About Covid-19
U.S. reports more than 1,000 COVID deaths in single day: ”The United States reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, equating to around 42 fatalities an hour, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant continues to ravage parts of the country with low vaccination rates.
Coronavirus-related deaths have spiked in the United States over the past month and are averaging 769 per day, the highest since mid-April, according to the Reuters tally.”
Biden administration to start offering vaccine booster shots to all Americans Sept. 20: “The plan, which applies only to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, calls for all Americans to get a booster shot eight months after receiving their second doses. The officials said they expect a booster shot will be needed for people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but they are still reviewing data and will announce plans at a later date.”
Most Americans support requiring masks in public places, yet few report experiencing actual employer or government mandates: “Two-thirds (64%) support their state or local government requiring masks to be worn in all public places.
However, there are significant partisan differences, with the vast majority of Democrats (88%) and less than half of Republicans (40%) in favor of state or local mask mandates.
Support for state and local mask requirements also varies based on where people live, with those living in urban areas (71%) being more supportive than those who live in rural areas (49%).
Despite this strong support for mask requirements, only a third (33%) say that their state or local government has required masks to be worn in all public places in the last few weeks.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has sought to ban mask mandates in schools, tests positive for the coronavirus: He was vaccinated and is apparently asymptomatic. The positive test was part of regular screening. The problem is he does not wear a mask when in large groups.
What’s safe to do during summer’s Covid surge? STAT asked public health experts about their own plans: Interesting responses about their own preferences. The one unanimous reply was that: “None of 27 people who answered this question expressed a willingness to send an unvaccinated child to school without a mask.” The bar graph is a quick look at responses.
Vaccines show declining effectiveness against infection overall but strong protection against hospitalization amid delta variant: “Three studies published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that protection against the coronavirus from vaccines declined in the midsummer months when the more contagious delta variant rose to dominance in the United States.
At the same time, protection against hospitalization was strong for weeks after vaccination, indicating the shots will generate immune fighters that stave off the worst effects of the virus and its current variations.”
UK authorises Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax for adolescents: “The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Tuesday extended the conditional authorisation for Moderna's mRNA COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax, allowing it to be given to 12- to 17-year-olds in Great Britain.”
About pharma
Walgreens Launches Industry-First myWalgreens Credit Card Program – The Credit Card That Pays Well to Stay Well®: The card offers customers discounts and cash rewards on purchases at Walgreens stores. Wonder why the company did not take this action sooner.
FDA new drug applications to cost more than $3M in 2022: “Starting in 2022, drugmakers filing new drug applications with clinical data will have to pay the FDA $3.1 million.
The FDA's fee for new drugs with clinical data has risen from a little more than $2 million in 2017 to $3.1 million in 2022.
The 2022 fee for FDA approval applications not requiring clinical data will be about $1.6 million in 2022, which is about $200,000 more than the previous two years.”
About health insurance
Association of Race and Ethnicity and Medicare Program Type With Ambulatory Care Access and Quality Measures: “Medicare Advantage, compared with traditional Medicare, was significantly associated with better outcomes for ambulatory care access and quality among minority beneficiaries, but minority beneficiaries nonetheless experienced worse outcomes for most of these measures compared with other beneficiaries within both Medicare programs.”
Higher and Faster Growing Spending Per Medicare Advantage Enrollee Adds to Medicare's Solvency and Affordability Challenges: “Medicare spending for Medicare Advantage enrollees was $321 higher per person in 2019 than if enrollees had instead been covered by traditional Medicare. The Medicare Advantage spending amount includes the cost of extra benefits, funded by rebates, not available to traditional Medicare beneficiaries.
The higher Medicare spending per Medicare Advantage enrollee, compared to spending for similar beneficiaries under traditional Medicare, contributed an estimated $7 billion in additional spending in 2019.
Growth in Medicare Advantage enrollment explains half of the projected increase in total Medicare Advantage spending between 2021 and 2029 and half is attributable to growth in Medicare payments per Medicare Advantage enrollee, after accounting for inflation.”
Evaluation of Clinical and Economic Outcomes Following Implementation of a Medicare Pay-for-Performance Program for Surgical Procedures: “The findings of this study suggest that the pay-for-performance program was associated with improvement on several dimensions of surgical care, including small reductions in surgical site infection and length of stay, and moderate reductions in hospital costs.”