The Biden administration is helping Michigan with a monoclonal antibody surge this week, a senior Health and Human Services official tells NBC.
1. It previews how the White House may approach potential COVID surges nationwide 1/
as more transmissible variants create new hot spots and most Americans aren’t yet vaccinated.
2. HHS is helping to fund & support 3 monoclonal antibody treatment centers at Henry Ford Health System: Community Health and Social Services (CHASS) Center (a federally qualified 2/
health center), Henry Ford Detroit Main Campus, and Henry Ford Macomb Hospital.
“Our support will increase the capacity of these centers fivefold,” the official said.
Notable as state and federal officials remain at loggerheads over whether vaccines should be surged to hot 3/
NEW to @NBCNews: Frmr. FDA officials urge Biden to nominate a permanent commissioner
👉Amid questions ab. if the void impacts approval of more tools to fight COVID, mainly RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS, which we're shipping to Europe but not using here en masse.
“The coming days and weeks will require further timely and effective actions, for example to support the development of antiviral treatments and advance the availability of reliable, easy-to-use tests,” wrote the frmr commissioners including Scott Gottlieb & Mark McClellan.
This is particularly important as the U.S. rushes to reopen schools just as the new, more contagious variant takes hold.
Dr. Ashish Jha of Brown University also pressed Congress and to prioritize this. “Many companies have developed antigen tests that cost less than five dollars
NEW: CDC, after coming under criticism on school opening blueprint, issues guidance targeting *indoor air quality,* which is a major problem in thousands of schools:
@NBCNews reported on Feb. 15 about the absence of specific air quality guidelines:
Particularly in underserved areas, and as new, more contagious variants of the virus take hold, ventilation is a critical concern in reopening schools.
A 2020 GAP report found 41% of districts need to update or replace heating, ventilation, and HVAC
systems in at least half of their schools, amounting to 36,000 schools needing HVAC updates.
"Perhaps they feel it’s hopeless because they can’t open windows or doors because of (active shooter) security protocols" & changing HVAC is expensive/time consuming, says @DrEricDing.
"an estimated 41 percent of districts need to update or replace heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
(HVAC) systems in at least half of their schools, representing about 36,000 schools nationwide that need HVAC updates"
Trump calling his remarks prior to a violent mob assaulting the Capitol "totally appropriate" broke a dam that's stood strong for 4 years.
@RepFredUpton of MI in announcing his support for impeachment:
"the President characterized his inflammatory rhetoric at last Wednesday’s
rally as “totally appropriate,” and he expressed no regrets for last week’s violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
This sends exactly the wrong signal to those of us who support the very core of our democratic principles and took a solemn oath to the Constitution.
I would have preferred a bipartisan, formal censure rather than a drawn-out impeachment process. I fear this will now interfere with important legislative business and a new Biden Administration. But it is time to say: Enough is enough.
Rep. Tim Ryan—who chairs key subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Capitol-- says as many as 60 Capitol Police officers were injured yesterday, including 15 hospitalized and 1 in critical condition. Many were hit in the head with lead pipes, he said
He said he is "livid" over the "strategic blunder" that left the Capitol Police without a solid plan and adequate reinforcements. They held off the mob for more than an hour before the building was breached, he said.
He said he does not understand, and plans to investigate, why
the mob was allowed to get so close to the Capitol when he was assured by police officials that could not happen. He added that there was an “intelligence failure,” to anticipate the scope of the threat.
While praising the heroics of most rank and file Capitol Police, he said