News

The Department of Health and Human Services today will amend the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act to permit doctors and nurses who have recently retired or become inactive to administer COVID-19 vaccines and anyone currently licensed to vaccinate in their state to administer shots across state lines, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients announced at the first regular briefing by the White House COVID-19 Response Team.

Ingrid Johnson, R.N., works with Atlantic Health System in Morristown, New Jersey, to raise awareness of human trafficking and how health care leaders can better identify victims and properly respond.

President Biden announced the federal government will purchase an additional 200 million doses of the two COVID-19 vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use.

Inspired by recent examples in sports and a Hamilton show tune, Kenneth Kaufman, managing director and chair of management consultancy KaufmanHall, challenges senior health care leaders to “make 2021 the year of true advancement in diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

The Joint Commission released for comment through Feb. 16 proposed new and revised workplace violence prevention standards for accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals.

The National Institutes of Health has launched an online data portal to collect clinical information on neurological symptoms, complications and outcomes related to COVID-19.

Drug maker Eli Lilly and Company said its neutralizing antibodies cocktail of bamlanivimab and etesevimab combine to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced interim data indicating that its REGEN-COV antibody cocktail could be used as a passive vaccine to prevent COVID-19.

The public health emergency will likely remain in place through 2021, and the administration will give states 60 days’ notice before it decides to terminate the emergency or let it expire.

The Food and Drug Administration reissued emergency use authorizations for 10 systems authorized to decontaminate certain N95 respirators. 

Pfizer Inc. has completed enrolling children aged 12 to 15 in a COVID-19 vaccine study, the drug maker confirmed. 

AHA today urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to immediately withdraw its Most Favored Nation model interim final rule and “replace it with a serious effort at drug pricing reform.” 

An estimated one in five people in the United States had a sexually transmitted infection at some point in 2018, with almost half of new infections in those under age 25, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. 

This year, I look forward to continuing AHA’s Leadership Rounds, short conversations on trending topics with health care leaders from around the country.

In this Members in Action podcast, Julia Resnick, AHA senior program manager, speaks with leaders from CHI Health’s Creighton University Medical Center about how a culture enabled by interdisciplinary care teams is improving value for their patients.

As COVID-19 surges continue, lessons learned by health systems large and small reveal the importance of teamwork, communication, flexibility, preparation and supporting the physical and mental health of all staff.

The Commonwealth Fund issued a report outlining recommendations for federal investments in health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 10 cases of anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction, among the more than 4 million people who received a first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine between Dec. 21, 2020, and Jan. 10, 2021.

Full-dose blood thinner treatments can reduce the need for vital organ support such as ventilation in moderately ill patients hospitalized for COVID-19, according to interim results from a clinical trial announced by the National Institutes of Health.

“We have much to do, much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build … and much to gain.”