The FDA said the updated messenger RNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna will protect against the omicron subvariants now prevalent in circulation. Left out of the FDA decision is Novavax, whose protein-based vaccine is still under regulatory review.

In order to gain trust from communities, healthcare leaders will need more training on effective communication, said Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and chief medical officer of Amazon Pharmacy. He made these comments last week during a panel at the AHIP 2023 conference in Portland.

While the U.S. did very well on the scientific front of Covid-19 with the production of vaccines, it needs to improve on the public health front, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He made these comments Tuesday at the AHIP 2023 conference in Portland.

Dr. Ala Stanford, founder of the Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium, provided hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 tests and vaccines to Black and Brown people in Philadelphia’s underserved neighborhoods during the pandemic. In her view, her work was impactful because she acted promptly and focused on community-based patient engagement.

Paxlovid, a Pfizer antiviral awarded FDA emergency authorization in 2021 for treating Covid-19, is now approved for treating adults. Results from a pivotal clinical trial showed that Paxlovid led to an 86% reduction in Covid-19-related hospitalization or death from any cause compared to a placebo.

The Covid-19 public health emergency ended May 11, which will affect employer-sponsored insurance in several ways, said Jeff Levin-Scherz, population health leader of Willis Towers Watson. This includes the coverage Covid-19 tests and vaccines.

Out of the $1 billion in Medicare payments to providers for psychotherapy services in the first year of Covid-19, $580 million were improper payments, an audit by the Office of Inspector General found. This includes $348 million for telehealth services.

The FDA will decide this summer which strains the next Covid-19 vaccines should address. But companies are also taking a longer view, developing shots for the future that offer different features than the current ones and potentially broader protection against a wider range of pathogens.

Older adults and immunocompromised people may now get a second Covid-19 booster shot, according to amendments to the FDA authorizations of the mRNA vaccines. Further changes will be discussed at an advisory committee meeting planned for June.

The FDA granted emergency use authorization to an InflaRx antibody drug that treats hospitalized Covid-19 patients. But Pardes Bioscience’s coronavirus journey is ending following the Phase 2 failure of an antiviral that was expected to compete with Pfizer’s Paxlovid.

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the way we think of diagnostics in our daily lives. In a recent webinar, BD Vice President for Diagnostics Nikos Pavlidis spoke with a clinician and an epidemiologist where they shared their perspectives on how testing developments have changed the way we track respiratory illnesses.

During an interview at the AHIP Medicare, Medicaid, Duals and Commercial Markets Forum held Tuesday in Washington, D.C., CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure discussed CMS’ key focus areas for 2023. This includes the end of the public health emergency, health equity and prescription drug costs.

Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other providers collected billions in government aid during the pandemic. Federal auditors may soon come knocking to ensure the money was spent correctly.

A recent Elevance Health study found that long Covid patients are 2.35 times more likely to experience cardiac arrhythmia and 3.64 times more likely to experience pulmonary embolism. The study also discovered higher mortality rates among long Covid patients.

By the end of March, Medicaid/CHIP enrollment will have grown by 23.3 million members since the start of the pandemic, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. This is largely due to the continuous enrollment provision enacted during the pandemic, which barred states from disenrolling members and is set to expire March 31.

Lucira Health now has the first FDA authorized diagnostic that detects the novel coronavirus and influenza in a single test. But the regulatory decision comes too late for the diagnostics developer, which has filed for bankruptcy protection.

A webinar sponsored by BD scheduled for March 7 will explore how diagnostics companies are working with healthcare organizations to guard against the perfect storm of Covid-19, RSV and influenza. Register today!

GSK gave Vir Biotechnology a Valentine’s Day break-up message, but it’s not a complete goodbye. Though the two companies are ending their Covid-19 collaboration, they’ll still work together on other respiratory programs, including a prophylactic influenza antibody drug that is in mid-stage clinical development.

The Aligos Therapeutics pipeline reprioritization comes after clinical trial setbacks to two hepatitis B drug candidates led the biotech to end both programs. Still intact is a Merck research collaboration focused on developing NASH therapies.

R&D spending rose in response to Covid-19, bringing with it higher expectations for returns on all biopharma investments. The once sky-high projections are coming down to Earth, with returns now in line with pre-pandemic levels, according to a new Deloitte report.

The Covid-19 public health emergency waived a rule that required a practitioner to conduct an in-person medical exam before prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine. Once the public health emergency ends on May 11, those with substance use disorder could be greatly affected, experts are warning.

The Kaiser Family Foundation examined pre-pandemic data to determine what will happen to those disenrolled from Medicaid and CHIP once the continuous enrollment requirement ends March 31. The analysis found that 65% of those disenrolled went through a period of uninsurance.

About 51% of U.S. adults are in favor of the Covid-19 public health emergency still in effect, while 39% said it is no longer needed, a recent Morning Consult survey found. Americans’ opinions varied based on political party, generation, race/ethnicity and location.

Nearly a quarter of private sector employees don’t have any paid sick days, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families. Providing this benefit will save employers down the line, one expert argues.

In a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, 25 governors argued that the Covid-19 public health emergency should end in April. An estimated 18 million people could lose Medicaid coverage if that happens, according to a recent report.

An Oscar Health survey found that about 93% of respondents are “extremely,” “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the state of the economy. Another 44% of respondents listed the economy as their top healthcare concern.

Of these 18 million people, 3.8 million people will become completely uninsured, according to the Urban Institute’s report. The estimate is higher than HHS’ August prediction of 15 million people losing coverage after the public health emergency.

The report was commissioned by Wysa, a company that created an AI chatbot for mental health support. It found that 40% of working adults suffer from moderate to severe anxiety and/or depression. Many of these employees would prefer talking to an app about their struggles than someone in their workplace.

An AHIP survey found that 73% of commercially-insured telehealth users think that Congress should make telehealth provisions permanent. These provisions were put in place to meet Americans’ needs during Covid-19.

Gilead Sciences is a leader in the field of virology treatments. As VP of clinical research for hepatitis, respiratory and emerging viruses at Gilead, Anu Osinusi talked about the pharma company’s work in HIV and hepatitis and how her personal background informed her team’s work in developing a Covid-19 treatment.