| | | | | | | Presented By Emergent BioSolutions | | | | Axios Vitals | | By Tina Reed · Jun 30, 2022 | | Good morning, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 930 words or a 3.5-minute read. 🚘 An important statistic: Between 25% and 40% of all fatal road injuries globally could be prevented by targeting speeding, drunk driving, and the non-use of crash helmets and seat belts, a new study in The Lancet says. - Improving seat belt use would be particularly helpful in the U.S., saving about 14,121 annually, they say. Don't forget to buckle up this holiday weekend!
| | | | | | 1 big thing: Companies face abortion coverage quandary |  | | | Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios | | | | 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, Axios' Arielle Dreher, Emily Peck and I write. - 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 workplace-sponsored care.
Why it matters: It's not entirely clear how things will shake out for some of the 155 million non-elderly Americans who get health coverage through their jobs, adding a new wrinkle into an already turbulent labor market. What they're saying: "It seems there is an open question with criminal charges and whether these (policies) would be considered aiding someone who is getting an abortion," Joelle Abramowitz, a University of Michigan economist who studies health insurance, told Axios. - "The only way we're going to really find this out is to have these laws in place and have them be challenged and have this go through the legal system," she said.
Between the lines: A company likely can't get in trouble just for having a policy to cover abortion or associated travel costs. But it's possible that employer could be compelled to share information in a criminal investigation. - "HIPAA may not act as a shield in protecting patient and plan information if the plan is confronted with a subpoena or a court order in connection with legitimate state law enforcement activity," Seth Perretta, an attorney at Groom Law Group who counsels employers and health insurers, told Axios.
The bottom line: Some employers have clearly embraced the moment by making statements of coverage. - But, but, but: "I wouldn't be surprised to see some employers stop covering abortion given that potential risk," Abramowitz said.
Go deeper. |     | | | | | | 2. Lawmakers eye health spending bill | | House appropriators today are due to mark up a fiscal 2023 spending bill covering HHS that would allocate $242.1 billion to beef up public health infrastructure, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes. 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. Details: The House Democrats' spending plan provides $124.2 billion for HHS, an increase of $15.6 billion above enacted levels. - CDC would get a $2 billion bump to $10.5 billion, with half of the increase going toward public health data, workforce and other infrastructure needs.
- NIH would be in line for a $2.5 billion increase, to $47.5 billion, with cancer and Alzheimer's research each getting substantially more funding.
- The bill includes $2.75 billion for ARPA-H, an increase of $1.75 billion, focused on accelerating research on ALS, Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer.
- The Democrats' bill again excludes the Hyde amendment, a provision that bans federal funding for most abortions. But the language is expected to be revived by Republicans as the debate winds through the 50-50 Senate.
| | | | | | | | 3. Testing to begin on universal COVID vaccines |  | | | Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios | | | | 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. - The company said it wants to provide "durable variant protection," according to Reuters, which first reported the news.
Why it matters: Creating a vaccine that works against a variety of coronaviruses, including COVID-19, represents a holy grail — particularly as new variants threaten to outrun our current arsenal of vaccines. State of play: Universal vaccines have been studied with limited success for years, but they are gaining renewed investment and research interest. - A pan-coronavirus vaccine, being developed at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, was planned for a Phase 1 clinical trial in April, CNN reported.
- The NIH announced this week the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial to test the safety of a universal flu vaccine candidate, as well as its ability to prompt immune responses.
- "The scientific community is making progress on this pressing global health priority," said NIAID director Anthony Fauci in a statement.
Be smart: As Axios' Caitlin Owens wrote last year, some experts say making a universal coronavirus vaccine may be easier than making a universal flu vaccine, especially given all that's been learned over the last two years. | | | | | | | | A message from Emergent BioSolutions | | Providing biodefense protection for soldiers and civilians | | |  | | | | For decades, Emergent has provided bio-defense preparedness. Why it's important: By developing, manufacturing and strengthening medical countermeasure stockpiles, we can help protect against serious public health threats. Learn more. | | | | | | 4. Biden admin orders $3.2B in new COVID shots | | 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, Adriel writes. The big picture: The vaccines could include updated shots for Omicron, pending FDA authorization, and would remain free to eligible U.S. residents. Catch up: With a request for more COVID-19 funding gridlocked in Congress, the Biden administration has been pulling money from testing and other preparedness programs to ensure treatments remain available this fall. - "Today's order will not purchase enough vaccines to offer one of these new booster shots to every adult and unfortunately, comes at the expense of continued funding for other critical pandemic response needs like testing manufacturing and domestic vaccine manufacturing," White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said in a statement.
- Under the agreement, the U.S. government has the option to purchase another 195 million doses, bringing the total number of potential doses to 300 million.
| | | | | | | | 5. Catch up quick |  | | | A student receives an oral cholera vaccine from a health worker in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The government is set to start administering a campaign to reduce the incidences of diarrhea and cholera in the country. Photo: Sazzad Hossain/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images | | | | 💊 Regulatory bodies around the world that oversee drugmakers are fueled by industry money and connections, raising questions about their independence, an investigation found. (BMJ) 👎 Senators killed a sweeping plan to reshape sprawling VA health care system. (Washington Post) 📉 Rite Aid is closing stores and trying to find new ways to increase revenue amid widening losses. (WSJ) | | | | | | | | A message from Emergent BioSolutions | | Providing biodefense protection for soldiers and civilians | | | | | | | | For decades, Emergent has provided bio-defense preparedness. Why it's important: By developing, manufacturing and strengthening medical countermeasure stockpiles, we can help protect against serious public health threats. Learn more. | | |  | It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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