Medical Testing

In the week since international travelers were welcomed back to the United States, airlines, nonprofit organizations and travel groups have finally seen an uptick in the digital health passes they had hoped travelers would use since their launch.

American Airlines has been seeing a nearly 10 percent increase in its VeriFLY app usage for travel since the Nov. 8 lifting of U.S. entry restrictions, said spokeswoman Rachel Warner. Tech research firm Apptopia noticed a 5 percent increase in downloads of these kinds of apps from the week before the travel ban was lifted, according to Thomas Grant, the company’s director of equity research.

Travel industry experts credited this rise to the new flood of international travelers.

Pfizer signs license agreement to allow broader global access to its experimental Covid-19 antiviral pill Pfizer said Tuesday it signed a licensing agreement to allow broader global access to its experimental Covid-19 pill. Amanda Sealy, CNN CNN

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FDA, Ellume recalling more than 2 million at-home COVID-19 test kits Australian manufacturer Ellume is recalling about 2 million at-home COVID-19 test kits over concerns about "higher than acceptable" false positives. Nathaniel Weixel TheHill

Australian manufacturer Ellume is recalling about 2 million at-home COVID-19 test kits over concerns about "higher than acceptable" false positives.

Shift Covid testing from draconian punishment to empowerment - STAT Instead of viewing Covid-19 testing as a means of limiting access, reframe it as an empowering tool to let people gather more confidently. Maaisha Osman STAT

Public health is at its best when it is pragmatic in the face of complex problems fraught with stigma and uncertainty, like moving in the direction of full vaccination in the face of many Americans’ entrenched or even defiant anti-vaccination sentiment.