Boris Johnson asked why are we destroying the economy for people who will die anyway soon in a March 2020 meeting with Rishi Sunak, the Covid inquiry was told today.
The claim, branded horrific by bereaved families, emerged from notebooks kept by Imran Shafi, Johnsons private secretary for public service.
Shafi was quizzed this afternoon by Hugo Keith KC. His notes from the same Cx [chancellor] bilat meeting record someone, also believed to be Johnson, as having said: We are killing the patient to tackle the tumour.
The inquiry, chaired by Heather Hallett and now into its second module, heard that Johnson had earlier said the biggest damage [from Covid will be] done by overreaction during a meeting on 28 February 2020 where lockdown restrictions were discussed.
The Covid-19 public inquiry is a historic chance to find out what really happened.
Shafi said under questioning that Johnson definitely did not want a lockdown in March 2020, despite being aware that the worst case scenario of hundreds of thousands of deaths was becoming increasingly likely. But he agreed by 2 March 2020 that control had been lost and that nothing short of a lockdown would suffice.
It would be another three weeks before a UK-wide lockdown would be announced.
Given asthmatic childrens susceptibility to respiratory illnesses like the flu, it was assumed theyd be more prone to severe COVID-19 infection. But a new Australian study suggests that, compared to children who dont have asthma, those with the condition are not at greater risk of serious COVID infection.
Many chronic conditions cancer, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease, for example are considered risk factors for COVID-19 infection and can complicate recovery.
Because respiratory infections such as influenza commonly exacerbate asthma symptoms, it was anticipated that asthmatic children, especially, would be predisposed to severe COVID-19. But a recently published large study by researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney suggests this may not be the case.
Children with asthma are generally more susceptible to respiratory illnesses like influenza, so it was initially thought they may be vulnerable to severe infection from the COVID virus, said Nusrat Homaira, corresponding author of the study.
But our study, based on a substantial sample of children across multiple waves of the pandemic, indicates children with asthma were not at higher risk of severe COVID than children without asthma, added Mei Chan, the studys lead author.
The researchers analyzed de-identified data from the medical records of 18,932 children under 17 with a positive PCR test who sought care from The Sydney Childrens Hospitals Network between January 2020 and May 2022. Of those, 1,025 (5.4%) had a prior diagnosis of asthma.
They compared children with previously diagnosed asthma to those without asthma based on their risk of developing COVID-19 and disease severity, measured by length of hospital stay, admission to an intensive care unit (ICU), whether mechanical ventilation was required and mortality.
Of 72 children with COVID-19 who needed intensive care, those with asthma were not at great risk of being admitted to ICU during any of the pandemic waves, that is, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron. Mechanical ventilation was reported in 19 children with COVID-19, only two of which had asthma. Eleven children died during the study only one was certified as dying from COVID-19 and none of the deaths were in children with asthma.
We looked at different markers of disease severity, and although the group of children with asthma generally required a longer duration of hospitalization, they were not at greater risk of COVID severity in terms of ICU admissions, mechanical ventilation use, or mortality compared to those without asthma at any stage of the outbreak, said Homaira.
The researchers did find that the length of hospital stay for asthmatic children increased by 1.17 days when Omicron was the dominant strain.
Children with COVID were less likely to be asthmatic during the early stages of the pandemic, Homaira said. With the emergence of the Omicron variant, we observed an increase in the risk of COVID infection among children with asthma compared to those without.
The researchers say its important to remain vigilant, particularly when new strains emerge.
We need to keep monitoring the emerging variants of COVID-19 and encouraging children, especially those with underlying chronic conditions, to keep up to date with their vaccinations as we know they can help reduce the risk of severe respiratory infections, Homaira said.
The study was published in The Journal of Asthma and Allergy.
Source: UNSW Sydney
Just in time for respiratory virus season, theres a new COVID-19 variant dominating cases in the United States and yet another version of the coronavirus thats already starting to spread overseas.
Virus evolution is what were seeing in real time, said Kelly Oakeson, chief scientist for next generation sequencing and bioinformatics for the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
The variant thats now the most prevalent in the United States, labeled HV.1 by scientists, is just getting better at getting into our cells. Its better at making us sick. Its better at doing what viruses do, Oakeson said.
The variant hasnt yet reached dominant status in Utah but should soon, he said, since the state tends to lag about two weeks behind the national variant proportions estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Heres what Oakeson said Utahns should known about HV.1:
COVID-19 could kill them ... (or) they could get it, have a runny nose, and be fine. Theres a huge dynamic range there of symptoms and severity.
