1. After failing to pass another COVID-19 relief package, the federal government is veering off course and investing $10 billion for vaccines and the antiviral treatment Paxlovid originally marked for tests and personal protective equipment.
2. The U.S. discarded 82.1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from December 2020 through mid-May, according to CDC data shared with NBC News.
3. HHS is giving states an extra year, through March 31, 2025, to use funding from the American Rescue Plan to improve home- and community-based services.
4. CMS said it has cited 69 hospitals for not complying with the agency’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate covering healthcare facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
5. The CDC will likely stop collecting hospitals’ data on suspected cases of COVID-19 that have not been confirmed by tests.
6. HHS issued a final rule May 26 withdrawing the Securing Updated and Necessary Statutory Evaluations Timely, or SUNSET, rule.
