Are parents ready for new kids’ boosters?

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Oct 13, 2022 View in browser   By Daniel Payne and Krista Mahr With Daniel Lippman Driving the Day The FDA authorized emergency use of bivalent Covid-19 vaccines for kids. | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images SELLING AN UPDATED SHOT — Updated Covid-19 boosters from Pfizer and Moderna were given emergency use authorization Wednesday for teens and children as young as 5. But approval is only half the battle as public health experts fret about the possibility of a winter surge in cases. Just hours after the FDA gave the green light, the CDC recommended the shots for kids, POLITICO's Lauren Gardner reports — but some parents aren't likely to be moved by the recommendation. Many kids aren't ready for a booster, having had only one or no doses of the two-dose primary Covid vaccine series up to now. About two in three children ages 5–11 fall into that category, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Older kids have higher vaccination rates, with about 60 percent of those 12–17 having completed the series. The reluctance to get the updated shot reaches far beyond kids. Only 5 percent of the general population has received the updated booster so far. That doesn't make health care staff — especially those working with children — any less convinced about the importance of the new boosters. Linda Mendonça, president of the National Association of School Nurses, told Pulse that school nurses always look to promote vaccine access, especially as they seek to build immunity going into colder months. "I think messaging is always a challenge," Mendonça said. "School nurses do sometimes struggle with that — and also dealing with vaccine hesitancy and making sure that they meet families where they are … it's about developing trust." And now, some see even more to be done beyond Covid-19 and into the care that was halted through the pandemic's early months. School nurses continually work to make sure kids are caught up on their routine vaccinations and care, many trying to rebound after a dip in recent years. That effort has been seen as increasingly important with the spread of poliovirus in New York. Mental health care workers have also brought new focus to engaging children trying to bounce back from the pandemic's effects. Even so, the work to get the new boosters to kids now begins. "It's how we practice," Mendonça said. "If there's a vaccine available, then we certainly will promote and help families to access that if they so choose." WELCOME TO THURSDAY PULSE, where you may be anxiously following the contest to find the best mullet in America, which will crown a winner in one week. Have a favorite in the USA Mullet Championships — or news or tips? Get in touch at dpayne@politico.com and kmahr@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, Carmen Paun talks with Sam Sutton about how inflation will affect health coverage and out-of-pocket medical bills. Plus, WHO emergencies boss Mike Ryan on efforts to contain the spread of the Ebola virus in Uganda. Listen to today's Pulse Check podcast Public Health A Florida court ruled against transgender rights advocates who want Medicaid to reimburse gender-affirming care. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images FLORIDA'S BAN STANDS — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Florida could continue to stop Medicaid from reimbursing patients for most gender-affirming care, POLITICO's Arek Sarkissian reports. The decision came in response to a preliminary injunction request from a transgender rights group suing to stop the policy. That group argued the state was violating the equal protections clause in the Constitution — a premise the judge dismissed, saying the lawsuit was related to Medicaid law and not constitutional rights more broadly. "There's nothing wrong with the state saying they will approve treatment for this and not that," the judge said shortly before he ruled against the preliminary injunction from the bench. "The question here is about the Medicaid statute." Florida is one of at least 10 states that block Medicaid from paying for gender-affirming care, including behavioral therapy, hormone blockers and surgery. Abortion INDIANA ABORTIONS TO CONTINUE, FOR NOW — The Indiana Supreme Court said Wednesday that it will allow abortions to continue in the state while considering whether new restrictions violate the state's constitution, POLITICO's Megan Messerly reports. The court denied Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita's request to allow the law to go into effect while the case is ongoing. That law, the first of its kind to be signed after the fall of Roe v. Wade, took effect last month but was stopped after an injunction. While the injunction wasn't lifted, the court agreed to Rokita's request to take the case, scheduling oral arguments for January. Until then, abortion up to 20 weeks after fertilization or 22 weeks of pregnancy remains legal in Indiana.   