In the last week of December, I had a major story published at MuckRock, USA TODAY, and local newsrooms in Arizona, Oregon, and Texas. The story explains that official COVID-19 statistics underestimate the pandemic’s true toll—particularly on people of color, who are more likely to have their deaths inaccurately represented in mortality data.
Unlike previous vaccination campaigns, the new Omicron boosters are available to all adults across the country who have been previously inoculated. But all previously-vaccinated Americans are not facing similar levels of COVID-19 risk.
Will we ever get control of this pandemic? We can, but better data will go a long way in helping us get there. Here are nine areas where I’d like to see improvement.
Sources and updates for the week of June 5 include a new chart on the CDC’s wastewater dashboard and studies showing COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Native Americans.
Featured sources for the week of May 1 include vaccination rates in nursing homes, neighborhood-level health disparities, access to hospital services, and more.
This week, I’m sharing a short dispatch from the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) conference in Houston, Texas. I’m discussing the cascading health issues caused by environmental racism—including, of course, COVID-19—as well as the ways that data gaps can make it harder for hard-hit communities to get needed public health assistance.