Feds accelerate COVID-19 vaccination pace, AOA offers vaccinators’ webinar
U.S. health authorities spur next phase of COVID-19 vaccination rollout, dramatically expanding supply and administration sites, as optometry explores going from vaccinated to vaccinator.

Understanding Photophobia in mTBI
Photophobia is complex and experienced by approximately 50% of patients with TBI.

Talking politics in the office? 3 things to keep in mind
Even if you’re choosing to disengage, today’s politics have a way of finding you. What are the ground rules for approaching political debates in the practice?

AOA takes on anti-optometry lobbying group’s deceptions
Despite its name, the National Association of Optometrists and Opticians is a “front” for large optical retailers, working against the interests of doctors of optometry and comprehensive vision care for patients, the AOA contends in a Jan. 5 letter sent to the Internal Revenue Service.

Massachusetts scope win adds glaucoma authority
A scope expansion years in the making was signed into law with a comprehensive health care and telehealth bill on New Year’s Day.
Doctors of optometry, staff preparing for next move in vaccine distribution
AOA and affiliates keep concerns of patients, doctors and staff as uppermost priority, as Food and Drug Administration weighs approval of first vaccines for COVID-19 in the U.S.
Congress probes vision plan policies, NCOIL drops AOA-opposed model language
Vision plan policy changes that incited swift AOA and affiliate rebuke have come under Congressional scrutiny, while optometry’s advocates score a win for states.

Pandemic pearls: The challenges of maintaining a healthy tear film
Doctors of optometry are faced with the clinical challenges of patient care as we continue to navigate pandemic life and the use of digital devices increases. Pamela A. Lowe, O.D., immediate past chair of the AOA Contact Lens and Cornea Section, offers five helpful tips to help patients alleviate ocular irritation and keep them comfortably seeing well.

Doctors still making sacrifices as pandemic spreads
The FDA is authorizing vaccines to combat COVID-19. But doctors of optometry are still fighting to recover from conditions that limited the essential eye care they provide and to keep their staffs safe from COVID-19 itself, according to the third and final survey by the AOA Health Policy Institute on the profession and the pandemic.
AOA Focus
