Many unvaccinated Americans don’t care about Delta — Doctors say think small (vials) for next stages — Lobbyists complain about travel barriers

From: POLITICO Pulse - Monday Jul 19,2021 02:19 pm

Jul 19, 2021

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Quick Fix

— Delta variant concerns aren’t motivating many unvaccinated Americans, flying in the face of Biden messaging strategies.

— State officials and doctors say smaller vials can help with the next stages, but costs for that shift are prohibitive.

— Industry groups demanding relaxed travel barriers are increasingly frustrated with Covid-19 czar Jeff Zients.

WELCOME TO MONDAY PULSE — Our [wo]man crush Monday is for Olivia Rodrigo. Send tips (and crushes?) to sowermohle@politico.com and acancryn@politico.com.

A message from PhRMA:

In Washington, there’s often a big difference between what politicians say and what they mean. Politicians are saying they’ll negotiate medicine prices in Medicare. But it really means the government could stand between you and your medicines. There’s a better way to help patients. See how.

Driving the Day

POLL: UNVAXXED AMERICANS AREN’T MOVED BY DELTA WORRIES — Unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Americans are the least concerned about the more contagious Delta variant, according to a CBS news poll that lays out a stark contrast as the Biden administration struggles to motivate ambivalent adults.

While 48 percent of "not fully/not vaccinated" respondents said they were concerned about the Delta variant, 72 percent of fully vaccinated Americans are worried, Myah Ward writes.

Backdrop: Sixty eight percent of U.S. adults have gotten Covid-19 shots, but vaccination rates fell off dramatically in recent weeks: Daily vaccinations now total roughly half a million, down from a mid-April peak of 3.3 million doses a day.

The administration’s tactics to motivate vaccinations (besides Olivia Rodrigo) have largely focused on telling people that they don’t have to worry about new variants if they got the shots. President Joe Biden said Friday that the "only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated” — but that message isn’t resonating with its intended audience.

But overall, most American approve of Biden’s response. More than half think his vaccination focus is “about right” while 66 percent score his handling of the pandemic high. Yet 57 percent of Republicans believe the president is doing “too much.”

The poll of 2,238 U.S. adults was conducted by YouGov from July 14-17. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

TO REACH THEM: THINK SMALL, SAY DOCTORS — State officials and physicians hoping to pick up lagging vaccination rates have asked the administration for the same thing: smaller vaccine vials. But don’t hold your breath.

Why: They argue that smaller vials would enable more primary care offices, pharmacies and mobile clinics to administer shots when they find a willing patient, without having to worry about whether they would risk wasting other doses in the vial (from J&J’s five-dose vial to Moderna’s 15) while much of the world is still desperate for vaccines, Dan Goldberg and Sarah write. Once the vials are opened, the Pfizer and J&J vaccines must be used within six hours, and Moderna’s within 12 hours.

And why it won’t happen anytime soon: Biden officials and pharmaceutical experts say it’ll take years and cost billions of dollars to change up production lines — an effort further complicated by a shortage of everything from glass to staff to production space.

“Theoretically smaller vials make sense in the normal course of practice. But to do vaccinations at the volume we’ve been doing it — it’s just not practical,” said a senior administration official.

Wasted doses weren’t a concern when the vaccines were rolled out — we rejoiced this winter when Pfizer and Moderna announced extra doses in their vials — but the new dilemma is a sign of how rapidly the vaccination effort has changed.

Instead , Biden officials have pressed pharmaceutical companies to supply smaller packs of vaccines — so the same multi-dose vials but in batches of several hundred rather than a thousand delivered to different sites. But uptake on those smaller packs has been surprisingly slow, said the senior official, attributing it to states already laying out allocation frameworks based on larger orders.

Still, the administration anticipates that smaller batches will be vital as efforts shift this fall to vaccinating children and supplying shots through pediatricians’ offices. “We want to be sure every pediatrician has this available,” the official said.

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

LOBBIES PRESS ZIENTS ON REOPENING BARRIERS — The White House is resisting lifting U.S. travel bans on a broad swath of foreign countries — and critics point to Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus pandemic response.

Some of them have grown so frustrated with Zients that they said they’ve begun discussing ways to go around him and take their case to other top administration officials instead, Anita Kumar and Theodoric Meyer write.