Youre probably going to see an increase in cases for sure. Is that driven by HV.1? Is that driven solely by the seasonality, what time of year it is? No, its probably a combination of all of those things. ... Weve seen this now, year after year.
Less is known about an even newer variant, JN.1, thats so far shown up mostly in Iceland. Its a mutation of the BA.2.86 variant, also called Pirola, thats derived from the omicron variant that sent COVID-19 cases soaring to record levels in early 2022.
Oakeson said there have been some 178 cases of JN.1 reported worldwide, including 118 in the past 10 days. Besides Iceland, which accounted for about half of the cases as of Oct. 23, countries where JN.1 has been seen include the U.K., France and Portugal, he said.
The new version of Pirola was detected in the United States in September, but makes up less than 0.1% of the nations COVID-19 viruses, according to the University of Minnesotas Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
Oakeson, who initially called Pirola alarming because its high number of mutations was similar to what was seen with omicron, is taking a wait-and-see approach with JN.1
Were definitely watching it. Im not sure Im at the same level of concern I was with BA.2.86 just because this one is a descendent of those and we didnt see that take off in the U.S. like it did in other parts of the world, the chief scientist said.
The latest estimate from the CDC for the two weeks that ended last Saturday show HV.1 is now the most prevalent variant in the United States, seen as accounting for just over a quarter of all COVID-19 cases.
Eris, however, is still close behind at nearly 22%, according to the CDC estimates. Both HV.1 and Eris are descendants of XBB.1.5, another omicron-related variant also known as Kraken, thats targeted by the new, updated COVID-19 vaccine.
Although it was approved in mid-September, fewer than 5% of Utahns have gotten whats intended to be an annual dose of COVID-19 vaccine for most Americans, similar to a flu shot.
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When the COVID-19 pandemic took off in 2020, so too did questions over the effectiveness of wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of the virus. Now, three and a half years later, what does the science say?
In an interview for 60 Minutes, CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook posed that question to Linsey Marr, a Virginia Tech University professor specializing in aerosol science.
"They are very helpful in reducing the chances that the person will get COVID because it's reducing the amount of virus that you would inhale from the air around you," Marr said about masks.
No mask is 100% effective. An N95, for example, is named as such because it is at least 95% efficient at blocking airborne particles when used properly. But even if a mask has an 80% efficiency, Marr said, it still offers meaningful protection.
"That greatly reduces the chance that I'm going to become infected," Marr said.
click to expand
Marr said research shows that high-quality masks can block particles that are the same size as those carrying the coronavirus. Masks work, Marr explained, as a filter, not as a sieve. Virus particles must weave around the layers of fibers, and as they do so, they may crash into those fibers and become trapped.
Marr likened it to running through a forest of trees. Walk slowly, and the surrounding is easy to navigate. But being forced through a forest at a high speed increases the likelihood of running into a tree.
"Masks, even cloth masks, do something," she said.
Early in the pandemic, some guidance from health professionals suggested that wearing a mask might actually lead to infection: A person might encounter a contaminated mask and then touch their eyes, nose, or mouth. But research in the ensuing years has shown that fear to be misplaced.
"There wasn't any evidence really that that happens," Marr said.
Marr said her team aerosolized the coronavirus, pulled it through a mask, and then examined how much virus survived on the mask. The study reported some viral particle remained on some cloth masks, but no virus survived on the N95s or surgical masks.
Marr's team also touched artificial skin to masks and looked at how many virus particles transferred to the artificial skin. No infectious virus transferred.
"I hope the study kind of shows that it's something we don't need to worry about as much as we were told," Marr said.
The videos above were edited by Sarah Shafer Prediger.
Boris Johnson did not receive any updates about the escalating Covid crisis during a school half-term break just weeks before he announced the first lockdown.
The Covid inquiry today heard that over ten days between 14 February and 24 February 2020, the prime minister received no information from his staff, including from the two COBRA meetings that took place.
Johnson spent the break during which parliament was in recess at Chevening House, a grace-and-favour Kent mansion. He was labelled a part-time prime minister by then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and accused of sulking in a mansion while coronavirus unfolded and large parts of the UK were devastated by flooding. Johnson insisted the government had been working flat out.
When asked today why he did not update the PM with any information on Covid, Johnsons former parliamentary private secretary (PPS) Martin Reynolds said he could not recall.
The Covid-19 public inquiry is a historic chance to find out what really happened.
