Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Program Offering Free Covid Shots For The Needy Has Run Out Of Money
As updated coronavirus vaccines hit U.S. pharmacy shelves, adults without health insurance are discovering the shots are no longer free, instead costing up to $200. The federal Bridge Access Program covering the cost of coronavirus vaccines for uninsured and underinsured people ran out of funding. Now, Americans with low incomes are weighing whether they can afford to shore up immunity against an unpredictable virus that is no longer a public health emergency but continues to cause long-term complications and hospitalizations and kill tens of thousands of people a year. (Nirappil, 9/3)
The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized an updated version of the protein-based Novavax Covid-19 vaccine for use in people 12 and up. Doses could be available by the end of [this] week. Novavax’s vaccine is based on protein technology, which takes longer to manufacture than mRNA vaccines like those made by Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna. Protein-based vaccines work by getting the body’s immune system to recognize small modified pieces of the virus it’s targeting. In this case, that means pieces of the coronavirus spike protein. (Hassan, 8/30)
Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 detections are still at the very high level and are highest in the South. Though levels are dropping in the West, they are rising in the South, Midwest, and Northeast, the CDC said. (Schnirring, 8/30)
The summer surge of the coronavirus subvariants nicknamed FLiRT has given way to ever more contagious strains, a key reason behind the current high levels of COVID in California and nationwide. And doctors and scientists are keeping an eye on yet another subvariant — XEC — that could surpass the latest hyperinfectious subvariant, KP.3.1.1, now thought to be the most common nationwide. XEC was first detected in Germany and has since seized the attention of doctors and scientists worldwide. (Lin II, 8/30)
Also —
People taking the key component of blockbuster weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy were less likely to die of Covid-19 or suffer adverse effects from the virus, researchers found in a new study. (Reid, 9/2)
