BIDEN ADMIN GEARS UP FOR FALL VACCINE CAMPAIGN — The administration has placed its first major order for a variant-tailored vaccine ahead of the expected fall push for boosters. The Department of Health and Human Services will pay $3.2 billion for 105 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccines targeting Omicron, though it’s not clear yet which one — of two in studies — will fill out the order as the companies prepare for Food and Drug Administration guidance and manufacturing switches. An HHS spokesperson said the contract has flexibility so Pfizer and BioNTech “can manufacture whichever vaccine the FDA recommends.” The announcement comes one day after an FDA advisory panel recommended that updated vaccines be used in the country’s next major booster push. Pfizer and BioNTech said this weekend that their two updated vaccines—one targeting just Omicron, one combining that strain with the original virus — are effective against the latest variant but slightly less effective against its subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 What now? Besides securing new vaccines, the administration has to convince people to get them. While nearly 80 percent of eligible Americans have received at least one dose, just over 47 percent have received the full regimen and one booster shot. Uptake is especially slow among children, with just under 30 percent of kids between 5 and 11 considered fully vaccinated, a rate that experts expect will be mirrored in babies and infants. And then there’s money. Health officials caught criticism from Republican lawmakersthis month when they reallocated $10 billion from funding that Congress had appropriated for virus testing and protective gear for antiviral drugs and vaccines. In its Pfizer and BioNTech statement, HHS said the administration was “forced” to reallocate the funds, “pulling billions of dollars from COVID-19 response efforts in order to pay for additional vaccines and treatments. The funding for this new Pfizer contract is being paid for with a portion of that reallocated funding.” HHS ISSUES POST-ROE PRIVACY GUIDANCE — As promised by Secretary Xavier Becerra earlier this week, the agency’s Office for Civil Rights issued privacy guidance for both HIPAA- and non-HIPAA covered data. The guidance attempts to clarify the rights of individuals and health care organizations in the context of the new legal landscape post-Roe, POLITICO’s Ben Leonard writes. The gist: Information falls into two buckets: data covered by the landmark privacy law HIPAA — protected health information from providers or health plans — and data that isn’t covered like internet search history or location information. While the guardrails for HIPAA data are pretty clear, the guidance explains protections for non-HIPAA information, like ways to turn off location services on cellphones and avoid downloading unnecessary apps or allowing location-tracking permissions on those apps. Telemedicine abortion groups shored up privacy defenses in anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling and have urged people seeking abortions to take action to protect their data, Ben writes. But abortion advocates have been pressing the Biden administration for more action that definitively protects services and care. Becerra has also promised to boost access to the abortion pill. PROPOSED HHS BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS CONTRACEPTION — HHS needs to bolster efforts to provide affordable and accessible contraceptive services, House appropriators said in a committee report on the proposed 2023 budget released Wednesday. What’s there: The House Appropriations Committee’s report on the HHS and Labor Department budget said that $25 million of the nearly $2 billion allotments for the Health Resources and Services Administration’s health centers will go toward grants to train health practitioners on how to provide better contraceptive services to patients. The committee also notes the challenge of “contraceptive deserts,” or areas of the country without easily accessible services. The committee asked for an HHS report on how to improve access in those areas within 180 days of the budget’s enactment, plus a report (in 270 days) on estimated Title X funding needs. Some other details: House appropriators chided HHS for not having a chief dental officer and urged the agency to fill the post. The committee also wants a 2024 report on telehealth use and — in a win for President Joe Biden — allotted the requested $3 million for HHS’s new climate change and health equity office. What’s next: The full committee meets this morning to vote on the measure. The Labor-HHS budget is expected to hit the House floor in July along with a pack of other appropriations bills.
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