 Welcome to Tuesday’s Overnight Health Care, where every three-day weekend feels like five minutes in the pandemic time loop. The Biden administration announced it would increase the number of vaccine doses to states, and the Senate health committee announced a hearing for Biden’s nominee for HHS secretary. Meanwhile, the ObamaCare special enrollment started this week. Let’s start with vaccine news: The Biden administration will increase the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses going to states this week. States will receive 13.6 million doses per week starting this week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday. The current shipment is about 11 million doses. That marks a 57 percent increase over the amount states were getting when Biden first took office, Psaki said. Why it matters: The increased shipment comes as the U.S. faces more contagious COVID-19 variants. While case numbers have dipped in recent weeks, experts expect the drop to be temporary. Governors have been pleading for more vaccine doses, but the administration is limited to how much it can give because of the limited supply. Read more more here.
Becerra to get key committee hearing next week President Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services will get a hearing before the Senate Health Committee Feb. 23. Xavier Becerra, who is California’s attorney general and a former member of the House, has already faced pushback from the GOP, signaling a rocky confirmation process ahead. Republicans point to the 100-plus lawsuits Becerra filed against the Trump administration as California’s top law enforcement officer, and his support for abortion rights and Medicare for All. They also argue he is unqualified because he doesn’t have any health care experience. Becerra can be confirmed if he gets the support of all 50 Senate Democrats, with Vice President Harris as the tie-breaking vote, if need be. Still, a handful of Senate Republicans have voted to confirm some of Biden’s other nominees, so it seems likely a few will support Becerra as well. There are some hopeful trends out there: Average of daily new coronavirus cases below 90K for first time since November The seven-day average number of coronavirus cases reported in the U.S. has fallen below 90,000 for the first time since November. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day average as of Sunday was 87,845 cases. The daily number of new coronavirus cases dropped below 100,000 last week, also for the first time since late November. The last time Johns Hopkins recorded fewer than 100,000 daily cases was on Nov. 2. Just under 87,000 cases were reported on Feb. 7. But there are warning signs, too: The rise of new, more contagious variants threatens to reverse the recent progress and cause a new spike. The magnitude of that increase is not yet clear, and depends in part on how fast the US can vaccinate people and how well people follow precautions. Read more here. ACA special enrollment begins People interested in signing up for health insurance have until May 15 to enroll at Healthcare.gov under a special ObamaCare enrollment period launched by the Biden administration. Biden had vowed to reopen the marketplaces and invest millions of dollars in helping sign up for plans, something the Trump administration resisted doing. “After four years of attacks on Americans’ health care and amid the pandemic, this special enrollment period will help Americans secure some peace of mind as we work to beat the pandemic and strengthen and build on the Affordable Care Act,” the White House said in a statement.
Remember all those COVID cases in the Trump White House? Fauci says he was nervous about catching the virus there Anthony Fauci said in an interview with “Axios on HBO” that he worried about contracting the coronavirus during the Trump administration because of its lax approach to the virus. Fauci, who is 80 years old and has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for more than three decades, said his age category was always in the back of his mind particularly when he visited the White House under then-President Trump. “I think you’d have to be oblivious not to consider the fact that if you get infected that you are already in a category of someone who has a high risk of having a serious outcome,” Fauci said in the interview, a clip of which was posted Monday. “I didn’t fixate on that, but it was in the back of my mind because I had to be out there, I mean, particularly when I was going to the White House every day when the White House was sort of a superspreader location.” “That made me a little bit nervous,” he continued. Officials in the previous administration did not strictly adhere to public health guidelines, such as mask wearing and refraining from holding large events. White House doctors administered rapid tests for COVID-19 to everyone coming in contact with Trump and then-Vice President Pence, but the strategy did not prevent the coronavirus from eventually spreading within the West Wing. Read more here. Coming soon from our colleague: "Lucky," by No. 1 New York Times bestselling authors Jonathan Allen and The Hill's Amie Parnes, explores Joe Biden's road to the presidency, including the pandemic lockdown that kept him off the campaign trail. Pre-order here for the March release: prh.com/lucky What we’re reading COVID-linked sydrone in children is growing and cases are more severe (The New York Times) Who has died from COVID-19 in the US? (Vox) CDC advisers weigh guidance for delaying second COVID shots (Bloomberg) State by state D.C. region sees lowest number of new coronavirus infections since early November (Washington Post) Ohio creates central coronavirus vaccine registration website, works to add providers (Dayton Daily News) | 
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