Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.

KHN: ‘Kicking You When You’re Down’: Many Cancer Patients Pay Dearly For Parking For cancer patients, the road from diagnosis to survivorship feels like a never-ending parade of medical appointments: surgeries, bloodwork, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, scans. The routine is time-consuming and costly. So, when hospitals charge patients double-digit parking fees, patients often leave the garage demoralized. Iram Leon vividly remembers the first time he went for a follow-up MRI appointment at Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas, after he had been treated at another hospital for a brain tumor. (Ritzel, 5/17)

KHN: Homicides Surge In California Amid Covid Shutdowns Of Schools, Youth Programs  Amid a pandemic that left law enforcement agencies stretched thin and forced shutdowns that left young men with little to do, California registered a devastating surge in homicides in 2020 that hit especially hard in Black and Latino communities. The number of homicide victims in California jumped 27% from 2019 to 2020, to about 2,300, marking the largest year-over-year increase in three decades, according to preliminary death certificate data from the California Department of Public Health. (Reese, 5/17)

KHN: Watch: Elisabeth Rosenthal On The Covid-19 Infodemic And The Media  Jon Greenberg interviewed Elisabeth Rosenthal, editor-in-chief of KHN; Shefali Luthra, health and gender reporter at The 19th; and Derek Thompson, staff writer for The Atlantic, about covid-19 misinformation during PolitiFact’s United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking. The journalists discussed the challenging environment for news and facts that grew out of the pandemic. One major issue was that Americans simply were not used to the idea that infectious diseases could cause mass disaster, Rosenthal said. That mentality, combined with misinformation spread by then-President Donald Trump, made it easy for lies about the virus to perpetuate.  (5/17)

KHN: What Does Approval Of The Pfizer Vaccine For Teens And Preteens Mean For My Child? Q: The federal government approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds. What does this mean for my child? Extending the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to preteens and young adolescents adds nearly 17 million more Americans to the pool of those eligible to be immunized against covid-19, helping to build a vaccinated population closer to herd immunity. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are also testing the efficacy of their vaccines in teens and children. (Heredia Rodriguez, 5/14)

KHN: Listen: Exploring Controversial Efforts To Waive Drugmakers’ Vaccine Patent Rights President Joe Biden has thrown his support to an international effort to waive drugmakers’ patent rights on the covid vaccines, but the pharmaceutical industry vows to fight back. Julie Rovner, KHN’s chief Washington correspondent, joins The Atlantic’s “Social Distance” podcast, hosted by Dr. James Hamblin and Maeve Higgins, to talk about the current patent controversy and how the drug industry has protected itself over the years with vibrant campaigns about the needs for high profits to support drug development. (5/14)

AP: CDC Director Says Mask Turnaround Based Solely On Science The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday defended the decision to ease mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, stressing that increasing political pressure had nothing to do with the abrupt shift in guidelines. “I’m delivering the science as the science is delivered to the medical journals. And it evolved,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on FOX News Sunday. “I deliver it as soon as I can when we have that information available.” (Kruesi, 5/16)

Politico: CDC Chief Said Change On Mask Guidance Not Due To Public Pressure  The CDC's recent decision to update its mask guidance had nothing to do with pressure from the American people, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Sunday morning. "If you are vaccinated, we are saying you are safe. You can take off your mask and you are not at risk of severe disease or hospitalization from Covid-19," she said on "Fox News Sunday." (Weaver, 5/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Officials Seek To Clarify Covid-19 Mask Guidelines  U.S. public-health officials tried to address confusion about new masking guidelines released last week, reiterating that vaccinated individuals are at low risk of catching or spreading Covid-19 but leaving the future of mask mandates up to local jurisdictions and private businesses. “This is not permission for widespread removal of masks,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky on Sunday on ABC. “We were going to get to the point in the pandemic where the vaccinated could take off their masks.” (Rubin and Abbott, 5/16)

