| House Democrats call on Biden to add Medicare-related provisions to economic plan A group of progressive and moderate House Democrats organized a letter calling on President Biden and Vice President Harris to lower Medicare's eligibility age and expand its benefits as part of the upcoming American Families Plan. "Now is a historic opportunity to also make an important expansion of Medicare that will guarantee health care for millions of older adults and people with disabilities struggling with the health and economic realities of the COVID-19 pandemic," the Democrats wrote. The lawmakers pointed to a study from Stanford University that found many people under the age of 65 wait until they have Medicare coverage to undergo diagnostic tests to determine whether they have diseases like cancer. They also argued for expanding the benefits offered by Medicare, citing reports that the majority of people who need hearing or dental devices do not have them. Notable names: Progressive Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) was joined by Joe Neguse (Colo.), who serves in House leadership, as well as moderates Jared Golden (Maine) and Conor Lamb (Pa.). Context: Democrats are lobbying hard to influence the legislation ahead of President Biden's speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Campaign promise: Biden had vowed during his campaign to get rid of the "outrageous exception" that allowed pharmaceutical companies to avoid negotiating with Medicare over drug prices. Read more here. Post-pause hesitation? Poll shows few unvaccinated Americans willing to get Johnson & Johnson vaccine Few Americans who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 say they are willing to take the Johnson & Johnson vaccine following the temporary pause in its distribution due to rare blood clots. Just 22 percent of unvaccinated Americans in a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted before the pause ended said that they would be willing to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Almost three in four — 73 percent — said they were unwilling. Slightly fewer than half of all the adults surveyed also said they consider the Johnson & Johnson vaccine very or somewhat safe. Additionally, more than 7 in 10 respondents say they regard each of the other two vaccines that have been approved in the U.S., one by Moderna and another by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, to be very or somewhat safe. Background: The CDC and FDA lifted their recommended pause of Johnson & Johnson vaccinations last Friday after analyzing data from less than 20 rare cases of blood clots out of the millions of vaccinations administered. What this means: Concerns about how the pause would affect vaccine hesitancy may have been justified, although polls from last week indicated the decision wouldn't affect most people's willingness to get their COVID-19 shot. Read more here. What we're reading Two die and more than 100 test positive in coronavirus outbreak among US diplomatic staff in India (CNN) Amid 'heartbreaking' coronavirus surge in India, government orders Twitter to remove posts critical of response (Washington Post) Latin America's vaccine shortage threatens fragile revival as pandemic rages (Reuters) State by state Spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations in Washington state at a 'worrisome' rate (NBC 5) Black Cleveland Churches Serve as a Sanctuary from COVID Vaccination Disparity (WKSU) Minnesota reports third COVID-19 death of a child (Star Tribune) | 
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