COVID-19 Federal Responses: Monday, July 12, 2021

CMS published new FAQs on how it will recoup the COVID-19 Accelerated and Advance Payments.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsed vaccine mandates for localities with low vaccination rates. Polling shows Americans are divided over vaccine mandates.
Pfizer held a meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to discuss the need for booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The FDA is adding a new warning to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after it was linked to rare occurrences of Guillain-Barre syndrome associated with the vaccine. The FDA is only aware of about 100 cases linked to the vaccine out of over 12.8 million administered doses.
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) provides more details on what types of healthcare services saw the greatest shift to telehealth during the pandemic.
The CDC has updated many of its guidelines including Use of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine After Reports of Myocarditis Among Vaccine Recipients: Update from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, June 2021.

Congress

On Wednesday, July 14 at 12:00 pm ET, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee will hold a hearing on how to investigate future infectious diseases to help prevent another pandemic.

CMS published new FAQs on how it will recoup the COVID-19 Accelerated and Advance Payments.
The Biden Administration has struggled to find an effective strategy to increase plateauing vaccination rates.
- Public health officials are beginning to use stronger rhetoric to warn about the danger COVID-19 still poses to unvaccinated people.
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsed vaccine mandates for localities with low vaccination rates. Polling shows Americans are divided over vaccine mandates.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is providing an additional 30 days for public comments on its new safety guidelines for healthcare workers.

Pfizer held a meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to discuss the need for booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
- The government has not ruled out the need for a booster dose but is not prepared to declare that one is needed at this time. Public health officials are still measuring the longevity of a full vaccination’s protection from the virus but are expected to endorse a booster shot at some point in the near future.
- Vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer are already confident that vaccinated people will, at some point, need a booster dose.
NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci predicts that the COVID-19 vaccines will soon receive full authorization from the FDA. The vaccines are currently approved under an emergency use authorization (EUA). Some public health experts think that full FDA approval will help assuage safety concerns held by some unvaccinated people.
The FDA is adding a new warning to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after it was linked to rare occurrences of Guillain-Barre syndrome associated with the vaccine. The FDA is only aware of about 100 cases linked to the vaccine out of more than 12.8 million administered doses.
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) provides more details on what types of healthcare services saw the greatest shift to telehealth during the pandemic.