Will covid be on anyone’s radar this summer?

Covid will still be here this summer. Will anyone care?

This summer is shaping up to be the first without federal pressure to limit covid transmission and little data to declare whether a surge is occurring, our colleagues Fenit Nirappil and Sabrina Malhi report.

The Biden administration doesn’t talk much about covid anymore, except for the president’s criticism, when campaigning, of his predecessor’s handling of the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t either, save for sporadic updates on data and variant tracking.

For now, covid activity is low nationally, the agency said Friday. The number of Americans dying of the disease is less than half what it was a year ago, with a death toll around 2,000 in April. However, hospitals recently stopped reporting confirmed cases — ending the most commonly cited metric for measuring the virus’s toll.

Health authorities continue to promote the coronavirus vaccine, last updated in fall 2023 for a subvariant no longer in circulation, as the best form of protection against the disease. But just 23 percent of adults have received a dose of the latest vaccine, according to CDC estimates.

Covid recently returned to the headlines following the rise of new variants dubbed “FLiRT.” Leading the pack of those variants in the United States is KP. 2, accounting for 28 percent of all infections as of early May, according to the CDC.

Experts say the existing vaccine formula should still confer protection against severe illness from the FLiRT variants. People 65 and older qualify for a second dose, but only 7 percent have received two shots.

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration are scheduled to meet next week to recommend the composition of the coronavirus vaccine to be released in the fall to protect against the latest variants.

But people without health insurance will no longer qualify for free vaccines under the CDC’s Bridge Access Program, which ends in August after providing more than 1.4 million free shots. Funding for the program ran out, and efforts to establish a broader national program offering free vaccines for adults have languished on Capitol Hill.

• These days, free tests are also hard to come by, and people are no longer being advised to isolate themselves for five days after testing positive.

The downside: “If a wave materializes this summer, we’re less poised to navigate the rough waters,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, an epidemiologist and long-covid researcher at the Veterans Affairs health-care system in St. Louis.

As a result, we’re left with a virus that continues to hum in the background as an ever-present pathogen and sporadic killer. In all, the covid pandemic wiped out nearly a decade of progress in improving global life expectancy, dropping by 1.8 years to 71.4 years from 2019 to 2021, according to a new report by the World Health Organization.

Talks to prevent the next global pandemic stall

Member countries of the WHO are shifting gears in their efforts to enhance global readiness for future infectious-disease outbreaks like covid-19.

Key context: The U.N. health agency shelved plans for a first-ever pandemic agreement on Friday after more than two years of negotiations failed to resolve disagreements between wealthy countries and developing nations. Some of the primary sticking points revolve around access to critical information about new threats that may emerge, as well as the vaccines and treatments that could contain them when demand skyrockets.

Next steps: The WHO’s decision-making body kicked off its annual convention in Geneva yesterday, which will continue through the end of this week. Experts say the best opportunity to address pandemic preparedness at the event now lies in proposed changes to the WHO’s International Health Regulations, Jamey Keaten reports for the Associated Press.

• Amendments would urge countries to boost their alert, detection and containment capacities and cooperate internationally. One proposal would grant the WHO director general the authority to declare a “pandemic emergency.”

NIH appoints watchdog to monitor political interference

The National Institutes of Health has appointed an official to identify political meddling within the agency and will soon establish a scientific integrity council to review those cases, Politico’s Erin Schumaker reports.

This move comes amid concerns within the Biden administration that former president Donald Trump could push an ideological agenda at NIH if he clinches another term in the White House this November.

The details: NIH designated Lyric Jorgenson, director of the agency’s Office of Science Policy, as its watchdog. The administration has also directed other agencies to bolster their scientific integrity plans. This includes ensuring research is rigorous, unbiased, transparent and reliable, and that nonpartisan civil servants oversee research decisions.

Yes, but: It’s uncertain whether the measures will be effective. Trump hasn’t disclosed his proposals for NIH if he wins in November, but he could discard its scientific integrity plan, which isn’t codified in law or regulation.

Novo Nordisk to pursue updated Ozempic label, targeting chronic kidney disease

Novo Nordisk plans to seek Food and Drug Administration approval this year to update the label for its top-selling drug Ozempic, targeting use in patients with chronic kidney disease, our colleagues Ariana Eunjung Cha and Rachel Roubein report.

The move follows the release of a multiyear study on Friday that found patients receiving semaglutide — the active ingredient in Ozempic — had a 24 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular and kidney disease compared with those who received a placebo.

Why it matters: An FDA greenlight would dramatically expand the pool of patients eligible for the injections, as kidney disease affects more than 1 in 7 U.S. adults.

Yes, but: The study’s participants were predominantly White — only 4.4 percent were Black. More research is needed to assess the drug’s impact on those patients, said Melanie Jay, an associate professor of medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and director of the comprehensive program on obesity.

Nursing home groups challenge new staffing requirements in federal court

Nursing home trade groups and providers are urging a federal court to overturn a recently finalized rule setting minimum staffing levels at the facilities for the first time.

The details: The American Health Care Association, its Texas counterpart and the operators of three nursing homes filed a complaint last week arguing that the policy exceeds the authority of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They contend the rule “creates impossible-to-meet standards” that will force facilities to close and displace vulnerable seniors.

• The lawsuit also claims the agency’s adoption of these standards was arbitrary and capricious, violating the Administrative Procedure Act.

Key context: The final rule requires skilled nursing facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding to have a registered nurse on-site 24/7. It also mandates that each resident receives at least 3.48 hours of care daily and strengthens rules for assessing their needs. The policy is set to be phased in over the next few years, with hardship exemptions available for operators in rural areas facing worker shortages.

The view from HHS: “The status quo in too many nursing homes unacceptably endangers residents and drives workers into other professions. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to fulfilling the President’s promise to improve safety and support workers so everyone can age with dignity,” a spokesperson said in a statement provided to the Health Brief.

• Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed a first-of-its-kind bill that classifies the two drugs used to terminate pregnancies as controlled dangerous substances. Antiabortion opponents hope the measure will serve as a template for other conservative states trying to end the procedure.
• The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are asking for stakeholder feedback on their proposal to improve the Medicare Graduate Medical Education program, with the goal of addressing physician workforce shortages across the country.
• Independent advisers to the FDA voted against the use of Novo Nordisk’s once-weekly insulin product, citing an increased risk of high blood pressure in patients with type 1 diabetes, Sriparna Roy and Mariam E Sunny report for Reuters.

Despite surging demand for long-term care, providers struggle to find workers (By Josh Kelety and Eric Scicchitano | (AP and CNHI News)

In this Kansas courtroom, the hospital dominates the docket (By Shannon Najmabadi | The Wall Street Journal)

Raw milk is the latest health fad. Experts worry it may spread bird flu. (By Teddy Amenabar | The Washington Post)

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