CBS News: Fauci Says CDC's Updated Mask Guidance Is "Based On The Evolution Of The Science"  Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden, said Sunday that updated mask guidance for Americans who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 was "based on the evolution of the science" as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) learned more about the real-world effectiveness of the shots. "The underlying reason for the CDC doing this was just based on the evolution of the science," Fauci said in an interview with "Face the Nation" on last week's announcement. "But if in fact this serves as an incentive for people to get vaccinated, all the better. I hope it does actually." (Quinn, 5/16)

New York Post: Largest US Nurses’ Union Rips CDC’s New Mask Guidelines The country’s largest nurses’ union is blasting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over its latest recommended easing of mask restrictions – claiming the move "threatens the lives of patients, nurses and other front-line workers." "Now is not the time to relax protective measures, and we are outraged that the CDC has done just that while we are still in the midst of the deadliest pandemic in a century," said registered nurse Bonnie Castillo, president of National Nurses United, which says it represents more than 170,000 members. (Sheehy, 5/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Nurses Union Urges State To Reject CDC Guidance On Easing Mask Mandate The largest union of registered nurses in California is asking state officials not to follow new guidance from the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention on lifting mask mandates for people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, union officials said Sunday. The California Nurses Association, an affiliate of the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, condemned the CDC’s guidance, calling it “a big blow to the safety and welfare of the nurses, front line workers, as well as the patients,” CNA president Zenei Triunfo-Cortez said in a phone interview Sunday. “We have to understand that the pandemic is not over,” said Triunfo-Cortez. “There continues to be high rates of infection and people continue to die, even nurses.” (Flores, 5/16)

CNN: Experts Are Warning About The Unintended Consequences Of The CDC Mask Guidance  Communities across the US ushered in a quick return to normalcy over the weekend as the country responded to the latest mask guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency said Thursday fully vaccinated Americans don't need to wear masks or social distance indoors or outdoors, with some exceptions, triggering announcements nationwide from state leaders and businesses who lifted their mask requirements for people who've gotten their Covid-19 shots. But with a big part of the country still unvaccinated, some experts say the move came too fast and has resulted in many more Americans now shedding their masks than the CDC recommended. (Maxouris, 5/17)

CNN: New Face Mask Guidelines: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Says The CDC 'Made A Critical Error'  Last week, the Centers for Disease Control advised that fully vaccinated people can be indoors and outdoors without wearing masks except when in health care settings, on public transportation, or in specified areas where masks are required. When CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stelter asked about the press' role in covering the return to normal, CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, said, "We can report what the news is, but then we have to explain the relevance of it." (Benveniste, 5/16)

The New York Times: 723 Epidemiologists On When And How The U.S. Can Fully Return To Normal  Covid-19 cases are decreasing in the United States, and masks are no longer required everywhere, but the pandemic is not over — and won’t be until younger children can also be vaccinated, epidemiologists said in a new survey by The New York Times. The true end of the pandemic — when it becomes safer to return to most activities without precautions — will arrive once at least 70 percent of Americans of all ages are vaccinated, they said. Adolescents just began receiving vaccines this week, and those for children younger than 12 are not yet approved. (Miller, Quealy and Sanger-Katz, 5/15)

CNN: Some People Still Need To Mask Up Even If Vaccinated. Are You One Of Them?  The news flashed across the country -- mask-free at last! People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer have to wear masks inside or outside, nor do they have to stay 6 feet away from others, according to new guidance released Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Does that mean those Americans vaccinated at least two weeks ago -- meaning full immunity has kicked in -- can throw their masks in the air and hug all in celebration? Not quite. (LaMotte and Thomas, 5/16)

CNN: America Tastes New Freedoms But Confronts New Dilemmas As It Takes Off The Mask  Vaccinated Americans spent the most normal weekend for more than a year exploring restored freedoms to gather without masks but also dilemmas over personal and collective responsibility sparked by new government health guidance. After many months of being told to mask up and keep their distance, millions of citizens are now grappling with when, whether and where to ditch or wear face coverings as a more hopeful stage dawns in a still dangerous crisis. (Collinson, 5/17)