Hugo Keith, chief counsel to the inquiry, told him: There were no emails. There were no notes put in his red box. You don't appear to have been in touch with him about coronavirus, or anybody else.
To what extent did you think to yourself weve gotemails about a viral pandemic coming our way? Why was nothing done in terms of keeping the prime minister in the loop in those ten days? he asked.
Reynolds responded: I cannot recall why and whether there was any urgent business to transact over that period with the PM.
When asked whether it was because it was half-term, Reynolds said he was happy to accept it was half-term.
The day before the PMs ten-day information blackout, a cabinet reshuffle had taken place that saw the resignation of chancellor Sajid Javid, who was replaced by Rishi Sunak.
By 27 February, the governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies had discussed the reasonable worst case scenario in which 80% of the UK population became infected, with a 1% fatality rate which would mean up to 500,000 deaths.
The PMs top aide added he probably should have done more to keep the prime minister updated on the biggest crisis since the Second World War.
Reynolds agreed that little had been done between the middle of February and early March.
He also agreed that the ten-day gap in pandemic planning was an untoward delay which contributed to the virus being out of control by 13 March.
The inquiry continues. openDemocracy is fundraising to pay reporters to cover every day of the public hearings. Please support us by donating here.
Related video: David Cameron heckled at Covid inquiry
Boris Johnson has been accused of a mad and dangerous response to the Covid pandemic comparable to Donald Trumps handling of the crisis.
The exchanges between Simon Case, the governments top civil servant, and officials were shown on Monday to the inquiry into how the government handled the worst health crisis in almost a century.
When the government was reopening after the first lockdown, Case said Mr Johnson wanted to let the virus rip and compared his approach to that of the former US President and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
This is in danger of becoming Trump/Bolsonaro level mad and dangerous, Case told other colleagues.
It comes as diary extracts revealed chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance accused Mr Johnson of creating chaos and being completely inconsistent during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, former top aide Martin Reynolds confirmed his internal report into government culture in spring 2020 found that female staff were being talked over and ignored in what showed a significant degree of misogyny.
Dominic Cummings, who served as the former prime ministers chief of staff, and Lee Cain, Mr Johnsons former communications chief, will be grilled at the inquiry later this week, alongside all Mr Johnsons former aides.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's approach to dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic was "mad and dangerous" and his constant indecision made it "impossible" to tackle the virus, the government's top civil servant told officials.
The exchanges between Simon Case, the government's most senior official, and officials in which he also described Britain's response in 2020 as a "terrible, tragic joke", were shown on Monday to the inquiry into how the government handled the worst health crisis in almost a century.
In the autumn of 2020 when the government was discussing how to suppress the virus, Case said of Johnson: "He cannot lead and we cannot support him under these circumstances. The team captain cannot change the call on the big plays every day." He then wrote in capital letters: "IT HAS TO STOP".
Months earlier when the government was reopening after the first lockdown, Case said Johnson wanted to let the virus "rip" and compared Johnson's approach to the way US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who were known for dismissing the threat of Covid, were handling the crisis.
"This is in danger of becoming Trump/Bolsonaro level mad and dangerous," Case told other colleagues.
A spokesman for Johnson, who will appear as a witness in the inquiry in the future, declined to comment.
Simon Case, the current Cabinet Secretary, vented about the Prime Minister during the pandemic
(PA Archive)
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 19:03
Scotlands First Minister has said he has not deleted WhatsApp messages relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, following press reports his predecessor and senior officials may have.
Last week a note to the chairman of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry from one of its counsels said the inquiry was of the belief that the majority of informal messages, including on WhatsApp had not been retained.
Humza Yousaf said on Monday he had retained his messages, but that there had been a Scottish Government policy on social media messaging which advised their deletion after 30 days.
Press reports in recent days suggested former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch and chief medical officer Dr Sir Gregor Smith may have deleted messages either manually or through the use of the apps auto-delete function.
The First Minister said on Monday: I dont know why theres been press reports suggesting Ive deleted my WhatsApp messages, thats not true.
Ive retained my WhatsApp messages and, of course, whatever the Covid Inquiry asks for, Ill be absolutely prepared to hand them over as I would for the Scottish inquiry too.
Scotlands First Minister has said he has not deleted WhatsApp messages relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, following press reports his predecessor and senior officials may have
(PA Wire)
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 22:15
An internal report into the culture at the top of Government in the early months of the pandemic found that female staff were being talked over and ignored and bad behaviours were being tolerated from senior leaders.
