August 14, 2020

Dear Friends,


The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DOD) have reached an agreement with Moderna, Inc. to manufacture and deliver 100 million doses of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

• HHS and DOD have announced an agreement with BioFire Defense, LLC, to expand the production of BioFire COVID-19 testing for the DOD.
• HHS is offering a funding opportunity using $2.5 million from the CARES Act to expand and accelerate innovative uses of electronic health information via health information exchanges to support public health agencies.
• HHS announcedan additional $1.4 billion in funding for close to 80 children’s hospitals throughout the country.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released an alert about hackers who are spoofing the Small Business Administration COVID-19 loan relief webpage by means of phishing emails.

• The Federal Trade Commission has tips on how to protect yourself from COVID-19 scams.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic showing that around 40 percent of those surveyed experienced a mental or behavioral health condition connected to the pandemic.

The Food and Drug Administration provided clarification on testing of alcohol used in hand sanitizers manufactured under temporary policies to help ensure that harmful levels of methanol are not present in these products.

Until next time, this is your doctor’s note.

Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D.