwide, the U.S. is averaging 91,000 new cases per day — a 19% drop over the past two weeks.
- Yes, but: The virus is still killing over 1,900 Americans per day, on average.
Details: Alaska has the biggest outbreak in the U.S., relative to its population, with 113 cases per 100,000 people. - The virus' strongest foothold is in the West and upper Midwest. Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Idaho, Utah, Minnesota and Wisconsin are among the states with the most cases per capita.
- Hawaii and Connecticut are the states with the lowest caseloads, each with an average of just 12 cases per 100,000 people.
What's next: Areas with relatively high case rates and relatively low vaccination rates will remain at risk for localized outbreaks throughout the winter. - Nationwide, however, the U.S. may finally be close to containing the virus, which would save lives and make interventions like mask mandates less necessary.
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| 3. Big raises for CEOs of the big Blues plans |
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| Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images |
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| The CEOs of several Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance companies received significant pay raises and bonuses in 2020, Axios' Bob Herman writes, citing an analysis by AIS Health. Why it matters: The not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers keep executive compensation more hidden than publicly traded insurers. And the data show pay increased during the pandemic, as insurers retained higher profits due to people delaying care. By the numbers: The highest-paid CEO of a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan last year was Daniel Loepp, who made $11.5 million, but that was down almost 5% from 2019. - Craig Samitt of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota had the highest year-over-year increase (109%), making $3.4 million.
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| A message from PhRMA |
| Bringing the VA system to Medicare could hurt patients' access |
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| Congress is considering a plan that would tie medicine prices in Medicare to those in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This misguided approach is the latest in a series of government price-setting proposals that threaten patients' access to medicines and future innovation. Learn more. |
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| 4. WHO names new advisory group on COVID origins |
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| The P4 laboratory (center) at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images |
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| The World Health Organization named 26 scientists to a new advisory board that will study the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, Axios' Bryan Walsh reports. What to watch: Notably, the new panel will be charged with looking beyond COVID-19 and examining the origins of any new emerging diseases to come — what the WHO refers to generally as "Disease X." - Flashback: The original — and now-disbanded — WHO investigative team came under criticism for dismissing a lab leak as "extremely unlikely" in its report published earlier this year.
- "The millions who have died from COVID-19 "are owed answers as to where and how the virus originated," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus co-wrote in an editorial published Wednesday in Science.
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| 5. U.S. hits grim record ... again |
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| Photo: Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images |
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| The CDC recorded over 96,000 deaths from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending in March 2021, Axios' Noah Garfinkel reports from provisional data released Wednesday. - It's a nearly 30% jump over the preceding 12 months and coincides with the first year of the pandemic, when stay-at-home orders radically changed daily life for most Americans.
- It comes just a few months after the CDC reported that drug overdoses had hit a high in 2020.
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| 6. Catch up quick |
- Pfizer will use a warranty to refund the cost of a lung cancer drug if it doesn't work. (STAT)
- Aetna is being sued over its "mystery re-pricing program." (Modern Healthcare)
- A drugmaker backed by the company that owns Marlboro cigarettes plans to launch the world's first plant-based COVID-19 vaccine. (Business Insider)
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| A message from PhRMA |
| Bringing the VA system to Medicare could hurt patients' access |
| |
 |
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| Congress is considering a plan that would tie medicine prices in Medicare to those in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This misguided approach is the latest in a series of government price-setting proposals that threaten patients' access to medicines and future innovation. Learn more. |
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