The report, by former top aide Martin Reynolds and then deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara, was written in May 2020 amid concerns about discipline, macho behaviour and misogyny, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard on Monday.
Released as part of a batch of documents relevant to the inquiry, the report asked more than 45 people who worked closely with No 10 what could be done to better support the prime minister in May 2020.
Among the themes listed by the report are that culture was failing to get the best from people.
Lots of people mentioned junior women being talked over or ignored, the report summarised. We need a modern culture of organised collaboration, not superhero bunfight.
The report also found that people are exhausted and stressed and that bad behaviours from senior leaders (are) tolerated. Other themes included that there were far too many meetings taking up the time of senior leadership, and that No 10 was always at war with someone.
Mr Reynolds was asked about the report while giving evidence to the inquiry on Monday. He agreed with counsel that the report showed dysfunctionality, lack of discipline, chaos and a significant degree of misogyny.
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 21:00
Families held a vigil for Covid-19 victims at the site of Dominic Cummings eyesight-testing lockdown trip, ahead of his appearance at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Campaigners projected the message 228,040 Covid deaths is that clear enough to read? on to the walls of Barnard Castle on Monday.
The County Durham beauty spot made headlines during the pandemic when it was disclosed that Mr Cummings, former prime minister Boris Johnsons chief adviser at the time, had taken a day trip there in April 2020, while the country was in lockdown.
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 20:00
Senior Labour MP Andy McDonald has had the party whip suspended for using the controversial phrase between the river and the sea in a pro-Palestine rally speech.
The MP for Middlesbrough used the phrase as he urged peace between Israelis and Palestinians at an event at the weekend.
Some pro-Palestinian protesters have chanted from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free during recent demonstrations in London, despite controversy around the slogans meaning.
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 19:45
Mr Sunak revealed that he would have a conversation with the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, on his social media platform this Thursday evening.
Adam Forrest, Political Correspondent reports:
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 19:25
Scathing WhatsApp messages sent between Boris Johnsons top team accused the former PM of creating chaos during the Covid crisis complaining that he flip-flopped every day on direction and made it impossible to tackle the pandemic.
Adam Forrest and Archie Mitchell report:
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 18:48
Dominic Cummings press conference on his lockdown trip to Barnard Castle was described as a car crash by the former chief scientist, who said the journey had clearly gone against the rules at the time.
Sir Patrick Vallance, writing in his notebooks at the time in May 2020, also said he and Englands then-chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty felt No 10 officials were trying to strong arm them into appearing by Boris Johnsons side at a Downing Street press conference afterwards.
Mondays hearing at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard Mr Cummings, who became well-known to the public when news of his trip to the Co Durham beauty spot emerged, described as the most empowered chief of staff Downing Street has seen.
He will give evidence to the inquiry on Tuesday.
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 18:10
Former private secretary to Boris Johnson Imran Shafi also said Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, had criticised Rishi Sunaks Eat out to help out scheme in August 2020 calling it Eat out to help out the virus.
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 17:49
Rishi Sunak has sacked a senior Tory from his government job as a ministerial aide for calling breaking ranks and calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hama conflict.
Paul Bristow, a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) at the science department, called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in a letter to Mr Sunak.
The MP for Peterborough said it would save lives and allow for a continued column of humanitarian aid [to] reach the people who need it the most.
Adam Forrest, Political Correspondent reports:
Tara Cobham30 October 2023 17:07
JPMorgan
Consumers are about to run out of their excess savings from the pandemic, according to JPMorgan.
Excess savings peaked in August 2021 at a whopping $2.1 trillion, helped by government stimulus checks.
But analysts estimated that has been whittled down to just $148 billion as of last month.
Our Chart of the Day is from JPMorgan, which highlights that consumers have significantly spent down their excess savings from the COVID-19 pandemic.
At its peak in August 2021, consumers had a whopping $2.1 trillion in excess savings, in part buffered by stimulus checks from the US government. But those savings have been consistently drawn down and JPMorgan estimated that consumers had just $148 billion left last month.
Amid high interest rates and years of elevated inflation, consumers have relied on their savings to keep up their spending habits. A strong labor market has also helped fuel robust levels of consumption.
But JPMorgan warned that high rates are set to weigh down consumers going forward as their excess savings are fully depleted.
"Consumers are facing tighter credit conditions and rising rates, wind-down of Covid-era stimulus and relief programs, declining excess savings and liquidity, and multiple years of above average inflation," JPMorgan said in a Monday note.