The Washington Post: Confused Americans Grapple With CDC's New Mask Rules  Soon after the CDC announced its updated mask guidance, Louisville coffee shop owner Billy Seckman took to Instagram. "Notice," he posted, "masks are still required!" Even though most of his staff is fully vaccinated, Seckman said he wasn't comfortable with customers coming in barefaced. (Gaffney, Kelly and Gowen, 5/16)

NPR: Walmart Drops Mask Mandate Following New CDC Guidelines Walmart, the largest private employer in the U.S., announced Friday that customers are no longer required to wear masks in its more than 5,000 stores nationwide. The retail super store changed the rules one day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared it was safe for fully vaccinated adults to resume most activities, indoors or out, in groups or individually, mask free and without social distancing. Walmart is requesting that customers who have yet to receive their vaccine continue to wear a mask, a Walmart news release said. (Jones, 5/14)

USA Today: Starbucks Masks Optional For Vaccinated Customers Starting May 17 Starbucks is making face coverings and masks optional for vaccinated customers starting Monday. The coffee giant is the latest to update its mask policy after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new masking guidelines. Masks will still be required at locations where local or state regulations mandate them. "Facial coverings will be optional for vaccinated customers beginning Monday, May 17, unless local regulations require them by law," Starbucks said on its website. "As we continue to ensure the health and well-being of our partners and customers, our restrooms generally remain temporarily closed to the public in stores where the café or café seating is unavailable." (Tyko, 5/15)

AP: Fauci Says Pandemic Exposed 'Undeniable Effects Of Racism' The immunologist who leads the COVID-19 response in the United States said Sunday that “the undeniable effects of racism” have led to unacceptable health disparities that especially hurt African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans during the pandemic. “COVID-19 has shone a bright light on our own society’s failings,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a graduation ceremony for Emory University. (5/16)

Stat: Sanofi, GSK Announce Positive Results For Covid-19 Vaccine Candidate The companies suffered a disappointing setback last year when their initial Phase 1/2 trial suggested the vaccine wasn’t adequately protective in older adults. It was discovered that the reagents used to determine how much vaccine was in each dose had given false readings, leading to subjects in the trial receiving too little vaccine and forcing the companies to conduct a second Phase 2 trial. (Branswell, 5/17)

AP: Sanofi-GSK Reports Success In Virus Vaccine, After Setback Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline’s potential COVID-19 vaccine triggered strong immune responses in all adult age groups in preliminary trials after an earlier setback, boosting optimism the shot may join the fight against the pandemic this year. After two doses of the vaccine candidate, participants showed neutralizing antibodies in line with those found in people who had recovered from the disease, according to results of the Phase 2 trial released Monday. The drugmakers said they plan to begin late-stage trials and production in the coming weeks and hope to win regulatory approval for the vaccine before the end of 2021. (5/17)

Stateline: CDC Urges Docs To Puncture Vaccine Vial Even For Just One Person More than 15,000 pharmacies will be ready to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds, according to President Joe Biden. And schools will host vaccine drives to inoculate as many adolescents as possible to get them ready for in-person classes in the fall. But so far, only a small minority of pediatricians have Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots in their refrigerators. Largely playing a supporting role in the vaccine rollout until now, private practice doctors have been encouraging patients to get vaccinated, answering their concerns about side effects and pointing them to nearby sites to get shots. That may soon change. (Vestal, 5/14)

ABC News: Inside The Tiny NY County With One Of The Nation's Highest Vaccination Rates  New York's Hamilton County is rural, remote and Republican. It also has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country. In general, vaccine hesitancy is estimated to be higher in rural areas, according to an ABC News analysis of county-level data. Counties with high estimated hesitancy also tend to be younger, poorer and more likely to have been won by former President Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election. (Schumaker, 5/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Drugmakers Take On Your Favorite TV Shows To Tackle Vaccine Hesitancy  Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel wore a white lab coat and head mirror strapped to his forehead on his talk show last month and talked about Covid-19 vaccines that use messenger RNA. “This technology could be a real game-changer,” he says. The skit was sponsored by vaccine maker Moderna Inc., MRNA 7.68% one of a number of direct-to-consumer advertisements paid for by pharmaceutical companies aimed at hesitancy and lack of awareness toward vaccines and drugs for Covid-19. (Walker, 5/16 )

