Emergent BioSolutions announced Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration is allowing its Baltimore plant to resume manufacturing materials for vaccines after it was shutdown in April due to contamination problems.
Why it matters: The plant, which had been producing vaccine materials for Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, conflated ingredients between the two different types of vaccines last year and destroyed 15 million doses of J&J's vaccine.
Washington, D.C, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Thursday that people over the age of 2 — regardless of vaccination status — will be required to wear masks indoors starting Saturday because of a rise in new coronavirus cases.
Why it matters: The mandate comes after D.C.’s new case rate recently increased to around 8 daily cases per 100,000 people, according to the Washington Post, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new mask guidance.
Allergy season in North America has been the lengthiest and the most severe in decades, and experts say the millions of disproportionately male trees planted in urban areas are partly to blame for high pollen counts.
Why it matters: Prolonged exposure to pollen is disrupting the lives of an increasing number of people who are developing allergies that can lead to lifelong treatments for respiratory problems.
Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) said at at Axios event Thursday that she's calling on local communities to help Congress address "negative social determinants" like food deserts or unsafe housing.
Why it matters: Social determinants aresocial factors that harm long-term health. Bustos, who introduced the Social Determinants Accelerator Act, wants local communities to tell Congress directly what they need to tackle problems.
Israel will begin offering a third shot of the coronavirus vaccine to people over the age of 60 starting Sunday, Haaretz reports.
Why it matters: Israel will become the first country to begin giving booster shots, per Haaretz. The country will offer doses to those over 60 who received their second dose at least five months ago.
The member states of the European Union together have administered more coronavirus vaccine doses per 100 people than the United States, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: Thenew figures highlight the pace at which the 27 member states of the E.U. are vaccinating their citizens, and stand in stark contrast to the speed of vaccinations in the U.S., which has stagnated.
UnitedHealth Group, HCA Healthcare and Pfizer have been the most notable health care companies to post Q2 earnings so far, but this week has been chock-full of others.
🏥 Hospitals: The second quarter for Universal Health Services was so profitable that it returned $189 million in federal coronavirus bailout funds. But executives cautioned higher COVID cases may lead to labor shortages.
Providers can breathe a sigh of relief: Congress isn't planning on repurposing unspent money from the pandemic provider relief fund, at least not yet.
Driving the news: The White House finally reached an infrastructure deal with a bipartisan group of senators yesterday, paid for in part with health care policies.
The recent surge of COVID-19 cases is strengthening the case for more frequent testing.
Why it matters: The more contagious Delta variant threatens the fuller reopening of offices and schools in the fall. But regular testing — especially with cheap and almost instantaneous tests — could help catch cases before they have a chance to spread.
