Abortion providers on Friday filed a lawsuit directly with the Oklahoma Supreme Court to challenge two abortion bans in the state.
Driving the news: Nearly all abortions have been unavailable in Oklahoma since late May, when Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed into law a bill banning abortion that is enforced by lawsuits from private citizens.
Children aged 5 to 11 who lived in counties with an active COVID-19 vaccine provider had significantly higher vaccine coverage in the six months after pediatric shots became available, the CDC reported on Thursday.
Why it matters: Experts say younger kids remain at risk of severe illness from the virus, noting about half of U.S. counties lack an active pediatric clinic, family medicine clinic or federally qualified health center.
Patients will soon have a clearer picture of what insurers and employers pay for health care thanks to a federal rule that kicks in today — if a collection of health tech companies can make the trove of data understandable.
Why it matters: Patients often have no idea what a procedure or service costs — and have little ability to comparison shop — until they're left holding the bag with a higher bill than they expected.
Representatives for some Indigenous tribes tell Axios they have no plans to set up abortion clinics on their lands and would take offense at any non-Native Americans, including progressives, telling them what to do.
The big picture: The Biden administration has made clear it has no plans to pursue such moves, telling progressives who leaned on them to set up abortion clinics on federal land in red states that they're underestimating the legal risks and other complications.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday a recent listeria outbreak has led to 23 reported illnesses, 22 hospitalizations and one death across 10 states.
The intrigue: The CDC is still investigating the source of the outbreak. No specific food item has been identified.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote Thursday in a dissenting opinion that coronavirus vaccines were developed using cells from "aborted children."
Driving the news: Thomas dissented to the Supreme Court's refusal to hear a case challenging New York's vaccine mandate based on religion.
New York City will begin offering free antiviral medications at mobile testing sites for vulnerable residents who test positive for COVID-19, Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday.
Why it matters: Mobile testing units will now include a clinician who can prescribe the antiviral medication Paxlovid at no cost for those who are eligible.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech plan to start clinical trials of pan-coronavirus vaccines in the second half of the year, BioNTech officials said in an investor presentation on Wednesday.
Driving the news: The company said it wants to provide "durable variant protection," according to Reuters, which first reported the news.
House appropriators are due to mark up a fiscal 2023 spending bill covering HHS on Thursday that would allocate $242.1 billion to beef up public health infrastructure.
The big picture: The budget blueprint lays out post-pandemic priorities and reverses a decade-old ban on congressional earmarks, allowing lawmakers to target federal spending toward projects in their districts.
Following a vote from an expert panel earlier this week, vaccine makers will this fall roll out updated COVID booster shots that are better suited to protect people against the most prevalent coronavirus subvariants.
Why it matters: The updated boosters will include a component from the Omicron subvariants BA. 4 and BA. 5, which have spread rapidly through the U.S., the FDA announced Thursday.
The Biden administration dipped into its dwindling reserves for COVID-19 countermeasures on Wednesday, directing $3.2 billion to Pfizer-BioNTech for 105 million doses of vaccine that could be ready if the virus surges this fall.
The big picture: The vaccines could include updated shots for Omicron and would remain free to eligible U.S. residents.
A state court on Thursday temporarily blocked two restrictive abortion laws in Kentucky, a six-week ban and a complete abortion ban that the state's attorney general threatened to enforce.
Driving the news: Kentucky's only two abortion clinics had stopped offering abortion services after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in fear that the two laws could be brought back.
After President Biden leaves Europe, the White House will announce he'll meet Friday with governors whose states moved swiftly to protect women's access to abortion following the court ruling.
Why it Matters: Access to abortion is still guaranteed in 16 states after the Supreme Court issued a ruling overturning Roe v. Wade last week, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez reports.
Major brands like Starbucks, Tesla, and Amazon have doubled down on promises to continue abortion coverage in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, including covering travel for employees in states with bans.
But the way some states are threatening criminal charges for facilitating the procedure could give plenty of other employers pause, potentially creating a confusing patchwork of benefits and gaps in employer-sponsored care.