The bank highlighted that US consumers expanded their debt by $2.9 trillion since the pandemic to $17.1 trillion.
That increased debt, combined with big-ticket assets nearing the end of their useful life and need to be replaced, should drive a steady increase in the debt service ratio to the pre-Great Financial Crisis level of about 12%.
"The sunset of government stimulus and relief programs and diminishing savings should result in higher delinquency rates and charge-offs in coming quarters," JPMorgan said.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Emily Hutto is an Associate Video Producer & Editor for MedPage Today. She is based in Manhattan.
In this exclusive video interview, Jeremy Faust, MD, editor-in-chief of MedPage Today, and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), discuss the future of CMS policies and priorities after the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch part 1 of the interview here.
The following is a transcript of their remarks:
Faust: With the time we have left, I want to cover two topics, one is Medicare Advantage and then a little bit on hospital nursing home safety.
With Medicare Advantage, first of all, I'm curious to know just what your overall impression is on the growth of Medicare Advantage, giving some pros and cons of that. Also I'd like you to comment, if you would, on the fact that you and your agency took a tougher stand on some of the advertising that was suboptimal, shall we say, and I'm curious to see if we can also expect more of that.
Brooks-LaSure: Medicare Advantage is a crucial part of the Medicare program. People choose between original or traditional Medicare, which we think of as the fee-for-service program where every doctor that participates in Medicare, you have access to as a Medicare beneficiary, and then Medicare Advantage, which is growing.
I think that's not surprising in some respects, especially as increasingly baby boomers are coming out of employer-sponsored insurance and they come to Medicare and enroll in a plan that looks very much like employer-sponsored insurance. It's very similar in many respects. There also is the ability to offer additional benefits, which we know often attract seniors.
I think that's why the marketing is so important, because it's really important that people know what they're getting into when they choose a Medicare Advantage plan. It can be very advantageous to them, but it can also come with some limitations, like, you have to see a doctor that's in your network. The benefits that you're being provided might be very limited.
Dental is a perfect example of how a lot of the coverage that's offered by Medicare Advantage plans may be very limited, which is fine, but we just want to make sure that Medicare Advantage plans are giving accurate information. That's why we've really focused on marketing.
I've been talking with seniors across this country, and increasingly with physicians, who've told me about their frustrations with MA. We really try to make sure that whether it's us looking at the prior authorization rules for doctors being able to deliver care to patients, or whether it's making sure that seniors really know what they're getting into when they get calls when they're being encouraged to enroll in MA.
Faust: Yeah. I worry, based on a lot of reporting that we and others have done, that a lot of times people don't get what they think they're getting or they're not signing up for what they think they're signing up for. And there's a predatory component here. Is there some way to crack down on those kinds of rogue iterations of MA?
Brooks-LaSure: We are working as hard as we can. As we hear issues coming up, we continue to look and think about what other additional oversight we need to do.
This first step was really looking at the marketing materials, because we've seen a rise in those, but we continue to really make sure that we are staying at the forefront -- whether it's in terms of agent and broker behavior -- to make sure that seniors are being given the information accurately and with an opportunity to ask the right questions.
Faust: I'd like to close with a topic that we could take about 6 weeks to discuss, so we'll get it done in 2 or 3 minutes, which is nursing home and hospital safety. This is an area that CMS probably has more influence on than most people realize. CMS has great regulatory authority there.
In particular, there are two topics I think we could delve into just for a moment. First is infection control, both in nursing homes and in hospitals. And I think that if the COVID pandemic taught us anything, it's that we can stop flu and RSV because everything we did eliminated pathogens like those. Testing and masking and other mitigation measures had a real benefit in hospital- and nursing home-acquired infections.
I feel like CMS has a lot going on when it comes to things like antibiotic stewardship and catheter-associated infections, but less focus on respiratory pathogens. Is that an area where we could really beef up our safety?
Brooks-LaSure: Well, I would say that CMS has become increasingly involved in making sure that we focus on quality and safety. You're exactly right to say that we have, I think, an outsized role that's really unknown in terms of insuring and working with facilities.
We still are right now very actively talking with nursing homes, in particular, as we head into flu season, RSV, and of course COVID-19. We continue to work to make sure that nursing homes and other facilities are prepared for the winter months, and that will remain a focus.
One of the pieces in that is regulation, but another of it is having support. We certainly hope that Congress will pass our budget so that we can make sure that we will be able to help survey a lot of the facilities to make sure they're meeting the standards, because we do have a very important role in making sure that we have safe facilities across this country.
