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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Vaccines Coming Soon but COVID Relief Bill Still Stalled


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The first vaccine to protect against COVID-19 could be approved in the U.S. within days, but legislation to help fund its distribution remains mired in Congress.

And President-elect Joe Biden has tapped California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his secretary of Health and Human Services. The choice of Becerra, who served 12 terms in the House of Representatives, is being criticized by Republicans for his support of single-payer health care.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

Also this week, Rovner interviews Michael Mackert, director of the Center for Health Communication at the University of Texas-Austin and a professor both at the Dell Medical School and the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: Politico’s “How Biden Aims to Covid-Proof His Administration,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein and Daniel Lippman

Kimberly Leonard: Business Insider’s “Here’s How the GSA Plans to Disinfect the White House Between Trump’s Departure and Biden’s Arrival,” by Robin Bravender and Kimberly Leonard

Mary Ellen McIntire: The Atlantic’s “The Danger of Assuming That Family Time Is Dispensable,” by Julia Marcus

Joanne Kenen: The New Yorker’s “How Will We Tell the Story of the Coronavirus?” by Andrew Dickson


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This story was produced by KHN (Kaiser Health News), a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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