International childhood vaccine campaign grows

NewsletterMorning Rounds International childhood vaccine campaign grows You’re reading the web version of our Morning Rounds newsletter Manage alerts for this article Email this article Share this article By O. Rose BroderickApril 24, 2026 Disability in Health Care Reporting Fellow O. Rose Broderick[email protected]O. Rose Broderick reports on the health policies and technologies that govern people with disabilities’ lives. Before coming to STAT, she worked at WNYC’s Radiolab and Scientific American, and her story debunking a bogus theory about transgender kids was nominated for a 2024 GLAAD Media Award. You can reach Rose on Signal at rosebroderick.11. Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here. It’s my birthday tomorrow.Advertisement What’s your favorite off-the-wall rendition of a birthday anthem? I love this version from Black Country, New Road that I heard the other day. Trump moves on weed, psychedelics signal new era in GOP drug policy In the last week, President Trump has upended United States drug policy, increasing the availability of certain psychedelics and, in a major policy shift long sought by advocates, reclassifying medical marijuana. The president did not legalize psychedelics or weed, but his orders change the way these drugs will be regulated. For weed, the move shifts state-licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I — reserved for drugs without medical use and with high potential for abuse — to the less strictly regulated Schedule III. It also eases some barriers to researching cannabis. For psychedelics, the changes will also bolster research access to these substances, which have shown promise in treating various mental health conditions.Advertisement Is this the most pro-drug administration? Did this all start with a text from podcaster Joe Rogan? Read more from STAT’s Lev Facher and Isabella Cueto. CMS, FDA fast-tracking reimbursement for medical devices It wasn’t just drug policy that got a big shake-up yesterday. Federal regulators announced a new Medicare coverage pathway for devices deemed breakthroughs by the Food and Drug Administration, a bid to address long-standing industry complaints that it takes too long for Medicare to pay for innovative technology. The new pathway aims to sync the Food and Drug Administration’s premarket review process, which determines whether products are safe and effective, with Medicare’s independent process, which determines whether paying for devices is reasonable and necessary. If finalized, the pathway will create a quicker path to permanent coverage for device developers while addressing concerns about Medicare paying for unproven technology. But not everyone was mollified by the announcement. Read more from STAT’s Mario Aguilar and Katie Palmer, who break down the new pathway and why some experts are skeptical that it will ameliorate the problems in the medical device pipeline. I keep beating — keep, keep beating Why does cancer rarely settle in the heart? Peep the beats. The constant pressure that the organ is under from beating thousands of times a day and pushing gallons of blood might be creating an environment that is hostile to cancers, according to a preliminary study in mice. To test their hypothesis, researchers transplanted a second heart into mice. Yes, you read that correctly: two hearts, one mouse. The transplanted heart had less mechanical stress, i.e., was pumping less blood. They then injected cancer cells into both hearts and found that cancer spread quickly in the transplanted heart, which was under less stress, but cancer rarely spread in the native heart. STAT’s Anil Oza with a great write-up of this study, whose findings could generate new approaches for cancer treatments. Molly, mushrooms, ibogaine — oh my! Before watching this video, I had no idea how to pronounce ‘ibogaine,’ the psychedelic that has Joe Rogan in a tizzy. Do you also want to learn how to pronounce words favored by podcasters? Or, maybe more importantly, understand what Rogan is texting Trump about? The latest STATus Report has you covered. Alex Hogan and Daniel Payne dive further into Trump’s recent actions on psychedelic policy, and what it means for mental health treatments. Advertisement Regeneron signs drug pricing deal, secures gene therapy approval Regeneron had a busy Thursday. The drugmaker struck a private drug pricing deal with the Trump administration to reduce prices on drugs to Medicaid, the last of 17 deals initially sought by the White House last year. The company also agreed to invest $27 billion in drug development in the United States. Health officials promised more drug pricing agreements in the near future, specifically targeting smaller pharma companies. Regeneron also announced FDA approval of Otarmeni, the first gene therapy to be greenlit under the agency’s new National Priority Voucher program. In early trials, the drug provided modest hearing gains for people with a rare type of hearing loss, though its development has received pushback from parts of the Deaf community. Regeneron plans to offer the drug at no cost to American patients. Read more from STAT’s Daniel Payne and myself. International childhood vaccine campaign grows A multiyear campaign to rectify the damage the Covid-19 pandemic did to immunization efforts in developing countries has delivered more than 100 million vaccinations to 36 countries. New data released Thursday suggest the Big Catch-Up campaign has vaccinated at least 18.3 million children under the age of 5, and appears to be on track to hit its goal of 21 million children when the final tally is calculated. Importantly, 12.3 million of them were what are known as “zero dose children” — kids who’d previously received no vaccinations. The program, which began in 2023, was conducted by the WHO; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and UNICEF. Kate O’Brien, WHO’s director of immunization, vaccination, and biologics, said one of the pluses of the campaign is that countries are now monitoring vaccination coverage in kids up to the age of 5. Previously monitoring stopped after the age of 2 in many countries, an approach that all but assured that children who were missed in their first two years of life would remain unvaccinated. — Helen Branswell What we’re reading The ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement is cooling on Trump and Republicans, New York Times Weekly ER visits for tick bites higher than usual, CDC “A punch in the gut”: After years of waiting, many opioid victims will be shut out of Purdue settlement, ProPublica Food stamp work rules don’t increase employment, researchers say, KFF Health News What’s the word? Test your knowledge with today’s STAT Mini crossword.Advertisement health care Submit a correction requestReprints O. Rose Broderick Disability in Health Care Reporting Fellow O. Rose Broderick reports on the health policies and technologies that govern people with disabilities’ lives. Before coming to STAT, she worked at WNYC’s Radiolab and Scientific American, and her story debunking a bogus theory about transgender kids was nominated for a 2024 GLAAD Media Award. You can reach Rose on Signal at rosebroderick.11. Newsletter Understand how science, health policy, and medicine shape the world every day Recommended Morning Rounds April 23, 2026 Across 7 hearings, RFK Jr. talks a new, more moderate MAHA Morning Rounds April 22, 2026 Moderna continues bird flu vax study, but limits work in the U.S. Advertisement Morning Rounds April 21, 2026 This CDC conference was always open to the public. Until now Morning Rounds April 20, 2026 How weed affects adolescent brains Morning Rounds April 17, 2026 The deadly consequences of ICE detention Subscriber Picks