Faust: Just to be specific, are nursing homes and hospitals required to report the hospital- and nursing home-associated infection rates in their facilities?
Brooks-LaSure: I will have to check whether they need to report on the infection rates. We do have requirements about a whole host of things related to respiratory -- particularly as I mentioned, the three related to flu, RSV, and COVID-19.
Faust: Okay. I think this is one area where, especially with nursing homes, we saw something happen positively for a little while, and I worry that the alignment of incentives needs to be reiterated or reinforced by CMS, and there's a huge opportunity there. I think we'd love to see leadership there.
I also want to talk about a topic that's, unfortunately, near and dear to my experience as an emergency physician, which is boarding. This is when patients who are in the hospital have been hospitalized, but they don't have a place to go in the hospital. So they're literally still in the ER for hours and days.
This is a very dangerous thing because it taxes all the healthcare workers, it leads to actual deterioration of the kind of care the patients need because we can't possibly be managing patients who we admitted 6 hours ago and also the new trauma coming in or the new stroke or heart attack.
CMS in the past has had metrics on this, but they have not been continued and certainly aren't part of its highest stratum of concerns if you read the tea leaves through the metric instrument. What can CMS do to address this issue, especially with the pressures in ERs and in hospitals in the post-COVID world that we are in?
Brooks-LaSure: CMS is definitely trying to work with all of our sister agencies when it comes to workforce, and certainly making sure that people can get the care that they need.
In moving from the emergency room to the hospital, one of the areas that I hear a lot about is people who are in hospitals and really need to be in other types of facilities. So I would say in terms of our quality, we've really been trying to think very hard.
A lot of our rules were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic because facilities were so focused on really treating COVID-19. We really let a lot of facilities stop or pause their reporting because we knew that they had their hands full. As we start to bring back many of these metrics, we've been bringing them back over the last year, we're really focused on trying to make sure we're aligning across our programs and looking for ways to reflect a variety of priorities.
There are so many things that we need to continue to track, and that's part of our strategy. So just because something is removed, doesn't mean we don't care. It may be that we're focusing on additional priorities or looking for ways to streamline.
Faust: And along that line, in terms of decompression, will CMS continue to support telehealth -- including for things like opioid replacement therapies, buprenorphine, via telehealth -- as it has done since the beginning of the pandemic?
Brooks-LaSure: We are very supportive of telehealth. I hear about telehealth from so many stakeholders about what a difference it's made. We are trying to extend that authority as far as we can. There are some limitations.
Congress has extended a lot of our telehealth authority through the end of next year, so through the end of 2024, and particularly for mental health services, that's a key area where we're able to extend telehealth.
Faust: Okay. The last question is going to be just another personal bugaboo for me. It's an area of interest for me, which is sepsis, a devastating condition.
CMS has had a regulation on sepsis for quite some time, which unfortunately is not a very popular one and not one that's very adhered to. The IDSA -- the Infectious Diseases Society of America -- has called for it to be retired and replaced with an outcomes metric as opposed to a process metric. We care about outcomes as opposed to process.
Will CMS heed the call of the nation's leading infectious disease experts and retire SEP-1 and replace it with something better?
Brooks-LaSure: I can't speak to our future actions, but I do know how much we take what the scientific community says and what the clinical community says seriously. We continue to review sepsis and other conditions.
Faust: Alright. Well, thank you for your work leading CMS, one of the most important agencies in the United States, whether it's for health or just well-being for our fellow Americans. So thank you for the work you do and for sharing your views today.
Brooks-LaSure: Thank you for having me.
COLUMBIA Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) will host a walk-in flu and COVID-19 vaccination clinic Thursday, Nov. 2 from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at Southern Boone Primary School at 803 S. Henry Clay Blvd. in Ashland.
The flu vaccine will be available to all residents aged six months and older. PHHS will provide flu vaccinations for free to those aged between six months and 18 years, due to a partnership with MU Health Care. Parental consent forms are required for anyone under the age of 18.
A high-dose flu shot is available specifically for those 65 and older.
The cost of the flu vaccine for residents aged 19 and older varied based on their insurance coverage.
The PHHS clinic accepts checks and can bill various insurance plans through a system known as VaxCare.
For self-pay residents, the cost of the vaccine is $25.
COVID-19 vaccines are also available and billed to insurance. Free flu and COVID-19 vaccines are available for those without insurance coverage.
In addition to this clinic, vaccination opportunities are available with other local vaccinators. The list of vaccinators and their information can be found by visiting: vaccines.gov.
