When will the COVID-19 pandemic be truly over? The Open Notebook and the COVID-19 Data Dispatch asked 26 pandemic reporters and communicators this daunting question. Their responses provide some potential numeric thresholds—but also remind us that, even when all metrics are met, some people will remain vulnerable.
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Issue #1 of the COVID-19 Data Dispatch was published on July 26, 2020. Today, we hit Issue #52. In reflecting on what I’ve learned running the publication this past year, I wanted to share a few of my favorite posts.
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The U.S. missed President Biden’s big vaccination goal: 70% of adults vaccinated with at least one dose by July 4. As of July 3, we are at 67% of adults with one dose, and 58% fully vaccinated. But rates vary widely by state and county: There are over 1,000 counties in the U.S. with one-dose vaccination rates under 30%, CDC Director Dr. Walensky said at a press briefing last week.
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This is the last week of Pride Month for 2021, and it’s also officially Pride weekend in NYC, where I live. So, it felt appropriate for me to take this issue to highlight a couple of lessons that the U.S. response to COVID-19 has taken from our response to another pandemic—one that is still ongoing.
Read MoreFeatured sources for the week of July 26 include health disparities, COVID-19 orphans, and a new dashboard from the WHO.
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Utah hasn’t hit 70% adult vaccinations yet—but a recent data error led state officials to erroneously announce the benchmark had been hit. Spencer Cox, Utah’s governor, posted an apology on Twitter that drew attention for his commitment to transparency and accountability.
Read MoreFeatured sources for July 18 include coronavirus variants, long COVID, excess deaths, vaccine hesitancy, and more.
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Recently, a lot of U.S. COVID-19 news has centered around booster shots—additional vaccine doses to boost patients’ immunity against the coronavirus. Questions abound: do we need these shots, when might we need them, how do they impact vaccination campaigns?
Read MoreEarlier this week, I asked readers to share what the COVID-19 Data Dispatch has meant to them over this past year. Here are a few of those responses!
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Cases have been rising for a couple of weeks now, but we’re now seeing the sharpest increase since fall 2020. Between July 9 and July 16, we went from an average of 15,000 new cases a day to an average of 26,000 new cases a day.
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In the June 6 issue, one of our featured sources was a page from the federal government’s vaccine.gov site, providing an extensive list of rewards for Americans who got their shots—ranging from free Krispy Kreme donuts to a United Airlines sweepstakes. Now, however, that same page only offers a small list of support options for Americans who may need assistance in making their appointments. These include childcare support and free rides from Uber and Lyft; still valuable information, but a huge change from the previous page.
Read MoreFeatured sources for July 11 include vaccination equity, COVID-19 genetics, and an update on Nebraska’s dashboard.
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