A Recap of This Week’s Top News – December 16, 2022

Changes to policy, scientific discovery, and expert recommendations and opinions all have the power to rapidly influence the landscape of a sector. Whether you’re a leader at a non-profit, a member of a university’s marketing department, or a stakeholder for a public health agency, being informed about the latest industry happenings can be the difference between exceeding and falling short of organizational goals. At Hager Sharp, our experts vigorously scan media coverage to identify areas of opportunity. And now, with the introduction of the Sharp Round-Up, you too can review what we consider some of the top news of the week.

Below you will find a compilation of news spanning the health, education, labor, and economy sectors. This list includes mainstream, DC-focused, and trade publication coverage from Saturday, December 10 to Friday, December 16. Let these clips serve as a resource when developing thoughtful strategies and use them to further foster organizational innovation and adaptability.

Here’s what you need to know.

Mainstream News:

• Vaccine misinformation is named one of the biggest threats to public health after a Kaiser Family Foundation report revealed 28% of adults were against vaccination requirements for school children, compared to 16% in 2019.
• The Biden administration is once again offering free rapid COVID-19 tests this winter as cases rise across the country. Households can order four tests at CovidTests.gov.
• The number of deaths in the United States decreased the past two years—down 3% from 2020 and 7% from 2021—which could mark the “first annual decline since 2009” according to preliminary data. Despite the decrease, numbers are still not down to pre-pandemic levels.
• A new report shows that only 14% of diagnosed cancers in the United States are detected by recommended screenings. The remaining diagnoses are due to patients experiencing symptoms or seeking medical care for other reasons.

Education Policy:

• Harvard University announced Thursday that Claudine Gay will serve as the university’s 30th president, making history as the first person of color and second woman to fill the role.
• Federal data from the 2020-21 academic school year illuminated the country’s disparities within the teaching profession—from an overwhelmingly white teacher population to 52-hour workweeks.
• Academic workers at the University of California partly ended their strike after a tentative agreement offered higher pay and better benefits for some postdoctoral workers and academic researchers.

Advancements in Health:

• An experimental skin cancer vaccine saw a 44% reduced risk of recurrence or death. The vaccine, which combines an mRNA vaccine from Moderna with Merck’s Keytruda, will need to show more positive results in a Phase 3 trial before the FDA considers it for the market.
• A new study showed that COVID-19 vaccines have prevented over 3 million deaths in the past two years. According to the study, the United States could have experienced 4 times as many deaths and 1.5 times as many infections without the vaccines.
• A recent study showed that people who contracted COVID-19 early in the pandemic were over 1.6 times more likely to experience anxiety and depression in the months following their infection. While many studies have linked the pandemic to worsening mental health, this study specifically analyzed the effect of contracting COVID-19 viruses.
• On Tuesday, Federal officials proposed that pandemic-enacted emergency policies to expand access to opioid addiction treatments become permanent.