A couple of data sources, a couple of data-related updates:
- State plans for utilizing COVID-19 relief funding: The federal Office of Elementary and Secondary Education has posted every state’s plan for utilizing ESSER funding, a $13-billion fund set aside to help schools address the impact of COVID-19. Money can be utilized for academic assistance, improving ventilation in schools, testing, and more. State plans were due to the federal government last June, though some materials are still pending on the website.
- New GAO report on Long COVID: Between 8 and 23 million Americans may have developed Long COVID in the last two years—and an estimated one million are out of work because of this condition—according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The report discusses medical and economic impacts of Long COVID, including current efforts by the federal government to study the condition.
- KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor update: This week, the Kaiser Family Foundation published a new report detailing America’s sentiments on COVID-19 vaccines and other pandemic issues. Key findings include: COVID-19 vaccine uptake “remains relatively unchanged since January” for both adults and children; a majority of parents with children under five say they “don’t have enough information” about vaccines for that age group; and “most adults believe that the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over but there are disagreements about what returning to normal means and when it should happen.”
- Vaccination disparities between urban and rural counties: Here’s a CDC MMWR study that caught my eye this week: researchers compared vaccination rates in urban and rural U.S. counties, finding that the rate of people in urban counties who have received at least one dose (75.4%) is much higher than the rate in rural counties (58.5%). Moreover, the gap between urban and rural counties has more than doubled between April 2021 and January 2022, the researchers found.
- CDC updates seroprevalence data: The CDC recently updated a dashboard showing data from seroprevalence surveys, which use information from labs across the country to estimate how many Americans have resolving or recent coronavirus infections. (This does not include vaccinations, unlike other seroprevalence estimates.) According to this new update, about 43% of the country had antibodies from a recent infection as of late January. In some parts of the country that were harder-hit by Omicron, the esimate is over 50%.