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The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing to examine the distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines. Testifying at the hearing were public health officials from Illinois, Michigan, West Virginia, Louisiana and Colorado.

President Biden announced details on several initiatives designed to combat COVID-19. The administration is expanding the supply of vaccines, upping the number of weekly allocated doses to 10.5 million.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced they have filed a joint budget resolution for fiscal year 2021 giving Congress an additional legislative tool to potentially pass COVID-19 relief legislation that enacts President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

Not-for-profit organization the Ad Council is providing a trove of market research designed to understand and effectively message to Black, Hispanic, young adults and others who have expressed hesitancy with getting vaccinated against COVID-19. 

The Department of Defense awarded Ellume USA $231.8 million to ramp up domestic production of its COVID-19 diagnostic test, the first test users can perform fully at home without a prescription.

The AHA voiced support for the Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act (H.R. 315), legislation that would eliminate Medicare sequester cuts during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

About 12. 9 million people received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines between Dec. 14 and Jan. 14, the first month of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Ten Republican senators released highlights from their $618 billion COVID-19 relief proposal, outlined Sunday in a letter to President Biden. The proposal includes $35 billion for the Provider Relief Fund, with 20% set aside for rural hospitals; $20 billion for vaccine efforts; and $50 billion for testing, among other provisions.

Mentorship has been incredibly important in the career development of most health care leaders, including me. Learning from mentors and colleagues has helped me grow personally and professionally.

The Department of Health and Human Services amended its declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act to permit physicians, registered nurses and practical nurses whose license or certification has expired in the past five years to prescribe, dispense and/or administer COVID-19 vaccines in any state or U.S. territory.

In this third webinar in a series from AHA, the Hospital at Home Users Group and American Academy of Home Care Medicine, panelists will discuss technology decisions that hospital-at-home programs must make and how they will affect program efficacy and patient care.

Johnson & Johnson provided a concrete look at its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, revealing that its efficacy is expected to be sufficient to pursue an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.

Our country is ready, eager and hopeful this year for at least a partial return to the pre-COVID-19 world. Everyone has a role to play in getting there.

Indiana University Health, part of AHA’s Living Learning Network, was able to overcome early supply chain challenges during the pandemic and help smaller health care neighbors in need, writes Dan Handel, M.D., vice president and chief medical officer for the health system’s south central region.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged the Food and Drug Administration to review how accurately pulse oximeters monitor blood oxygen levels, citing multiple studies suggesting they provide misleading measures to patients of color.

New Jersey-based Atlantic Health System transformed how it recognizes and responds to human trafficking, becoming a model of success and helping make its communities safer.

South Carolina has reported the first documented U.S. cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant first detected in South Africa, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced.

President Biden signed an executive order aimed at increasing enrollment in comprehensive health care coverage.

In the midst of the tragedy that is the COVID-19 pandemic, one silver lining is how it has brought us together as an organization to help us innovate and realize our vision to make Indiana one of the healthiest states in the nation.

Registration is now open for the AHA’s Accelerating Health Equity virtual conference, March 16-18.