WHITE HOUSE COURTS MAJOR MEDIA TO TAMP DOWN DELTA ALARM — The Biden administration is privately ramping up outreach to major media outlets after a spate of alarming reports about the Delta variant and breakthrough infections that officials worry will slow their vaccination campaign, Christopher Cadelago reports.
The White House began a series of briefings Monday and into Tuesday with all the major TV networks — including Fox News — as well as other newsroom leaders about their recent Covid coverage, according to three sources familiar with the meetings. The “deep background” briefings are led in part by Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and focus largely on variants and vaccination, one source told POLITICO. What has officials worried: The concerning headlines and reports emphasized the number of breakthrough infections. Administration officials feared the news stories and social media posts promoting them would further hamper their efforts to convince unvaccinated people to get the shots. The officials first pushed back on Twitter, and then later in a CNN report where aides aired their frustrations. A seven-slide deck used by the administration for the media briefings and obtained by Christopher stresses that the virus the country is battling today is much different than before: The Delta variant spreads much more easily than others, but vaccines are still extremely effective. The message is clear: According to one slide, the administration is telling news producers and reporters in the briefings that while breakthrough infections are expected, they are rare, and nearly all are mild cases. “The greater the percentage of people vaccinated, the higher the absolute number of breakthrough infections,” a key passage in one slide reads. “This does not necessarily mean that there is a greater proportion of breakthrough infections.” SCHUMER THREATENS AUGUST IN D.C. TO MOVE INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE — With the upper chamber closing in on President Joe Biden’s long-sought, $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure plan and readying a budget to set up a companion $3.5 trillion domestic spending plan, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has a simple weapon: Keeping senators in Washington until they finish the job. Setting the schedule is one of Schumer’s most valuable tools in a 50-50 Senate, writes Burgess Everett. Still, the August schedule was mired in new uncertainty on Monday after bipartisan bill backer Graham tested positive for a breakthrough Covid infection following several days close to some of his colleagues. Next weekend could be spent in session to continue grinding through the Senate's to-do list, Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said. The bipartisan infrastructure bill clocks in at 2,702 pages, and legislation of that complexity would typically take several weeks on the Senate floor. The budget resolution normally takes the better part of a week to pass, with 50 hours of debate and the possibility of unlimited amendments being offered. “I don’t see any way this winds down at the end of the week,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). Still, he conceded that senators will get sick of each other “probably pretty fast.” BIDEN ADMIN TO REQUIRE HOSPITALS REPORT VACCINATIONS — CMS finalized a plan requiring hospitals and long-term care hospitals to report the vaccination rates of workers in their facilities starting Oct. 1. The move would let patients see the vaccination rates of health care personnel in the medical centers they visit, and comes as pressure grows on facilities to mandate vaccines for health workers. Last week, nearly 60 medical groups urged hospitals and nursing homes to mandate shots for their employees. HHS WATCHDOG PROBING MIGRANT CHILD FACILITY — The HHS inspector general is opening a review of the facility for unaccompanied children at Fort Bliss, following whistleblower complaints about the site’s poor conditions. The site was one of about a dozen emergency facilities contracted by the health department earlier this year to manage a record influx of migrant children. But it’s since come under fire over reports of sparse conditions and concerns about the mental health of thousands of children held there, with Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) at one point calling the prolonged stays for some of the kids “alarming.” “We take seriously the concerns raised by individuals regarding the quality of case management at Fort Bliss Emergency Intake Center and the potentially negative impact on children’s health, safety and well-being,” an IG spokesperson said. The office is expected to conclude its review before the end of the year.
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