Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Fauci Thanks US Health Workers for Sacrifices but Admits PPE Shortages Drove Up Death Toll
Exclusive: The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says health workers ‘have lived up to the oath they take’ but says shortages of protective gear have contributed to excess deaths.
‘My Children Were Priceless Jewels’: Three Families Reflect on the Health Workers They Lost
The daughter of an internist in the Bronx, the father of a nurse practitioner in Southern California and the son of a nurse in McAllen, Texas, share how grief over their loved ones’ deaths from covid has affected them.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Health Care as Infrastructure
President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal includes items not traditionally considered “infrastructure,” including a $400 billion expansion of home and community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities, and a $50 billion effort to replace water pipes lined with lead. Meanwhile, the politics of covid-19 are turning to how or whether Americans will need to prove they’ve been vaccinated. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KFF’s Mollyann Brodie about the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor.
‘Go Ahead and Vote Me Out’: What Other Places Can Learn From Santa Rosa’s Tent City
As cities across California wrestle with a crisis of homelessness that has drawn international condemnation, Santa Rosa’s bold experiment with a city-sanctioned encampment suggests a way forward.
Calls Mount for Biden to Track US Health Care Worker Deaths from Covid
As The Guardian and KHN end Lost on the Frontline, a yearlong project to count health care worker deaths in the pandemic, the White House is under pressure to take up the task.
12 Months of Trauma: More Than 3,600 US Health Workers Died in Covid’s First Year
Lost on the Frontline, a yearlong investigation by The Guardian and KHN to count health care worker deaths, ends today. This is what we learned in a year of tracing the lives of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Doctor Survived Cambodia’s Killing Fields, but Not Covid
Dr. Linath Lim came to the U.S. as a refugee after slaving at work camps under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. Even with little English or education when she arrived, Lim put herself through college and medical school. As an internal medicine doctor in California’s Central Valley, she treated farmworkers and other Cambodian refugees.
California Counties a Hodgepodge of Highs and Lows in Vaccinating Vulnerable Seniors
Like many states, California is seeing huge regional variations in covid vaccination rates for people 65 and older. Remote rural counties are in some cases struggling to give away doses to vulnerable seniors, while metropolitan areas often have more demand than supply.
For This Hospice Nurse, the Covid Shot Came Too Late
Antonio Espinoza, a hospice nurse in Southern California, ministered to terminally ill patients, including those with covid. He tested positive for covid five days after getting his first dose of vaccine and died a few weeks later.
How One Indie Artist Used Her Pandemic Lockdown to Create an Album With Global Collaborators
The pandemic-induced lockdowns have only increased the demand for music-streaming services. This independent singer wrote, recorded and produced an album with musicians around the world during the pandemic’s rolling stay-at-home mandates.