Fox News: COVID-19 Vaccines 94% Effective Among Health Care Workers In Real-World Conditions: CDC Study A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday is the latest to show real-world evidence of the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines that were developed with mRNA technology. The study, which is based on health care personnel at 33 sites across 25 states, found that a single dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines was about  82% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 infections among the health care workers studied. Vaccine effectiveness increased to 94% following both doses of either jab. (Farber, 5/15)

CIDRAP: COVID MRNA Vaccines Induce Immune Response In Pregnant, Lactating Women COVID-19 mRNA vaccines trigger an immune response in pregnant and breastfeeding women, and maternal antibodies transfer into infant cord blood and breast milk, a small descriptive study yesterday in JAMA finds. A team led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center researchers in Boston assessed immune response in a convenience sample of 103 pregnant, lactating, and nonpregnant women given either the Pfizer/BioNTech (54%) or the Moderna (46%) COVID-19 vaccine from December 2020 through March 2021. Seventeen percent of pregnant participants received their first vaccine dose in the first trimester, while 50% received it in their second trimester, and 33% got theirs in their final trimester. (Van Beusekom, 5/14)

The New York Times: How The United States Beat The Coronavirus Variants, For Now On Dec. 29, a National Guardsman in Colorado became the first known case in the United States of a contagious new variant of the coronavirus. The news was unsettling. The variant, called B.1.1.7, had roiled Britain, was beginning to surge in Europe and threatened to do the same in the United States. And although scientists didn’t know it yet, other mutants were also cropping up around the country. They included variants that had devastated South Africa and Brazil and that seemed to be able to sidestep the immune system, as well as others homegrown in California, Oregon and New York. (Zimmer and Mandavilli, 5/14)

Bloomberg: Covid Is Airborne, Scientists Say. Now Authorities Think So, Too A quiet revolution has permeated global health circles. Authorities have come to accept what many researchers have argued for over a year: The coronavirus can spread through the air. That new acceptance, by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comes with concrete implications: Scientists are calling for ventilation systems to be overhauled like public water supplies were in the 1800s after fetid pipes were found to harbor cholera. (Gale, 5/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area ICU Hospitalizations Back At Pandemic Low - Experts Cite 'Marvelous Vaccines' The Bay Area’s high rates of COVID-19 vaccinations and low coronavirus case rates are paying off in a big way when it comes to hospitalizations. According to data collected and analyzed by The Chronicle, ICU admissions of COVID-19 patients in Bay Area hospitals are at an all-time pandemic low. On May 14, there were 55 ICU patients with COVID-19 in Bay Area hospitals, which ties the pandemic low of 55 a year earlier on May 29, 2020. Overall Bay Area coronavirus hospitalizations totaled 234 on May 13, which was nearing the all-time low of 220 on June 18, 2020. (Hwang, 5/16)

ABC News: Ceremony Honors COVID-19 Patients Who Died At Southern California Hospital  Under the orange glow of a Southern California evening, the doctors, and nurses at Providence St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton, California, stand in their blue scrubs and white coats, holding tiny white boxes. In those boxes, butterflies representing all the victims of COVID-19 who have died at this hospital in the past year. "The spirit of the butterflies and the spirit of our loved ones take flight amongst us," said one of the speakers at the ceremony. (Stone and Schneider, 5/16)

Fox News: Most Kids With Coronavirus Do Not Develop Fever, Study Finds More than a year into the coronavirus pandemic, most are well aware that the symptoms of a COVID-19 infection often include fever, cough and shortness of breath. But the same may not be true for one group of people: children. A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports this week found that most children who contract the virus do not develop fever. The study, published Thursday, found that the vast majority — about 81% — of the more than 12,000 children with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infections who were a part of the study did not develop fever. Meanwhile, nearly 75% of the children "did not have any of the typical COVID-19 symptoms" such as cough or shortness of breath, the researchers added. (Farber, 5/15)

