| | | | |  | | By Krista Mahr and Sarah Owermohle | | | With help from David Lim and Tucker Doherty Editor's Note: POLITICO Pulse is a free version of POLITICO Pro Health Care's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
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The Biden administration is ramping up monkeypox vaccinations across the U.S. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images | HHS TO SEND TENS OF THOUSANDS MORE MONKEYPOX VACCINES TO STATES — The Biden administration rolled out a strategy on Tuesday to expand vaccination against the monkeypox virus to a greater number of at-risk individuals, Krista reports, marking a dramatic expansion of the government's effort to halt the disease's spread. What's going to happen: The Department of Health and Human Services said it will immediately send 56,000 doses of Jynneos, an FDA-approved monkeypox vaccine, to parts of the country where the virus is spreading and where residents are at the highest risk. It plans to send 240,000 more doses in the coming weeks. But: City public health departments said demand for the vaccine outstrips supply, raising concerns that the administration will struggle to keep up. Officials in Los Angeles and New York City, among a handful of cities that have already started vaccinating a wider group of at-risk residents, told POLITICO they have been waiting on additional requested vaccine doses from the federal government to continue those efforts. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE — Elmo finally got his Covid-19 shot, slamming the door on the decades-old mystery of the furry red Muppet's age. He is 3.5. Send news and tips to kmahr@politico.com and sowermohle@politico.com.
| | | | A message from The American Beverage Association: America's leading beverage companies – The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo – are bringing consumers more choices with less sugar. From sparkling, flavored and bottled waters to zero sugar sodas, sports drinks, juices and teas, consumers have more options than ever before. In fact, nearly 60% of beverages sold contain zero sugar. Americans are looking for more choices to support them in their efforts to find balance, and America's beverage companies are delivering.
BalanceUS.org | | | | | | A STRAIN UPDATE FOR COVID-19 BOOSTER? The FDA's independent vaccine advisers recommended on Tuesday the agency authorize Covid-19 booster formulations that target the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, POLITICO's Lauren Gardner reports. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna recently presented data suggesting their Omicron-targeting boosters elicit promising antibody responses of varying degrees, depending on dose level and whether the shot targets Omicron alone or that variant plus the ancestral virus strain. They also said the delivery timelines for manufacturing booster formulations targeting BA.4 and BA.5 would be delayed compared with shorter timelines for producing BA.1 strain-specific recipes.
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | | 
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra launched a website about reproductive health care access on Tuesday. | Patrick Semansky/AP Photo | A NEW WEBSITE FOR A NEW ERA— The Department of Health and Human Services launched a website Tuesday to help people find contraceptives and abortion services, Sarah and Lauren Gardner report. It's part of a push from the White House after progressive Dems complained they were caught flat-footed by the SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Reproductiverights.gov lays out patients' rights to contraception and shares links to abortion options. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra also said on Tuesday that he's directing the Office for Civil Rights to ensure patient privacy for those seeking reproductive health care. FIRST IN PULSE — Dozens of organizations sent a letter on Wednesday to the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury, urging the agencies to finalize the No Surprises Act. The letter, signed by the AFL-CIO, Families USA, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society a many others, cites a survey from America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association that found the act prevented more than 2 million claims that would have resulted in surprise medical bills in January and February 2022. The letter also notes that health care providers and private equity–backed groups have repeatedly challenged the law in a series of lawsuits. "Were this law to be struck down or eroded, the financial security of millions of Americans each year is at risk, and many providers and facilities will see license to continue to increase health care costs," the letter states.
| | | | A message from The American Beverage Association:   | | | | | | ABORTION PROVIDERS ON THE MOVE — The Supreme Court's Friday ruling is forcing the nation's providers to upend their lives and could radically alter the reproductive health care landscape, POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein reports. Some providers are moving to new states or changing professions. The National Abortion Federation has set up an online marketplace where doctors who have been shut down, or expect to be, can sell their equipment. The number of abortion providers in the nearly two dozen states that have either banned or are expected to swiftly ban abortion comprises only about 10 percent of the national total. Health experts warn that their potential migration could leave patients without access to birth control, prenatal care and other reproductive health services. BLUE STATES SEE A POST-ROE OPPORTUNITY — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is hoping to attract businesses whose owners or employees don't want to live in a state that's made abortion illegal, POLITICO's Lara Korte writes. Next year's California state budget, set to be enacted this week, includes business incentives that give extra consideration to companies coming from states that discriminate against LGBTQ people and restrict abortion rights. Democratic governors in states, including Connecticut, Illinois and New Jersey, have made similar pitches to companies in red states. OKLAHOMA REACHES OPIOID DISTRIBUTOR SETTLEMENT — Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor announced the state had reached a $250 million settlement with three opioid distributors: McKesson, Cardinal and AmerisourceBergen. The attorney general's office said in a statement that by rejecting a national settlement with the distributors and filing a separate suit, O'Connor was able to secure "more money for the State and its cities and counties to fight the opioid crisis." ONE IN THREE — That's how many Americans reported experiencing symptoms three months or more after a Covid-19 infection, POLITICO's Annette Choi reports.
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| According to the latest Household Pulse Survey, conducted by the Census Bureau and National Center for Health Statistics in early June, 34 percent of Covid-19 survivors experienced symptoms that lasted three months or longer. The state with the highest incidence was Alaska, where more than half of respondents reported having a long-term symptom. Read the full DataPoint graphic here.
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | | NOT ENOUGH DIGITAL HEALTH DATA — Many digital health firms have a "low level of clinical robustness," a new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found, POLITICO's Ben Leonard reports. The study, using data from the FDA, the U.S. National Library of Medicine and Rock Health, a non-profit working on digital health equity, found the average company had 1.8 clinical trials and 0.8 regulatory filings. Nearly half of the 224 firms studied had no clinical trials or filings. However, a "sizeable minority," or one in five, had five or more clinical trials and filings.
| | | Insider investigates the 2,000 leaked documents and employees who say the Silicon Valley healthcare startup Cerebral harmed hundreds of patients. Ten years after its invention, CRISPR has led to innovation and raised fundamental questions about altering human DNA, The New York Times reports. The Wall Street Journal reports on the biotech wizard who left a trail of fraud and allegedly ordered a hit on a colleague who was going to expose him.
| | | | A message from The American Beverage Association: Families are looking for more choices to support their efforts to find balance. That's why America's beverage companies are offering more choices with less sugar. It's all part of our commitment to reduce beverage calories consumed per person nationally by 20% by 2025. And it's working.
Today, nearly 60% of beverages sold contain zero sugar.
Our commitment to helping our consumers find balance also includes:
· Putting clear calorie labels on every bottle, can and pack.
· Reminding consumers to think about balance with signs on coolers and displays in store.
· Working with local organizations across the country to build awareness of the many choices available – and increase the access to zero sugar beverages in communities where it's needed most.
Learn more at BalanceUS.org | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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