Health Care — Presented by Consumers for Quality Care — FDA panel pushes COVID shot updates

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View Online Health Care Health Care   PRESENTED BY  The Big Story  FDA panel says it's time to update COVID-19 shots The independent panel tasked with making recommendations to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about vaccines voted unanimously in favor of updating the COVID vaccine strains to only include a newer strain of the virus, leaving behind the original ancestral Wuhan strain. © Getty The panel — the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) — recommended that the next round of COVID vaccinations should only include protection aimed at the XBB strains.   "For practical purposes, you can see that this current selection will likely take us into the new year and hopefully we won't have something appear in the next two or three months that will require us to scramble," committee member Peter Marks, director of the director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said Thursday.   While the FDA is not required to abide by the committee's recommendations, it almost always does so.   The public health emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic has since expired, and federal health officials now have the challenge of predicting which strain of SARS-CoV-2 will be dominant in the U.S. this coming winter when respiratory viral infections rise.   This winter will be the first test to see if the U.S. can effectively treat COVID-19 similarly to how it treats the influenza virus, with an annually updated vaccine tailored to combat the latest mutations.   During the meeting on Thursday, representatives from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax said they will have the supplies for an XBB-specific vaccine campaign this winter.   The panel did not choose a specific subvariant of the XBB variant to target. Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: Texas bans transgender women, girls from collegiate athletics Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Thursday signed legislation prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in collegiate athletics, building on a 2021 law that requires public school sports teams through high school to be designated by students' sex assigned at birth. Texas's Senate Bill 15, also known as the state's "Save Women's Sports Act," mandates that intercollegiate athletes participate only on sports teams matching …  Full Story Cancer rates are climbing among young people. It's not clear why. Vanessa Chapoy had just turned 24 when she felt the lump in her breast. It was "huge," she remembers, "like the size of a walnut, or a big marble." She went to the first in a series of doctors that night to have it checked out. Two-and-a-half weeks later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Stage two, she would learn. "And my whole world flipped upside down," Chapoy says. She entered a gauntlet of treatments: a lumpectomy …  Full Story Criminal justice reform groups urge FDA to reconsider ban on flavored tobacco products  A coalition of leading criminal justice reform groups has sent a letter to President Biden slamming the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) proposed ban on flavored tobacco products, warning it will lead to more overpolicing in communities of color.   Full Story Harris to mark anniversary of abortion ruling with North Carolina speech Vice President Harris will mark one year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with a trip to North Carolina to rally abortion advocates as the state prepares to enact its own ban on the procedure. Harris will travel to Charlotte, a White House official said, to deliver what is being billed as a "major speech" focused on the Biden administration's efforts to protect abortion access and Republican efforts to push "extreme …  Full Story A MESSAGE FROM CONSUMERS FOR QUALITY CARE When Hospitals Act Like Big Businesses, Patients Lose Across the country, hospitals are prioritizing profits over patients. Join us on June 22 for a panel discussion on the need to recenter our hospital system around patient care, followed by a screening of the documentary film InHospitable. Register now. In Other News  Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Confidence in science fell in 2022 while political divides persisted, poll shows NEW YORK (AP) — Confidence in the scientific community declined among U.S. adults in 2022, a major survey shows, driven by a partisan divide in views of both science and medicine that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 39% of U.S. adults said they had "a great deal of confidence" in the scientific community, down from 48% in … Full Story Around the Nation  Local and state headlines on health care: Mississippi community workers battle maternal mortality crisis (Roll Call) Thousands lose Medicaid in Arkansas: Is this America's future? (Politico) Montana clinics chip away at refugees' obstacles to dental care (KFF Health News) What We're Reading  Health news we've flagged from other outlets: Documents show how conservative doctors influenced abortion, trans rights (The Washington Post) The Moral Crisis of America's Doctors (The New York Times) Abortion care training is banned in some states. A new bill could help OB-GYNs get it (NPR) What Others are Reading  Most read stories on The Hill right now: Senate GOP fears House actions could lead to shutdown: 'It's going to be a problem' Senate Republicans are worried the House GOP’s decision to write government funding bills at levels below those laid out in the recently passed … Read more Karl Rove in Journal op-ed: Trump 'will pay a high price' in Mar-a-Lago case Former George W. Bush aide Karl Rove warned in a new op-ed that former President Trump's federal indictment over his mishandling of classified documents … Read more Next Week: The Hill's Future of Health Care Summit  Thursday, June 22, 2023, 8-11 a.m. ET | National Press Club Ballroom & streaming online Join us for The Hill's largest health event of the year, bringing together policymakers and health experts for a discussion on advancing access, health equity, preparedness and resetting the care paradigm. Speakers include former Surgeon General Jerome Adams (appearing virtually), former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, George Washington University Hospital emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen and more. REGISTER NOW   You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Check out The Hill's Health Care page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? 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