Welcome to Friday’s Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. Subscribe here: thehill.com/newsletter-signup.

Some good science news— NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully drilled into a rock on Mars.

The White House wants $65 billion for a sweeping new biosecurity strategy to remake the country’s pandemic plan in the wake of COVID-19. It could be one of the largest investments in public health in history— if it’s approved.

For The Hill, we’re Peter Sullivan ([email protected]), Nathaniel Weixel ([email protected]) and Justine Coleman ([email protected]). Write to us with tips and feedback, and follow us on Twitter: @PeterSullivan4, @NateWeixel and @JustineColeman8.

Let’s get started.

Biden administration seeks $65B for pandemic preparedness plan

The Biden administration on Friday unveiled its $65.3 billion plan to improve the U.S.’s pandemic preparedness strategy in the midst of COVID-19 and as

• Tucker Carlson defended healthcare workers who’ve illegally bought fake vaccination cards. 
• Those who lie about their vaccination status to keep their job are “forced into a corner by tyrants,” per the Fox News host.
• There is broad consensus among medical professionals that healthcare workers should be required to get vaccinated.

Tucker Carlson defended healthcare workers who’ve illegally purchased fake COVID-19 vaccination cards to circumvent their employers’ vaccination mandates, claiming falsely that people are being “forced” to get shots. 

The Fox News host took aim at Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who on Tuesday charged 15 people with felonies for selling or purchasing counterfeit vaccination documents. Two women were charged with working together to sell hundreds of falsified cards for $200 each and entering unvaccinated peoples’ names into New York State’s immunization database for an additional $250 fee. Some of the individuals charged with illegally purchasing the

TAMPA BAY, Fla — At Tampa General Hospital (TGH) on Florida’s west coast, the pandemic is simply overwhelming staff.

“I think it’s hard to put into words,” said Nurse Manager Ty Breiter. He leads a complex medicine unit that was converted to a COVID-only unit about a month ago.

“This is like nothing I’ve done in my career and I’ve been in healthcare through some very significant times,” said Lara Klick, Vice President of the patient experience department. For the past 18 months, she and her staff have been consoling sick and dying patients and their grieving families.

At TGH, hospitalizations continue to peak with patients coming in younger, sicker. More than 91% of those admitted for COVID 19 are unvaccinated and all of them are desperate.

Tampa hospital worker speaks about ongoing struggles of profession during pandemic

“We can have patients who need up to 15 liters of oxygen,”

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Sentara Healthcare is investigating internally after one of its employees made concerning allegations on social media about the healthcare system falsifying death certificates.

The writer, who the healthcare system verified is an employee of Sentara, wrote, “I personally had people come into the emergency room from car accidents and died but COVID was put on their death certificates.” The woman went on, writing, “Hospitals were paid extra, thus incentivized to lie.”

News 3 attempted to reach the woman who wrote the statement on social media but did not receive a response.

A spokesperson for Sentara sent the following statement:

Upon discovery of the social media post in question, Sentara’s first and foremost concern was to immediately launch an internal review into the allegations. After a thorough review and partnering with the employee, Sentara determined that there was no indication of inaccurate patient records.

We understand the

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Israel has found evidence that suggests healthcare workers are more likely to become infected with COVID-19 at home than on the job. They have published a paper on the open-access JAMA Network Open describing the results of surveys they conducted at Hadassah Medical Center.

As the global pandemic has continued, the general public has become aware of the sacrifices that healthcare workers have made to treat people with COVID-19 and to save lives. Over time, risks have been reduced by vaccines and protective gear. In this new effort, the researchers have found that as a result, healthcare workers are now more likely to become infected at home than at work, when they are not wearing their protective gear.

The work involved surveying all of

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The controversy over mask mandates in schools in Tennessee is making national headlines.

Healthcare workers advocating for safety measures to combat COVID-19 in schools faced threatening crowds after the Williamson County School Board voted to require masks for elementary-aged students Tuesday.

Governor Bill Lee refused to address the healthcare workers being harassed and threatened when asked Friday.

News 2’s Gerald Harris asked: “Should healthcare workers be threatened while doing their job, Governor?”

Gov. Lee did not respond despite the incident in Williamson County catching the attention of President Joe Biden.

This comes as Gov. Lee’s administration is quietly trying to stamp out vaccine and COVID-19 misinformation among Republican lawmakers.

The medical workers were advocating for a mask mandate and other mitigation efforts in schools to limit the spread of the virus.

“These people