Politico: Biden Admin Reroutes Billions In Emergency Stockpile, Covid Funds To Border Crunch  The Department of Health and Human Services has diverted more than $2 billion meant for other health initiatives toward covering the cost of caring for unaccompanied immigrant children, as the Biden administration grapples with a record influx of migrants on the southern border. The redirected funds include $850 million that Congress originally allocated to rebuild the nation’s Strategic National Stockpile, the emergency medical reserve strained by the Covid-19 response. Another $850 million is being taken from a pot intended to help expand coronavirus testing, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. (Cancryn, 5/15)

Stat: Abandoned Trump Order On Bioeconomy Highlights Path Forward For Biden The Trump administration came remarkably close to shoring up the scattershot way the United States regulates the “bioeconomy” — a wide-ranging category of products like lab grown meat, biofuels, DNA storage drives, and CAR-T cancer drugs — but fell short. Now, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is within striking distance of the same. (Florko, 5/17)

Stat: The ‘Era Of The Genome’ Has Arrived. What Role Will Illumina Play? For Francis deSouza, the CEO of DNA sequencer manufacturer Illumina, the hardest moments of the Covid-19 pandemic are still fresh. He has, he says, been talking to his aunt, who is in her 90s and lives in a village in Goa, India, who is afraid to leave her home. “She’s confused, and there’s a lot of misinformation out there,  so it’s heartbreaking to watch her go through this and be unable to help from so far away,” deSouza said last week at the STAT Health Tech Summit. “And that story has played out so many times over the last year.” (Herper, 5/17)

AP: Heart Study: Low- And Regular-Dose Aspirin Safe, Effective An unusual study that had thousands of heart disease patients enroll themselves and track their health online as they took low- or regular-strength aspirin concludes that both doses seem equally safe and effective for preventing additional heart problems and strokes. But there’s a big caveat: People had such a strong preference for the lower dose that it’s unclear if the results can establish that the treatments are truly equivalent, some independent experts said. Half who were told to take the higher dose took the lower one instead or quit using aspirin altogether. (Marchione, 5/15)

The Washington Post: As Menopause Approaches, Some Women Suffer ‘Brain Fog’ And Memory Loss. What’s Causing These Problems?  Pat Lea, 72, a longtime friend who lives in England, began forgetting words midsentence when she was 48, impairing her ability to speak in public and provoking countless embarrassing moments. Lea, then a housing benefits manager in a London borough, tried making light of it, then began writing her notes in advance, but things only became worse. “It seemed innocuous at first, but became more intense,” she says. (Cimons, 5/16)

The Wall Street Journal: How To Wean Your Kids—And Yourself—Off Screens  After more than a year of being glued to their devices, a lot of kids will have trouble easing up on the tech that brought them comfort and connection during the pandemic. In a recent survey of 325 parents conducted by market-research firm Ipsos, 22% reported that their children spend an average of 10 or more hours a week on entertainment-related screen time—far more time than many of the surveyed parents said they would like. It’s also hard for many adults to put down their devices, which is why I’m offering tips from experts on how families can do a digital reset together. (Jargon, 5/15)

NPR: Growing Power Outages Pose Grave Threat To People Who Need Medical Equipment To Live At the same time that climate change has fueled a rise in severe events, the power grid is aging. By the 2000s, there were 10 times more major power outages reported each year compared with the 1980s and early 1990s, according to an analysis of data from 1984 to 2012 by the nonprofit news organization Climate Central. They were mostly driven by severe weather, though changes in data collection likely contributed as well. "We have climate change coming, which is going to throw at us more of these curve balls, more of these unexpected events that can impact the infrastructure," says Joan Casey, an environmental epidemiologist at Columbia University who has studied the health impact of power outages. (Huff, 5/15)

