 Welcome to Thursday's Overnight Health Care. It's been a whole year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The end is on the horizon, but we're not quite there yet. Follow us on Twitter at @PeterSullivan4 and @NateWeixel. President Biden thinks we can get back to a semblance of normal by July 4. Xavier Becerra is one step closer to confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary, there's good news from Novavax and Pfizer, and Biden signed the COVID-19 relief package into law. We’ll start with tonight’s big speech. Return to normal by July 4? President Biden on Thursday evening will direct states to make all adults eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine by May 1, with the possibility of an incremental return to normal by the Fourth of July holiday. States have been enforcing rigid prioritization groups as a way to ration the limited supply of vaccine available, but senior administration officials are confident the nation will soon get a major boost. During his first primetime address to the nation tonight, Biden will say that because of his administration's efforts, the country is on track to return to some semblance of normality much earlier than expected. The path forward: Biden will direct states to make all adults eligible for shots no later than May 1, announce plans to surge vaccinators and increase locations where Americans can get their shot, and preview the creation of a government-run website and call center to help individuals find a vaccine appointment. Full freedom on the Fourth? Not quite. The administration is still urging people to exercise caution. A senior administration official told reporters the president will talk about small gatherings, like backyard barbecues, not massively crowded events like concerts or baseball games. The threat of the virus will be less, but the public will still likely need to avoid large gatherings by Independence Day and the country’s progress is dependent on continued mask-wearing and widespread vaccinations in the interim. Read more here.
Biden signs $1.9 trillion relief bill into law President Biden on Thursday signed his $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package into law, marking a significant legislative accomplishment for the new president as he looks to shepherd the country through the pandemic. Biden, who signed the bill alongside Vice President Harris in the Oval Office, characterized the measure as historic legislation aimed at “rebuilding the backbone of this country.” “In the weeks that this bill has been discussed and debated, it is clear that an overwhelming percentage of the American people … have made it clear they strongly support the American Rescue Plan,” Biden said in brief remarks before signing the bill. “Their voices were heard.” The sweeping bill, which Biden proposed in January before taking office, includes funding for $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, vaccine distribution efforts, school reopenings, enhanced unemployment benefits through September and state and local governments, along with an expansion of the child tax credit and an expansion of ObamaCare, among other provisions. Read more here.
A big boost for Becerra’s nomination: Manchin and Collins will support him Both Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), two key centrists, said they would support Xavier Becerra’s nomination for secretary of Health and Human Services on Thursday, paving the way to his confirmation, likely next week. Collins said she decided to vote to confirm Becerra after several conversations with him on a range of issues, including lowering prescription drug costs and expanding health care access to rural areas across the country. She is the first Republican to come out in support of his confirmation. “During our one-on-one meeting, and in three subsequent conversations, Mr. Becerra and I discussed several shared goals that I hope we can accomplish in the Biden Administration. They include lowering the price of prescription drugs for patients and reducing our dependence on foreign countries for drug manufacturing," she said in a statement. "I also urged Mr. Becerra to support additional funding for health care providers during the pandemic, particularly in rural areas." While the Maine Republican recognized she and Becerra have “disagreements” on a number of issues, she said she concluded that “he merits confirmation as HHS Secretary.” For Manchin’s part, he said: “While Attorney General Xavier Becerra and I have very different records on issues like abortion and the Second Amendment, he has affirmed to me his dedication to working with members on both sides of the aisle to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the numerous needs of our nation in a bipartisan way.” Read more here. Novavax vaccine highly effective in UK trial, but drops against South Africa variant Novavax said Thursday that final data from a trial in the United Kingdom shows its COVID-19 vaccine is almost 90 percent effective, but the vaccine was far less effective in a separate trial in South Africa, given the virus variant there that has raised concerns about weakening vaccines. The data from the U.K. trial was very strong, and similar to interim data released in January. The final data showed the vaccine is 96 percent effective against the original virus strain, and 86 percent effective against the variant identified in the U.K., for overall effectiveness of 89.7 percent. In South Africa, where a concerning variant is highly prevalent, the effectiveness was far lower, at 48.6 percent, though it was a little higher, at 55 percent, among people who did not have HIV. Key point: Stopping severe disease. The data released Thursday show that the vaccine still had 100 protection against severe cases, even in the South African study. Many experts have pointed to strong effectiveness against severe cases across multiple vaccines as among the most important data points, given that keeping people out of the hospital and preventing them from dying is the ultimate goal. Read more here. Good news from Pfizer too: Coronavirus vaccine 97 percent effective at preventing illness in Israel The coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is extremely effective at preventing severe disease in a real-world setting, the companies said Thursday, and protection kicks in two weeks after the second dose. The companies said an analysis of data from Israel showed the shot was at least 97 percent effective in preventing symptomatic disease, severe or critical disease and death, and that the impact from two doses is better than a single dose. The findings essentially match the 95 percent efficacy the companies reported from the vaccine’s late-stage clinical trial in December, which set the stage for authorization in the U.S. Preventing transmission: The data, which were announced in a press release and not peer reviewed, also showed that the vaccine was 94 percent effective at preventing asymptomatic infections, a crucial sign that it could be helping to limit transmission of the virus. Israeli success: Israel has been leading the world in vaccinations and agreed to collect and share the real-world data from its rollout. The country began giving shots to everyone over the age of 16 in December. It is essentially giving real time data to the vaccine's effectiveness. Read more here. A worrisome sign on vaccine hesitancy: 49 percent of GOP men say they won't get vaccinated in a PBS poll Nearly half of U.S. men who identify as Republicans said they have no plans to get the coronavirus vaccine, according to a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released Thursday. The study, which surveyed 1,227 U.S. adults from March 3 to March 8, found that approximately 30 percent of Americans overall said they do not plan on getting vaccinated. The poll found a higher amount of opposition among Republicans, with 41 percent saying they would not get one of the three federally approved coronavirus vaccines and 49 percent of Republican men saying the same. Fifty percent of GOP men said they would get the vaccine or had already got it. One percent was unsure. Comparatively, about 87 percent of Democrats included in the survey said they planned on getting the COVID-19 vaccine or had already received it. Among Republicans overall, 56 percent said they would get the vaccine or already had got the vaccine. The hesitancy toward getting a vaccine may provide an obstacle to combating the virus nationally as the Biden administration attempts to ramp up vaccine distribution across the country, including through funding to state and local government through the sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that President Biden signed into law Thursday afternoon. Read more here.
What we’re reading Biden’s COVID bill fixes Obamacare’s biggest flaw (Slate) EU regulator recommends J&J coronavirus vaccine for use (Politico) I.O.C. will buy coronavirus vaccines from China for Olympians (New York Times) State by state Wisconsin greatly expands coronavirus vaccine eligibility (Associated Press) Pa. seniors are ‘at their wit’s ends’ trying to get coronavirus vaccines (Philadelphia Inquirer) In stinging rebuke, Baker administration denies teachers’ request that they receive vaccinations at their schools (Boston Globe) Op-eds in The Hill The CDC and COVID-19: Not ready a year ago, but too restrictive today? Biden should mark COVID's anniversary: It's been good to him and Democrats | 
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