No Time to Lose: Solutions to Increase COVID-19 Vaccinations in the States
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing on COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration.
Find more details here.
Wednesday, February 3
Road to Recovery – Ramping Up COVID-19 Vaccines, Testing, and Medical Supply Chain
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on the federal government’s handling of COVID-19 vaccine development, testing and the medical supply chain.
Find more details here.
Congress
Rep. Underwood Reintroduces Bill Enhancing ACA Credits
On Jan. 19, Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) reintroduced legislation to expand and enhance the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) tax credits, also included in President Biden’s health reform agenda. The Health Care Affordability Act of 2021 would increase the generosity of the existing tax credits for consumers earning up to 400 percent of
To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog:
On January 28, 2021, Norris Cochran, the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), amended the Declaration Under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act for Medical Countermeasures Against COVID-19 (PREP Act Declaration) in order to address the need to expand the pool of COVID-19 vaccinators to increase access to COVID-19 vaccinations. As background, the PREP Act (42 U.S.C. § 247d-6d) authorizes the secretary of HHS to issue a declaration to immunize certain individuals including “qualified persons” and entities (Covered Persons) against any claim of loss related to “Covered Countermeasures.” Former Secretary Alex Azar issued his initial COVID-19 PREP Act Declaration on March 10, 2020.
Some states could vaccinate their seniors twice as fast as others, CNN analysis finds
From CNN s Deidre McPhillips
Some states could fully vaccinate their 65-and-older population within two months, but it could take more than twice as long for others, a CNN analysis found.
If individuals age 65 and older were the only people being vaccinated, Alaska could fully vaccinate its seniors – with both shots of the two-dose regimen – within 43 days. In Iowa, Hawaii, Idaho and Florida, it could take more than 130 days, or more than four months.
The analysis considered the total senior population in each state, along with the average pace of vaccine administration over the past seven days, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Friday, January 29, 2021
On January 28, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Fifth Amendment to HHS’s Declaration under the Public Health Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) that provides liability immunity to certain individuals and entities arising from the manufacturing, distribution, administration or use of medical countermeasures (e.g., therapeutics and vaccines) against COVID-19.
According to HHS, the new Secretary of HHS “has determined that there is an urgent need to expand the pool of available COVID-19 vaccinators in order to respond effectively to the pandemic.” Accordingly, the Fifth Amendment to the PREP Act Declaration expands the pool of eligible vaccinators in two ways:
While one site that posted the claims acknowledged that it was intended to mock the sharing of falsehoods, others have shared the fake label seriously.