The Washington Post: There’s A Score To Quantify Childhood Trauma. Some Health Experts Want You To Know Yours Even with a pandemic raging, Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician who is serving as the first state surgeon general of California, set a goal that had nothing to do with the coronavirus: training 20,000 medical professionals in her state in a kind of health assessment known as the ACEs score.  ACEs stands for adverse childhood experiences. A person’s score is typically a tally of how many of 10 such traumas — specific kinds of abuse, neglect or household challenges — they suffered before the age of 18. (Morgan, 5/15)

Stat: 5 Questions About The New York Yankees’ Covid-19 Infections  Eight members of the New York Yankees organization who were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 tested positive for the coronavirus this week. And that news has led to a lot of people saying, wait, what? Below, STAT outlines what we know about the cases and some of the factors that might have contributed to the cluster. (Joseph, 5/14)

The Hill: Schools Face New Pressures To Reopen For In-Person Learning Schools across the country are facing new pressure to open for in-person learning this fall given the authorization of a vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 and new federal guidance that vaccinated people do not need to wear face masks indoors or outdoors. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in an interview with The Hill reiterated that he expects all schools to fully reopen in the fall and said the vaccine and mask guidance updates this week will likely adjust how schools plan for the next school year.  (Coleman, 5/16)

Bloomberg: CDC Urges Masks for Schools U.S. schools should maintain mask requirements at least through the end of the academic year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its latest guidance, even after saying fully vaccinated adults can safely shed face coverings in most settings. “Universal and correct use of masks should be required” at K-12 schools providing in-person instruction, the CDC said in a statement Saturday. “Physical distancing should be maximized to the greatest extent possible.” That includes creating distance between children on school buses when possible and ensuring that “teachers and staff use proper handwashing and respiratory etiquette,” according to the agency. (5/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Pandemic Prom: No Dancing, Weird Locations Toward the end of prom night at a community event hall in Grand Prairie, Texas, students started doing something forbidden. They started dancing. The prom queen and king had just been crowned. The senior song, Post Malone’s “Congratulations,” was playing, and excitement in the room was high. Some attendees jumped up from their chairs to take part in the banned activity, much to the dismay of the chaperones and the DJ, who urged everyone to sit down. (Chen and Vauerlein, 5/16)

The New York Times: Train In Iowa With Hazardous Materials Derails, Prompting Evacuation  About 80 people in a city in northwest Iowa were evacuated on Sunday afternoon after part of a Union Pacific train hauling hazardous materials derailed and then caught fire, officials said. The derailment of about 47 cars took place around 2 p.m. in Sibley, said Robynn Tysver, a spokeswoman for Union Pacific. By 3 p.m., local officials had texted an evacuation order to people nearby, citing “HAZMAT train derailment and fire.” (Paybarah, 5/16)

Fox News: E.Coli Outbreak In Washington State May Be Linked To Fresh Produce, Officials Say  An outbreak of E.coli that has affected residents across multiple counties in Washington state is possibly linked to fresh produce, said health officials. As of Wednesday, there have been at least six E.coli cases across four Washington state counties, with three of those cases occurring in King County, according to a news release from the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). The cases range in age from 0-79, with two of the six confirmed cases occurring in the 10-19 age group. At least three people have been hospitalized as a result, and at least one person has developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which health officials described as a "serious complication" of an E. coli infection that can lead to damage of the kidneys and other organs. (Farber, 5/15)

CBS News: New York City's 24-Hour Subway Service Resumes One Year After COVID-19 Shutdown  New York City's subway system's last COVID-related overnight shutdown occurred Sunday morning as 24-hour service will resume on Monday morning. The subway system, the nation's largest, started closing down in the overnight hours in May 2020 for cleaning during the COVID-19 crisis in the city. (Linton, 5/16)

AP: Officials: Fentanyl Overdoses Spreading Across Georgia Fentanyl overdoses, including by people taking pills falsely sold to them as Xanax or Percocet, are spreading across Georgia. Officials say they have found clusters in the Savannah and Columbus areas after an initial set of cases was found mostly around Augusta. (5/16)

