A lot of COVID-19 data sources caught my eye this week!
- More booster data from the CDC: This week, the CDC added both booster shot trends by day and booster shots by primary series type to its COVID Data Tracker. For booster shot trends, click “People Receiving a Booster Dose” on the Trends page, and for primary series data, scroll down to “Covid-19 Booster Dose Type by Primary Series Type” on the Vaccination Totals page. So far, it looks like a lot of Johnson & Johnson recipients are opting for mRNA boosters.
- KFF’s latest Vaccine Monitor update: The Kaiser Family Foundation has released the latest edition of its monthly vaccine poll, the COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor. This month’s edition focuses on vaccinations for children ages 5 to 11, in line with the recent discussions around shots for this age group, but it also includes other polling on general vaccination demographics, boosters, mandates, and more.
- Under-testing in U.S. prisons and jails: A new report from the UCLA Law COVID Behind Bars Data Project explores how insufficient COVID-19 testing of incarcerated people in the U.S. contributes to skewed case rates. Even in the states that have tested their incarcerated populations the most, this report shows, that testing is still far less frequent than testing for other congregate living facilities, like nursing homes.
- Impact of School Opening on SARS-CoV-2 Transmission: A group of scientists (including school data expert Emily Oster) recently published a new paper in Nature examining how school reopening models—remote, hybrid, or in-person—contribute to community transmission. In most parts of the country, reopening model did not have a significant impact on transmission, they found; the South was an exception. The authors shared the data underlying their paper, with some information from Burbio and the CDC removed due to requirements from those organizations.
- Reporting recipe for breakthrough case data: Dillon Bergin, my colleague at the Documenting COVID-19 project, wrote this reporting recipe, which guides local newsrooms through acquiring data on and covering breakthrough cases in their areas. The recipe accompanies a recent story that Dillon wrote, in collaboration with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, on breakthrough cases by occupation in Las Vegas. (Unsurprisingly, healthcare workers and casino workers were likely to have breakthrough cases, the Las Vegas data show.)
- Polling on small businesses and vaccine mandates: Here’s another vaccine survey released this week, this one from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The agency asked small businesses about their positions on vaccine mandates, as well as hiring challenges and other issues. 64% of small business owners support “businesses in their area requiring vaccines for their employees,” the survey found.