TUNE IN TO THE PULSE CHECK PODCAST: Keep your finger on the pulse of the biggest stories in health care by listening to our daily Pulse Check podcast. POLITICO's must-listen briefing decodes healthcare policy and politics, and delivers reality checks from health professionals on the front lines. SUBSCRIBE NOW AND START LISTENING.     Global Health BLOOD SUPPLY CRITICALLY LOW IN U.K. — The English National Health Service's agency that collects blood declared its first "amber alert," indicating a critically low supply, POLITICO's Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif reports. NHS Blood and Transplant said in a statement Tuesday stocks are now predicted to fall below two days' supply — well below the six-days supply the agency aims to keep on hand. O-type blood is particularly needed, officials said, calling on donors to book appointments. "Maintaining blood stocks has been an ongoing challenge in the aftermath of the pandemic primarily due to staff shortages and sickness but also due to a change in donor behaviour as people are less likely to visit collection centres in towns and cities," NHS Blood and Transplant said. Covid NEW DATA ON LONG COVID SYMPTOMS — A new study in Nature involving more than 30,000 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 takes another look at the cluster of symptoms associated with long Covid. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Kaiser Permanente in Maryland highlighted the difficulties in separating long Covid symptoms from symptoms from other conditions, aiming to better understand the associations between Covid-positive and Covid-negative patients. The study found respiratory disease, gastrointestinal disorders, dizziness and diabetes, among other conditions, to be most closely associated with long Covid. HEART AND ARTERY DISEASE NOT IMPLICATED IN COVID DEATH RISK — After accounting for factors like obesity, smoking and age, preexisting cardiovascular disease wasn't implicated in new research from the University of Michigan. Researchers looked at the outcomes of more than 5,100 Covid patients who were in the ICU in 2020. Of those patients, nearly 1,200 had either preexisting coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure or atrial fibrillation. They determined that the relationship between cardiovascular disease and Covid deaths was not statistically significant when the other risk factors were considered. The researchers concluded that acute inflammation caused by injury to other organs contributed to severe disease and deaths more than a worsening of CVD. On the Hill ADVOCATES RUN ADS AGAINST REVERSING DRUG PRICING MEASURES — Patients For Affordable Drugs said Thursday it would launch digital ads in Florida, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming denouncing the recent Republican bill that would reverse the drug-pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. The campaign will paint the Protect Drug Innovation Act as proof that the bill's supporters stand with pharmaceutical companies over patients. Names in the News Gary Nuzzi has joined CVS Health as vice president of public and government affairs. He was most recently senior vice president for public affairs at Adfero. Kelly McCone has joined the American Academy of Neurology as senior congressional affairs manager. McCone was most recently a government relations manager for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and is a Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) alum. Matthew Krull is now interim general counsel at the Georgia Department of Human Services. He continues as deputy chief of staff at the agency. Daniel Barchi (CIO, New York-Presbyterian), Terri Couts (SVP & CIO, Guthrie Clinic) and Tressa Springmann (SVP, CIDO, LifeBridge Health) were named new members appointed to the College of Health Information Management Executives Board of Trustees. Sean Kelly (chief medical officer, WELL Health) will be the CHIME Foundation board director. What We're Reading The New York Times' Noah Weiland reports on the daring strategy in Rhode Island to stop drug overdoses. Kaiser Health News' Angela Hart writes about the critics who say Newsom's Medicaid reforms will leave patients behind.   STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Our Future Pulse newsletter will continue to bring you the biggest stories at the intersection of technology and healthcare, but now five times a week. Want to know what's next in health care? Sign up for our Future Pulse newsletter. If you aren't already subscribed, follow this link to start receiving Future Pulse.       Follow us on Twitter Tucker Doherty @tucker_doherty Dan Goldberg @dancgoldberg Erin Banco @ErinBanco Katherine Ellen Foley @katherineefoley Lauren Gardner @Gardner_LM Ben Leonard @_BenLeonard_ David Lim @davidalim Krista Mahr @kristamahr Megan Messerly @meganmesserly Alice Miranda Ollstein @aliceollstein Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Megan R. Wilson @misswilson Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader   Follow us

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