KQED: Decriminalizing Psychedelic Drugs In California: As Senate Considers Bill, Debate Continues A bill to decriminalize psychedelic drugs is currently being considered by the California state legislature. Senate Bill 519, introduced by State Senator Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco), would allow doctors to prescribe psychedelics for treating mental health disorders such as depression and PTSD. It would also allow psychedelics for personal use, and expunge criminal records for people with prior convictions for possession. Earlier this week, the journal Nature Medicine published results of a study using the psychedelic drug MDMA, known as ecstasy, to treat post-traumatic stress disorder among research participants who received the drug. Along with counseling, 67% felt their condition had improved to the extent that they no longer qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD. (Dembosky and Sarah, 5/16)

AP: India Braces For Powerful Cyclone Amid Deadly Virus Surge A powerful cyclone roaring in the Arabian Sea was moving toward India’s western coast on Monday as authorities tried to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people and suspended COVID-19 vaccinations in one state. Cyclone Tauktae, which has already killed six people in parts of southern India, was expected to make landfall on Monday evening in Gujarat state with winds of up to 175 kilometers (109 miles) per hour, the India Meteorological Department said. (5/17)

Bloomberg: India Boosting Vaccination To Prevent Another Wave Of Infections India has scaled up vaccination for its 1.3 billion population, apart from boosting heath care infrastructure as it prepares for a third wave of coronavirus infections, Baijayant Panda, vice president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said. “The biggest bet of course we are making is that our vaccination roll out has been scaled up enormously,” the BJP leader, known as Jay Panda, said in an interview to Bloomberg TV Asia on Monday. “By end of the year, we hope to have a majority of Indians vaccinated.” (Pradhan, 5/17)

The New York Times: India's Black Market Preys On Desperate Covid-19 Victims  Within the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak, few treasures are more coveted than an empty oxygen canister. India’s hospitals desperately need the metal cylinders to store and transport the lifesaving gas as patients across the country gasp for breath. So a local charity reacted with outrage when one supplier more than doubled the price, to nearly $200 each. The charity called the police, who discovered what could be one of the most brazen, dangerous scams in a country awash with coronavirus-related fraud and black-market profiteering. (Kumar and Gettleman, 5/16)

Bloomberg: China Is Vaccinating Almost 14 Million People A Day Amid Flareup China is vaccinating almost 14 million people a day, the fastest pace in the world, as the country races to protect its Covid-19 advantage in the face of major Western nations reopening their economies. The ramp up in shots is being helped by a flareup of cases in the eastern province of Anhui and northeastern region of Liaoning. Videos on social media showed citizens rushing to get their vaccines, with long queues at inoculation sites despite heavy rain. Hefei, Anhui’s capital city, administered 360,000 doses on Friday, the most in a single day for the hub of 10 million people, Xinhua News agency reported. (5/17)

AP: UK Readies For Major Reopening But New Variant Sparks Worry Travelers in England were packing their bags, bartenders were polishing their glasses and performers were warming up as Britain prepared Sunday for a major step out of lockdown — but with clouds of worry on the horizon. Excitement at the reopening of travel and hospitality vied with anxiety that a more contagious virus variant first found in India is spreading fast and could delay further plans to reopen. (Lawless, 5/16)

AP: Britain Yet To Decide On Pfizer Offer To Vaccinate Olympians The British government is still deciding whether to accept an offer from Pfizer to fast-track Olympic and Paralympic athletes for coronavirus vaccines. Jabs are only being given to Britons aged 38 or older — though this will be extended to those over 35 from next week — with younger people only getting inoculated if they have an underlying health condition. (5/16)

The New York Times: Why Vaccinating The World Against Covid-19 Will Be Hard  In delivering vaccines, pharmaceutical companies aided by monumental government investments have given humanity a miraculous shot at liberation from the worst pandemic in a century. But wealthy countries have captured an overwhelming share of the benefit. Only 0.3 percent of the vaccine doses administered globally have been given in the 29 poorest countries, home to about 9 percent of the world’s population. (Goodman, Mandavilli, Robbins and Stevis-Gridneff, 5/15)

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