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| Presented By PhRMA |
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| Axios Vitals |
| By Tina Reed · Jul 13, 2022 |
| Good morning, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 1,083 words, or a 4-minute read. 💻 Tune in: Join me and Axios' Alayna Treene tomorrow at 12:30pm ET for a virtual event examining the implications of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Register here. |
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| 1 big thing: White House begins booster push chasing BA.5 subvariant |
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| Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios |
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| The U.S. is facing a summertime wave of COVID-19. But some public health experts worry the Biden administration is tiptoeing around the problem, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim and Oriana Gonzalez report. What's happening: The White House COVID-19 team on Tuesday outlined a strategy for managing the subvariant, and officials urged eligible people to get booster shots now instead of waiting for the fall. Yes, but: The administration stopped short of expanding eligibility for boosters, which are now limited to people 50 and older and immunocompromised individuals ages 12 and up. - Federal officials are weighing whether to broaden eligibility to all adults within the next two weeks, per the Washington Post, but want to avoid conflicts with a planned fall vaccination campaign built around vaccines updated for Omicron subvariants.
- Some health experts question whether it's wise to give frequent booster doses to the general population, pointing to possible health risks and how the strategy could mislead the public about what vaccines can and can't do.
Some public health experts are calling for a reboot in the administration's response. - Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, is among those seeking updated CDC guidance, writing on Twitter that the agency still says two vaccine doses is "fully vaccinated" and that infected people need to isolate for five days when that's the median length of infectiousness.
- Dartmouth public health policy fellow Anne Sosin said strategies should include a campaign to deliver boosters to places people live and work, targeted efforts to reach high-risk groups and consistent messaging to make the case for boosting.
What we're watching: Whether an invigorated booster campaign cuts through months of public apathy and confusion and primes the nation for potentially more COVID-19 waves this fall. Go deeper. |
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| 2. Poll: Abortion bans' influence |
 Data: Axios/Generation Lab; Chart: Nicki Camberg/Axios More than six in 10 young women — and five in 10 young men — say states' individual abortion laws will influence where they choose to live, Oriana writes about a new Generation Lab/Axios poll. Why it matters: The survey's findings suggest that abortion bans may significantly impact where Americans ages 18-29 are willing to attend college, move for work or build families. What they're saying: "The fact that people are going to change where they live based on something like this tells you how important they think it is," said Generation Lab's Cyrus Beschloss. - 58% of young men and women combined said a state's abortion laws would influence their decision on where to live "somewhat" or "a lot."
- Democrats (67%) were nearly twice as likely as Republicans (36%) to say so.
- Some survey respondents also suggested these restrictions could make them more selective about their sexual partners (29% of young women vs. 24% of young men); how often they have sex (32% vs. 23%); and increase their use of various birth control measures.
The intrigue: Half of male respondents said they'd be "very" or "somewhat" likely to take oral contraceptives if they become available and are approved by the FDA. |
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| 3. FTC commits to enforcing privacy laws |
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| Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios |
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| The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday reaffirmed it would protect consumers who share sensitive health information or location data with mobile apps or websites, threatening to use federal privacy laws against companies that exploit personal data, Axios' Arielle Dreher writes. Why it matters: Following the demise of Roe v. Wade, some consumers began deleting apps and tightening their digital footprints, fearing data could be used to investigate potential violations of state abortion bans. - The Supreme Court has by and large not included data privacy in its interpretation of the right to privacy, Axios' Margaret Harding McGill and Ashley Gold write, and that could pave the way for location or search history to be used in criminal investigations.
- The FTC can enforce federal privacy laws and penalize companies that mislead consumers.
But, but, but: Data brokers are already collecting hundreds if not thousands of data points from users' online activity. - For example, Facebook's advertising tool collected reproductive health data from crisis pregnancy center websites, including "whether a person was considering abortion or looking to get a pregnancy test or emergency contraceptives," a Reveal investigation found.
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| A message from PhRMA |
| What's fueling inflation? |
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| Not prescription drugs — and the presidential administration's economic data proves it. The proof: Overall inflation surged by 8.6% since May 2021 while prices for medicines grew less than 2%, even before factoring in the discounts insurers receive. Find out more. |
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| 4. Progress against superbugs stalled |
| The threat of antimicrobial-resistant infections worsened during the first year of the pandemic, according to a new report from the CDC. The big picture: As the COVID virus bogged down the health system, other priorities such as effective infection control and antibiotic stewardship went out the window. By the numbers: Antimicrobial-resistant hospital-onset infections and deaths overall grew 15% from 2019 to 2020. - That included increases in carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter (CRE), a 32% increase in multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa – and a 13% increase in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections.
- Yes, but: Clostridioides difficile, better known as C. diff, is the only health care-associated pathogen that didn't account for more infections in 2020.
- More than 29,400 people died from antimicrobial-resistant infections commonly associated with health care settings in 2020. Nearly 40% got the infection while they were in the hospital.
What they're saying: "This setback can and must be temporary. The COVID-19 pandemic has unmistakably shown us that antimicrobial resistance will not stop if we let down our guard; there is no time to waste," said Michael Craig, director of CDC's Antibiotic Resistance Coordination and Strategy Unit. |
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| 5. Having a baby is pricey |
 Data: Kaiser Family Foundation; Chart: Axios Visuals The cost of having a baby in the U.S. is nearly $19,000, per a new Kaiser Family Foundation report. - That translates to almost $3,000 in out-of-pocket costs on average for women insured by large group plans, the report said.
Zoom in: Estimates often look specifically at the costs of a baby delivery, but this report looks at the total, including wraparound services that come with pregnancy. By the numbers: The researchers looked at claims from the IBM MarketScan Encounter Database for enrollees in large employer private health plans from 2018 through 2020. - Pregnancies resulting in a vaginal delivery costs about $14,768, or about $2,655 out of pocket for women.
- Pregnancies ending in C-sections cost an average of $26,280, or $3,214 in added expenses compared to women of the same age who do not give birth.
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| 6. Catch up quick |
| 💊 The world of long COVID treatments has become a wild west of sorts with bizarre and sometimes "dangerous" offerings for desperate patients. (the Independent) 🏛 The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it has established a task force to identify ways for the federal government to protect abortion access now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. (Axios) 🥧 In a new podcast, Bloomberg breaks down the fundamental problem with how health professionals tell people to lose weight — and why calories aren't all created equal. (Bloomberg) |
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| A message from PhRMA |
| The real root of inflation |
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| Some policymakers are blaming the cost of prescription medicines for the rise of inflation to build support for harmful policies. What you need to know: Medication affordability is key, but the fact is that prescription drugs are not fueling inflation. Learn what drives up costs for patients. |
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 | | Why stop here? Let's go Pro. | | |
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