Overnight Health Care: House approves $1.9T COVID-19 relief in partisan vote | Biden announces plan to buy another 100 million J&J doses, appears with the CEOs | Officials relax nursing home visitation guidance

Welcome to Wednesday’s Overnight Health Care. Wondering how the mRNA vaccines work? The surprisingly accurate explainer from this actor has gone…. viral.

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The House passed the final version of the coronavirus relief package, sending it to President Biden. Moderna started its clinical trial against coronavirus variants, the U.S. is going to purchase more doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, and Biden offered a glimpse of optimism.

 

We’ll start with money:

Get ready for your checks…..House approves $1.9T COVID-19 relief in partisan vote

The House on Wednesday approved President Biden‘s sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package in a starkly partisan 220-211 vote, sending the legislation to the White House and clinching Democrats’ first big legislative victory in the Biden era.

No Republican lawmakers backed the legislation, which will become law as much of the nation marks one year of lockdowns from the COVID-19 era. Just one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine), opposed the measure.

Next steps: Biden has said he will sign the measure as soon as it reaches his desk, with the White House saying he’s expected to sign it on Friday. The president is set to address the nation Thursday evening on the coronavirus pandemic. 

More good news: The legislation was approved amid a wave of good news on the economy and the battle against the coronavirus. 

After a year of masks and social distancing — and political fights over those restrictions to life — nearly 20 percent of the country’s population has now had at least one dose of a vaccine. 

Biden has said the U.S. will have enough vaccine for every U.S. adult by the end of May, and Democrats are hoping the new relief will give them a boost as they seek to show voters they can govern. Polls have shown the measure, which will provide $1,400 checks to millions of qualifying households, is broadly popular.

Read more here.

 

Biden announces plan to buy another 100 million J&J doses and appears with the CEOs

President Biden announced Wednesday that he is directing his administration to purchase an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, at an event with J&J CEO Alex Gorsky and Merck CEO Ken Frazier.   

Why are more doses needed? The White House said while there is already enough in the pipeline for every US adult by the end of May, these extra doses could help vaccinate children, or serve as booster doses if those become necessary to fight variants of the virus. 

There’s also the issue of other countries. “If we have a surplus we’re going to share it with the rest of the world,” Biden said, noting the US has already committed $4 billion to Covax, the United Nations program for distributing the vaccine across the world. 

“This is not something that can be stopped by a fence, no matter how high you build a fence or a wall,” Biden said. “So we’re not going to be ultimately safe until the world is safe. We’re going to start off making sure Americans are taken care of first, but we’re then going to try to help the rest of the world.”

Primetime speech coming tomorrow: Previewing his primetime address to the nation on Thursday night, Biden said he is “going to talk about what comes next. I’m going to launch the next phase of the COVID response and explain what we will do as a government, and what we will ask of the American people.” 

Read more here. 

 

Backup plan: First study subjects receive modified Moderna vaccine to fight South Africa variant

Moderna announced Wednesday that it has administered the first doses to study participants of a modified vaccine designed to fight coronavirus variants.

Details: The company said it is observing the efficacy of two different modified vaccines in a small study involving 60 people who already received the original vaccine.

Some of the participants will get a booster dose of a modified vaccine designed specifically to fight a variant of the virus first identified in South Africa. This variant has been shown to reduce the immune response provoked by the original Moderna vaccine to some degree.

Other participants will get a booster dose that combines the modified vaccine with the original vaccine in order to produce a “multivalent” vaccine designed to fight multiple strains at once.

Why the study is needed: Moderna says studies have shown its original vaccine can protect against the variants, but there is still a six-fold reduction in the level of antibodies produced against the South African strain.

Therefore, “out of an abundance of caution,” the company has said it is preparing a booster dose specifically targeted against that strain if need be.

Read more here. 

 

Federal health officials encourage nursing homes to resume allowing indoor visits

Biden administration health officials Wednesday encouraged nursing homes to resume in-person visits. The new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service cites slowing infection rates and increased vaccinations as justification for allowing indoor visitors. 

Health officials “recognized that physical separation from family and other loved ones has taken a physical and emotional toll on residents and their families,” according to a statement.

Why now: CMS said the new guidance comes after three million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been distributed to nursing home residents.

While “outdoor visitation is preferred,” the agencies said that may not be practical because of weather or a resident’s health.

Even as President Biden and top health officials continue to urge caution, the guidance is the latest sign that the administration sees the need for strict health precautions waning. 

Read more here.

 

What we’re reading

Obamacare’s about to get a lot more affordable. These maps show how. (New York Times)

‘Then the world caved in’: 9 experts describe the day they realized Covid-19 was here to stay (Stat) 

Pfizer’s newest vaccine plant has persistent mold issues, history of recalls (Kaiser Health News)

 

State by state

Michigan vaccine hunters and angels help seniors find coronavirus vaccine appointments (M Live) 

New guidance announced for in-person learning in Illinois schools amid pandemic (NBC 5)

Arizona Gov. Ducey apologizes for COVID vaccine registration woes (Associated Press)