Monkeypox vaccines may not be readily available for at-risk Americans if cases continue to climb.
Why it matters: U.S. officials celebrated the arrival of about 800,000 monkeypox vaccines earlier this week, but those aren't sufficient to cover those at greatest risk of contracting the virus, and more doses won't arrive until October, the Washington Post reports.
The West Virginia state Senate on Friday passed a bill to ban nearly all abortions in the state.
The big picture: West Virginia has always been considered a state hostile to abortion because it's one of the four states to amend its constitution to prohibit any protections for abortion rights from being established.
West Virginia will become the first state to pass restrictive abortion legislation following the overturning of Roe v. Wade
Spain and Brazil both reported their first monkeypox-related deaths Friday, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: These are the first two deaths related to monkeypox outside of Africa during the current outbreak. The death in Spain is the first in Europe, while Brazil's is the first in South America.
The Biden administration announced Friday that it has reached a deal with Moderna to purchase 66 million doses of its Omicron variant-specific vaccine booster.
The big picture: This specific Moderna vaccine targets the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants, the latter of which is considered the most transmissible subvariant and has become the dominant strain in the U.S.
Despite ballooning case counts, the Biden administration believes it can stay ahead of and eventually end the monkeypox outbreak in the U.S. by flooding states with additional vaccine doses in the next week.
Why it matters: It's a political gamble. If the virus keeps spreading and demand outstrips doses, the administration will have to ask Congress for more money or declare a public health emergency to free up additional resources.
The growth of high-deductible health plans led to people with employer-sponsored coverage paying for a larger share, on average, of their health care costs between 2013 and 2019, according to a new analysis by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Why it matters: A large portion are paying significantly more in terms of raw dollar amounts as well, with the biggest increases among the highest spenders — and that's on top of premium increases. As costs rise, even many insured patients struggle to afford their care.
About 20% of Americans are afraid they'll soon contract monkeypox, but there are still some significant holes in the public's understanding of the virus, according to a new survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center.
The big picture: These early stages of monkeypox outbreaks aren't nearly as dangerous as early COVID outbreaks were, but some of the challenges for public health officials — like educating people about a virus they're not familiar with, and mobilizing vaccination efforts — are similar.
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito has mocked world leaders who criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade as he railed against what he called "a growing hostility to religion" in the West.
Why it matters: The Catholic justice's remarks at a religious freedom conference in Rome mark the first time he's publicly commented on last month's majority ruling that effectively ended all federal protections on abortion.
The Biden administration will begin offering updated COVID booster shots in September, Axios confirmed on Thursday.
Why it matters: Though efficacy data is so far limited, the updated boosters are expected to serve stronger protection against the new Omicron subvariant BA.5 —the most transmissible subvariant yet. It has quickly overtaken previous strains to become the dominant version in the U.S. and much of the world.
This appeared first inAxios Finish Line, as Axios CEO Jim VandeHei's weekly feature on hard-learned lessons for life and leadership.
Achieving insane success at work or in personal quests often requires insane effort and discipline, Jim writes.
Why it matters: Almost every person at the top of their game — be it sports or business — does extraordinary things to get their mind and body to perform optimally and at a higher level than others.
A teen abortion rights advocate has raised $1 million in less than 72 hours after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) tweeted an image of her and linked out to a report in which he mocked activists.
Driving the news: Gaetz said at a student summit the event in Tampa, Florida, "nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb," according to the report.
