Axios

Burkina Faso, Djibouti and Ethiopia are set to receive around 1 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine in the coming days as part of the United States' global donation of roughly 80 million vaccines, the Gavi vaccine alliance said on Friday.

Why it matters: 49 African countries in total will have access to approximately 25 million doses donated by the U.S., which should help the African Union achieve its goal of vaccinating at least 60% of the African population.

Facebook fired back on Friday evening after President Biden earlier said that social media platforms are "killing people" by allowing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on their sites.

What they're saying: "We will not be distracted by accusations which aren't supported by the facts," a spokesperson for the tech giant said in a statement Friday.

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was granted priority review for full approval by the Food Drug Administration for Americans 16 and older, Pfizer and BioNTech announced Friday.

Why it matters: A full approval for the Pfizer vaccine could help bolster the U.S. vaccination effort, as many people are reluctant to receive the vaccine under its emergency use status, the Boston Globe notes.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sounded the alarm over what she called a "pandemic of the unvaccinated" as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are again on the rise across the U.S.

Driving the news: During a Friday news briefing, Rochelle Walensky warned that the latest seven-day average of new cases — tallying an increase of nearly 70% from the previous seven-day average — poses a risk to individuals who are not vaccinated for the coronavirus.

One of the first things to go when the pandemic struck U.S. cities is back: carpooling.

Driving the news: Lyft is bringing back shared rides in Philadelphia, Chicago and Denver on Monday, with plans to keep adding cities over the coming months.

Gen Z pop star Olivia Rodrigo was at the White House this week to create promotional videos aimed at spurring sluggish COVID-19 vaccination rates among America's youth.

The big picture: Rodrigo is among the most high-profile recruits aimed directly at appealing to Generation Z by the Biden Administration when it comes to the vaccine.

Only slightly more than half of nursing home staff and about 78% of residents across the country have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to an AARP analysis.

Why it matters: The virus is continuing to spread among unvaccinated people, and unvaccinated nursing home residents are still at very high risk of severe infections or death.

UnitedHealth Group isn't just making more money because people deferred care throughout the coronavirus pandemic. It's making more money because it's owning a bigger piece of the health care system.

The bottom line: Insurers keep more of the premiums they collect when they also own the medical providers that are paid those premium dollars. And no insurer has expanded as aggressively into care delivery over the years as UnitedHealth.

Officials in Abu Dhabi announced Thursday that the city would reenter a partial lockdown beginning July 19, and reimplement other public health measures, "as part of proactive efforts to prevent COVID-19 variants and to ensure continuous testing."

Why it matters: United Arab Emirates' capital city has been going to great lengths to stem the spread of COVID-19, and Thursday's new guidelines are the latest iteration of these efforts.

Los Angeles County will again require residents to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination statues starting this Sunday because of recent increases in new coronavirus cases and rising concerns over the Delta variant of the virus.

Why it matters: The latest order in the most populous county in the United States comes after it reported 1,537 new COVID cases, an 83% increase over the last week.

About 40% of undocumented immigrants who died on their way to the U.S. and ended up in a Falfurrias, Texas, morgue had contracted COVID-19 prior to their deaths.

Details: A Noticias Telemundo Investiga report shows an increased incidence of coronavirus in the bodies of migrants recovered in border states, as the number of deceased John and Jane Does rises this summer.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on social media companies Thursday to curb misinformation related to the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines in his first health advisory since being confirmed to the position.

Why it matters: Murthy said vaccine misinformation is a factor in the country's slowing vaccination rates. More than 40% of American adults are not fully vaccinated against the virus, and new cases have slightly increased in part because of the rise of the Delta variant.

UnitedHealth Group collected $4.3 billion of profit in the second quarter, a 36% decline from the health care conglomerate's historically profitable second quarter last year, when the coronavirus suppressed care and led to the company paying out fewer medical claims.

Yes, but: The company's revenue in this quarter soared 15% year over year, and the $4.3 billion of profit was still 30% higher than the same period in 2019, before the coronavirus hit. UnitedHealth remains the most financially powerful private entity in the health care system.

Hispanics and Mescalero Apache tribal members in New Mexico this month are marking the anniversary of the 1945 Trinity Test — an experiment resulting in health problems for generations living near the site of the world's first atomic bomb explosion.

Why it matters: Descendants of those families use the July 16 anniversary to pressure lawmakers to compensate those who have suffered rare forms of cancer ever since the explosion.

The Biden administration plans to launch a massive campaign Thursday to get more Americans to sign up for the Affordable Care Act — 30 days before the Aug. 15 deadline to do so.

Driving the news: Administration officials announced Wednesday more than 2 million people have signed up for health insurance during the special enrollment period using both federal and state marketplaces.

Veterans who had COVID-19 last year and were given Gilead's coronavirus drug remdesivir (marketed as Veklury) stayed in the hospital longer than other similar patients who did not receive it, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open.

Why it matters: "Perhaps [patients] were being kept in the hospital to finish remdesivir," said Mike Ohl, one of the study's authors and an infectious disease physician at the VA Medical Center in Iowa City who has treated COVID patients. "We shouldn't be keeping people in the hospital just to complete remdesivir if they're otherwise ready to leave."

Three in 10 immigrants in U.S. detention centers are saying no to the COVID-19 vaccine, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Vaccine hesitancy among detained immigrants has added an unlikely twist to the challenges of a pandemic-era increase in border migration.

Two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries don't have dental coverage, and half haven't been to the dentist in the past year.

The big picture: Democrats are pushing to have the program cover dental, hearing and vision benefits the same way it does other medical care.

Democrats took yet another step forward this week in their effort to slash what Americans — particularly seniors — pay for health care.

Driving the news: Senate Democrats unveiled their framework for a massive legislative package that includes several of the party's largest health care priorities.

Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state, will enter a five-day lockdown just before midnight to combat a growing COVID-19 outbreak, officials announced on Thursday.

Why it matters: It will be the fifth time such restrictions have been imposed on residents in Victoria's state capital, Melbourne — who last year endured one of the world's longest lockdowns (112 days), when the city was Australia's pandemic epicenter.

The commanding general of Fort Rucker has announced that the Alabama military base will require service members not wearing face masks "to show proof of vaccination" while on duty to combat rising COVID-19 cases.

Why it matters: The order, issued Wednesday, makes Fort Rucker the "first military base in the continental" U.S. to permit leaders to "check the vaccination status of those in uniform," the Washington Post notes.

Researchers in California announced Wednesday that they have successfully accessed the brain waves of a man unable to speak due to severe paralysis and transformed his thoughts into sentences.

Why it matters: This is the first known "successful demonstration of direct decoding of full words from the brain activity of someone who is paralyzed and cannot speak," neurosurgeon Edward Chang, senior author on the study, said in a statement from the University of California, San Francisco.

Senate Democrats have a new pay-for to finance a "soft" infrastructure bill: renegotiating Medicare prescription drug prices to save $600 billion — setting up a battle between progressives and well-capitalized drug companies.

Why it matters: By targeting pharma, Democrats are opening up a funding stream President Biden didn't initially include in his $4 trillion Build Back Better agenda. It relied on hiking taxes on corporations and Americans earning over $400,000.