Medicine’s Gender Gap | Covid Variant Reinfections | Plastic-Eating Bacteria

Plus: Flu levels are the lowest in modern history

International Women’s Day has come and gone this week, but the significant equity gap in science and medicine remains. While Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry this year for their pioneering work developing Crispr-based gene editing tools, women are underrepresented in prizes and awards across medicine and science. Forbes contributor Madhukar Pai interviewed Julie Silver, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who examines this gap across medical specialities. She highlights a recent study of 550,000 faculty at U.S. medical schools, which found female doctors were less likely than men to be promoted to associate or full professor over the past 35-years--and there was no narrowing of the gap in that time. 

Similar gaps exist for underrepresented communities of color. The Journal of the American Medical Association was in hot water this week over a tweet, now since deleted, where it introduced a podcast on structural racism writing: “No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in healthcare?” Forbes contributor Bruce Lee breaks down the swift backlash in this story. 

Any questions? Send me an email at kjennings@forbes.com.

In the latest sign that for-profit nursing homes are struggling in the Covid-19 pandemic fallout, Welltower—the biggest owner of nursing homes in the US— is separating from Genesis Healthcare—the nation’s biggest operator of nursing facilities. Genesis, whose share price has plummeted in recent years, also announced it is delisting from the New York Stock Exchange. Last year, Genesis warned investors it was at risk of going out of business on account of the pandemic. In January, its CEO retired and now the company is engaged in a fundamental restructuring.

Noteworthy

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a law banning nearly all abortions in the state, which anti-abortion advocates hope will lead to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. 

America’s Health Insurance Plans will spend at least $10 million on a national education campaign, the lobby’s largest advertising buy ever. 

Americans are increasingly turning to their pharmacists for help in being able to afford their medicine, according to a new survey.

Coronavirus Updates

For the first time since October, the U.S. is averaging fewer than 50,000 new Covid-19 cases a day -- a dramatic decline from the pandemic’s peak in January. Experts, however, are urging the public to stay vigilant with social distancing and masking, though not everyone is listening. The Texas Attorney General has threatened to sue the city of Austin if officials don’t lift a mask mandate by this evening. And New York and New Jersey have expanded indoor dining, even as new variants of Covid-19 continue to spread. Luckily, there will soon be enough vaccines for every American adult who wants one. President Biden announced today that he ordered an additional 100 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines in order to have enough vaccines for the whole U.S. population.

In other coronavirus news:

The House of Representatives has passed President Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus bill, and the president is expected to sign it into law on Friday. 

Researchers say that the B.1.1.7. variant of Covid-19, first identified in the U.K., could be twice as deadly as other strains of the virus. 

A group of scientists are accusing the CDC of misinterpreting their research on the safety of school reopenings.

Across Forbes

• How This Unsung Black Entrepreneur Changed The Food Industry Forever—And Made A Lot Of Dough

• Billionaire Dave Baszucki’s Wealth Soars To $4.2 Billion As Roblox Hits The Stock Market

• The Race To Develop Plastic-Eating Bacteria

What Else We Are Reading

• Women Report Worse Side Effects After a Covid Vaccine (The New York Times)

• Without these lipid shells, there would be no mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 (Chemical & Engineering News)

• 6 former FDA commissioners push Biden to nominate a permanent chief (STAT)