TFG Coronavirus Update - October 7, 2021

Coronavirus Update

October 7, 2021

Information and resources on federal responses to the coronavirus crisis for state, local, and regional government.

Top News

On Wednesday, the Biden Administration announced a plan to invest $1 billion in rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests. This came on the heels of the United States reaching 700,000 deaths from the coronavirus, a moment when President Biden called on Americans to “remember all those we have lost to this pandemic,” in an October 3^rd statement. The delivery of the COVID-19 tests would triple the number of at-home tests available by early November and comes in time for what many health experts believe will be a wave of infections this winter.

The White House has fielded various insights from top public health officials regarding the role booster shots should play in the next phase of the pandemic. The Administration has taken the stance of using a campaign around the booster shots citing how the efficacy of the vaccine wanes over time, particularly in older people. Meanwhile, officials from other agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have criticized the Administration’s communication regarding the vaccine and booster in recent weeks.

Pfizer and BioNTech asked the FDA to authorize their COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. If approved, 28 million children in the U.S. would be allowed to receive the vaccine. The FDA’s external vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to meet on the issue on October 26^th and will provide an important but not binding recommendation for vaccination shots for kids aged 5 to 11.

Capitol Hill

The Senate may vote today on a short-term debt limit increase allowing the US government to avoid defaulting on its debt. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the country faces recession if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling very soon. Senate leadership indicated an agreement has been reached.

Widely reported political fighting – both partisan and intraparty – threatens to delay or even defeat efforts to pass the $3.5 billion Build Back Better initiative and a massive transportation funding bill. Speaker Pelosi set an October 31 deadline for the House to pass the two intertwined bills.

Please visit our TFG Coronavirus Legislative Trackers public health & safety, local government relief , and business assistance for detailed information on recently introduced bills.

Administration

FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the ACON Laboratories Flowflex COVID-19 Home Test, an over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 antigen test, which adds to the growing list of tests that can be used at home without a prescription.

NIH found the pandemic has taken a large toll on Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Latino individuals in the U.S., causing more deaths by population size, both directly and indirectly, in these groups compared with white or Asian individuals. Roughly 2.9 million people died in the U.S. between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. Compared with the same period in 2019, there were 477,200 excess deaths, with 74% of them due to COVID-19. The scientists found, after adjusting for age, the number of excess deaths by population size among Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Latino men and women were more than double those in white and Asian men and women.

HHS awarded $1 billion to 1300 health centers to support major health care construction and renovation projects. HHS said the awards will strengthen the nation’s primary health care infrastructure and advance health equity and health outcomes in medically underserved communities.

The CDC released three studies in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that highlight the importance of using layered prevention strategies including universal masking to stop the spread of COVID and minimize disruptions to school operations for safe in-person education. The studies found that school districts without a universal masking policy in place were more likely to have COVID-19 outbreaks.

Industry & Advocacy

The National League of Cities released its annual City Fiscal Conditions survey. The survey found federal assistance has been instrumental in helping communities large and small begin to recover from the economic shock of the pandemic. When asked about immediate priorities for ARPA funds, two-thirds of cities have or will replace lost revenue, and 54% will use funds to directly support residents and small businesses.

A National Restaurant Association survey found that 58 percent of restaurants surveyed said business conditions for their restaurants are worse now than they were three months ago. Only 9 percent said conditions improved during that time. An estimated 44 percent said that it would be more than a year before business conditions return to normal for their restaurant, while 23 percent said it would be seven to 12 months. An additional 19 percent said business conditions would never return to normal.

AT&T will require unionized workers to comply with its vaccine mandate beginning next year. The company announced that all employees represented by the Communications Workers of America union must be fully compliant with the vaccine mandate by February 1 unless they receive an approved accommodation.

Ford has asked all salaried employees in the U.S. share their COVID-19 vaccination status by October 8 as the company works to comply with President Biden’s testing and vaccination mandate. Ford has said that it will remain voluntary for hourly employees on whether they reveal their vaccination status.

Reuters reported Merck has developed a pill that could reduce by 50% the chances of an individual dying or being hospitalized due to COVID. Merck said they will seek emergency use authorization for the drug.

Vaccine News

An HHS report shows COVID-19 vaccinations may have helped prevent hundreds of thousands of new COVID-19 infections and tens of thousands of deaths among seniors. The study found vaccinations were linked to a reduction of approximately 265,000 COVID-19 infections, 107,000 hospitalizations, and 39,000 deaths among Medicare beneficiaries between January and May 2021.

HHS’s Office for Civil Rights issued guidance to help the public understand when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule applies to disclosures and requests for information about whether a person has received a COVID-19 vaccine. The guidance notes that HIPPA does not prohibit businesses or individuals from asking whether their customers or clients have received a vaccine; HIPPA applies only to covered entities such as health plans, health care clearing houses, and health care providers that conduct standard electronic transactions. HIPPA does not apply when an individual is asked about their vaccination status by a school, employer, store, restaurant, entertainment venue, or another individual.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded approximately $36.3 million to three academic institutions to conduct research to develop vaccines to protect against multiple types of coronaviruses and viral variants.

A study published in The Lancet medical journal found the efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine fell below 50 percent six months after the second dose. The study found Pfizer’s vaccine was 88 percent effective in the first month after full vaccination but dropped to 47 percent effectiveness at about six months.

Johnson & Johnson will reportedly seek authorization for a booster shot this week as concerns are rising regarding the effectiveness of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine compared to other vaccines. The FDA announced its expert advisory committee will discuss booster shots for Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine during meetings on October 14 and 15.

British drugmaker AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine Vaxzevria has been found to have a 74 percent efficacy in preventing symptomatic disease according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The report, which studied more than 26,000 volunteers in the U.S., Chile, and Peru, also found the vaccine had an 83.5 percent efficacy rate in people ages 65 and older. Vaxzevria is currently authorized in more than 170 countries; the company seeks U.S. approval later this year.