But pressure is growing. A rising chorus from Congress, European governments, the travel industry and stranded individuals is urging the White House to lift the restrictions — particularly on Canada and much of Europe, where vaccine rates are relatively high. They argue that the bans are costing billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and separating families. The administration set up four working groups last month to work with other countries to lift restrictions.

It is thorny territory — for instance, Biden officials have repeatedly ruled out so-called vaccine passports that might simplify travel barriers but have raised conservatives' outcry about government outreach.

“I do think ultimately, yeah, Zients is the decision maker,” an airline lobbyist said. “He’s certainly been the one [airline] CEOs have met with and talked to.”

The White House did not directly address the criticisms of Zients but said it is focused on restarting international travel safely. “We take incredibly seriously these decisions and the interagency working groups are united behind and steadfastly focused on getting this right,” said spokesperson Kevin Munoz.

ON TAP: WALENSKY HEADLINES CHILDHOOD VACCINE TOWN HALL — The CDC director speaks today at a town hall aimed at encouraging employers to make childhood vaccinations — from Covid-19 shots to those missed during the pandemic — more accessible.

Walensky and other speakers are expected to call on businesses to employ onsite or mobile vaccination options, time off, and transportation to motivate vaccinations. The event is hosted by the Health Action Alliance, Business Roundtable and American Academy of Pediatrics.

Around the Nation

CDC ALLOWED TO ENFORCE CRUISE LIMITS — A late-night order from a federal appeals court this weekend dealt a major setback to Florida’s effort to lift restrictions the federal government imposed on the cruise ship industry in order to prevent outbreaks of the coronavirus, Josh Gerstein writes.

The panel voted 2-1 to stay an order a federal judge in Tampa issued last month blocking the CDC’s framework for allowing cruises to resume. In a one-page order the judges wrote that the federal government had made “the requisite showing” to obtain a stay allowing the CDC rules to remain in effect.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has portrayed the lawsuit as an effort to rescue the cruise industry from the impact of the rules the CDC has imposed, but cruise operators have not rushed to back the challenge.

Indeed, just last week, Norwegian Cruise Lines filed a suit aimed at blocking DeSantis’s policy forbidding Florida businesses — including cruise ships sailing from the state — from insisting that patrons be vaccinated. The cruise line said it wants to impose such rules in order to address travelers' safety concerns.

LA OFFICIAL DEFENDS NEW MASK MANDATE — The reimposed rule is unfortunate but necessary , Hilda Solis, the chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, told ABC’s Martha Raddatz. "We still have 4 million people out of 10 million that haven't been vaccinated."

Just over half of the county’s population is fully vaccinated, but the new order doesn’t distinguish between the groups: Masks are now required in all indoor settings, except when eating or drinking.

"I'm not pleased that we have to go back to using the masks in this manner, but, nonetheless, it's going to save lives," Solis said. "And right now, that to me, is what's most important. And really getting more people to understand that they have to get vaccinated."

A message from PhRMA:

Under Medicare Part D, seniors and people with disabilities have coverage for a vast number of prescription medicines they pick up at the pharmacy. Wide choice of plans and robust coverage of medicines is possible, in part, because of a protection in the Medicare statute known as the non-interference clause. Now, some want to repeal this provision, saying the government will “negotiate” lower medicine prices. What they really mean is they want to repeal the part that protects robust coverage and choice of plans for seniors and people with disabilities. People want choice, access and affordability when it comes to their medicines in Medicare, not barriers. There’s a better way to help patients. See how.

What We're Reading

Three Texas House Democrats who fled the state for D.C. last week to break quorum and block a GOP bill have tested positive for Covid-19, Nicole Cobler and Madlin Mekelburg write in the Austin American-Statesman.

Covid-19 boosters will be here soon whether they are needed or not due to an “ outdated, 60-year-old basic standard that the F.D.A. uses to authorize medicines for sale”: whether a product is safe and effective, Elizabeth Rosenthal writes in the New York Times’ opinion pages.

Arizona this weekend reported over 1,000 new Covid-19 cases for the fourth straight day, with officials attributing it to Delta variant spread and Fourth of July get-togethers, the Associated Press reported.

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