By Shawn Zeller, Erin Schumaker and Daniel Payne

Presented by Arnold Ventures

There's a shot for each arm and one left over this fall. | Eduardo Munoz/Pool via AP

New Covid boosters are on their way to pharmacies, and the Biden administration suggests everyone six months and older get them with the annual flu shot.

People who are over 60, under 8 months, or pregnant are also eligible for new jabs that protect against respiratory syncytial virus.

But it’s not yet certain that this year’s ambitious vaccination campaign marks a new normal.

Even so: While the flu shots have long been a rite of fall, an annual Covid booster — preferred by the White House — could stick, but also might not.

Government advisers who recommended the new Covid shots were divided on whether everyone should get them or just those at risk of severe disease — elderly adults and those with compromised immune systems — POLITICO’s Katherine Ellen Foley and Chelsea Cirruzo report.

Some advisers wanted additional data on children and younger adults, who are less likely to develop severe disease.

Ultimately, they recommended them for nearly everyone, hoping it would increase access to vaccinations. Obamacare requires private insurers to pay for CDC-recommended shots.

The skeptics: But critics of that decision worry it muddies the message that older people are at, by far, the greatest risk from Covid. This year, 88 percent of Covid deaths were among people 65 and older.

And the prior infections that almost all Americans have endured are usually protective against severe disease, research has shown.

Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who isn’t on the federal vaccine advisory committee, told POLITICO that younger adults and children probably won’t need an annual shot.

“People just aren’t buying it,” he said, noting that only 17 percent of Americans — most of whom are elderly — have received the bivalent booster approved last fall, according to CDC data.

A message from Arnold Ventures:

Same service, same price. You should be charged the same price when you receive the same medical service, no matter where you get it. But today, patients, employers, and taxpayers are charged billions because big hospital systems are buying up small physician practices. And when the logo on the door changes, you pay over 14% more for the same routine services. It's time to make site-neutral health care a reality. Learn more.

Prince Edward Island, Canada | Shawn Zeller

This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.

Doctors at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital have confirmed Benjamin Franklin’s 18th Century finding about the positive effects of going to bed early and rising early. The Brigham and Women's study found early risers reported healthier lifestyles and better sleep.

Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at [email protected], Daniel Payne at [email protected], Evan Peng at [email protected] or Erin Schumaker at [email protected].

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Today on our Pulse Check podcast, host Katherine Ellen Foley talks with POLITICO cannabis editor Paul Demko about the three remaining Obamacare health insurance co-ops and how their example might help improve health care access.

A message from Arnold Ventures:

JOIN 9/19 FOR A TALK ON BUILDING THE NEW AMERICAN ECONOMY: The United States is undergoing a generational economic transformation, with a renewed bipartisan emphasis on manufacturing. Join POLITICO on Sept. 19th for high-level conversations that examine the progress and chart the next steps in preserving America’s economic preeminence, driving innovation and protecting jobs. REGISTER HERE.

It's the message no one wants to receive. | Getty

A U.S.-led coalition of nations hopes to unveil a joint strategy next month to combat the ransomware attacks plaguing the health care industry, POLITICO’s Maggie Miller reports.

Anne Neuberger, the White House deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, said during a forum at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit in Washington that the Counter Ransomware Initiative is working on the “first-ever statement on a coordinated approach to ransom payments.”

Why it matters: So far this year, more than 43 million people have had their sensitive health data breached, closing in on 2022’s total of more than 52 million, according to a POLITICO analysis of HHS data.

Ransomware, which hackers employ to shut down computers to extract money, can disrupt patient care and put lives at risk, in addition to hurting health care organizations financially.

The average cyberattack costs close to $11 million, according to a recent report from IBM.

Neuberger said in May that the White House was mulling the idea of selectively banning ransomware payments but also considering waivers for organizations like hospitals for whom crippled computers can endanger patients.

Paying ransoms is controversial because it encourages further attacks.

What’s next? Neuberger hopes the joint statement will be ready when members of the Counter Ransomware Initiative, which includes 47 nations, meet in Washington on Oct. 31.

A message from Arnold Ventures:

When hospitals consolidate, prices go up, and everyone loses. As big hospitals are gaming the system, patients and taxpayers are paying the price. Site-neutral payment policies would put an end to hospital consolidation, and protect Americans from more than $140 billion in overpayments every year. It’s no wonder that 85% of voters from both sides support site-neutral policy solutions. Now, Congress has the opportunity to protect patients and save taxpayer dollars. It’s time to put patients before profits and enact site-neutral health care. Learn more.

It might be worth checking what your local playground used to be. | Getty Images

Parks and playgrounds built on sites where cities once burned trash could be lead hotspots, according to a new study.

Researchers at Duke University analyzed soil samples from three parks in Durham, N.C., that housed incinerators where the city burned trash until the 1940s.

Samples collected from two of the parks mostly had low lead levels, but the third park’s soil had lead levels more than five times higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency recommends as safe for children's play areas.

"These incinerators burned all kinds of garbage and trash, including paint, piping, food cans and other products that contained lead," Daniel Richter, study co-author and professor of soils at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, said in a statement.

Why it matters: Lead exposure is linked to nervous system, development and behavioral problems in kids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kids under age 6 are especially at risk because their bodies develop so quickly and they're more likely to stick their hands in their mouths.

About half of U.S. and Canadian cities the research team surveyed burned solid waste between the 1930s and 1950s.

What’s next? Richter thinks other cities should sample and monitor their parks, eventually creating soil lead maps.

Based on historical records of waste incinerator sites turned into parks, the researchers identified Los Angeles; New York City; Baltimore; Spokane, Wash.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Charleston, S.C., as cities with potential hotspots.

JOIN US ON 9/20 FOR A TALK ON TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE BILLING: Bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate would align costs for services across hospitals and doctors’ offices and reduce out-of-pocket spending that could potentially save the federal government billions of dollars. Can this legislation survive a polarized Congress? Join POLITICO on Sept. 20 to explore this and whether site-neutral payments and billing transparency policies could help ease health care costs. REGISTER HERE.

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