Medical Aid Heads to Ukraine; Sen. Kaine’s Long COVID; DeSantis Berates Masked Kids

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Medical aid destined for Ukraine will arrive in Poland today, the World Health Organization said. (Reuters)

The U.S. Senate voted 49-44 to eliminate CMS’s COVID vaccine mandate for healthcare workers — though the White House said President Biden would veto the measure should it ever pass in the House. (The Hill)

After almost 2 years, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) says he is still experiencing symptoms of his mild COVID infection; he recently introduced legislation to expand long COVID research. (Washington Post)

In other senatorial news, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) are urging CMS to eliminate planned restrictions on coverage of amyloid-targeting drugs like aducanumab (Aduhelm) for Alzheimer’s disease.

In vaccinated individuals ages 55 and up, risk of COVID-related hospitalization was five times higher with the Johnson & Johnson shot versus Pfizer/BioNTech’s, a study from France found. (JAMA Network Open)

As of Thursday at 8 a.m. EST, the unofficial COVID-19 toll reached 79,143,885 cases and 954,519 deaths, up 51,860 cases and 2,010 deaths from this time a day ago.

Updated NIH COVID-19 treatment guidelines back the recently authorized monoclonal antibody bebtelovimab for the treatment of high-risk outpatients, though it landed as an alternative behind nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid), sotrovimab, and remdesivir (Veklury).

Stan Thomas, who remains pro-vaccine, tells the heartbreaking story of his wife, Monica Melkonian, one of just nine people in the U.S. confirmed to have died of vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia after receiving Johnson & Johnson’s COVID vaccine. (Kaiser Health News)

Patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest in 2020 were more likely to have delayed defibrillation and less likely to survive to discharge if they also had COVID. (JAMA Network Open)

“We’ve gotta stop with this COVID theater.” — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was seen on camera scolding high school students for wearing masks at an indoor news conference. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

In other mask news, Philadelphia ended its indoor masking requirement while the nation of Greece ended its outdoor mask requirement. (Philadelphia Inquirer, Greek Reporter)

A Texas district judge has temporarily blocked the state’s child abuse investigation related to a family’s gender-affirming care for their transgender teen. (CNN)

For the first time in over two decades, the rates of drug overdose deaths in 2020 were higher among Black Americans than white Americans. (NPR)

Should health insurance giants like Cigna and Kaiser Permanente also hold venture capital arms? (Slate)

Eight more infants have been sickened by the recently recalled baby formula, according to a lawyer representing the families. (CBS News)

Pandemic restrictions led to more than 700,000 fewer cases of mosquito-borne dengue fever in 2020, researchers estimated. (The Lancet Infectious Diseases)

High-sensitivity cardiac troponin I thresholds for predicting increased mortality risk following heart surgery were substantially higher than the thresholds in various consensus statements that define clinically important periprocedural myocardial injury. (New England Journal of Medicine)

The FDA cleared the BoneView artificial intelligence software to help radiologists detect fractures and traumatic injuries on x-ray, developer Gleamer announced.