Featured sources and federal data updates, Feb. 28
Featured sources and federal updates for the week of Feb. 28 include vaccines, the CDC’s methodology, school opening, and more.
Read MoreTag: vaccine distribution
Next in vaccination data demands: some, oh god, just any occupational data
Not a single state reports out vaccination by occupation.
Read MoreDiving into COVID-19 data #1: Workshop recap
Our first workshop happened this week! Drew Armstrong, Bloomberg News’s senior editor for health care, talked about his work on the publication’s Vaccine Tracker; and Arielle Levin Becker, director of communications and strategic initiatives for the Connecticut Health Foundation, discussed how to navigate COVID-19 race and ethnicity data. Thank you to everyone who attended—we had a great turnout!
Read MoreHow to talk about COVID-19 vaccines
I wrote a tipsheet on covering COVID-19 vaccines for The Open Notebook. The piece provides tools and resources specifically for writers on the vaccine beat—both those who have been covering the pandemic for months and those who are now incorporating vaccine news into other aspects of their reporting. But this advice also applies more broadly to anyone simply talking about vaccines.
Read MoreNext in vaccination data demands: More hyperlocal data
The CDC continues to improve its vaccination reporting. The agency is now regularly reporting demographic data on its dashboard—including race, ethnicity, age, and sex. But when it comes to tracking who’s getting vaccinated in America, we still have a long way to go.
Read MoreThe volunteers working to make NYC vaccinations more accessible
When faced with entrenched disparities and a local government that doesn’t want to confront them, it can be difficult for singular individuals to step in and fill gaps. But the founders of NYC Vaccine List knew they could fill one specific gap: they built a better website for finding vaccination appointments.
Read MoreFeatured sources, Jan. 31
Featured sources for Jan. 31 include neurological symptoms of COVID-19, ranking country performance, and global vaccine supply.
Read MoreVaccinations so far are perpetuating existing inequity
The data we have so far continue to show significant disparities. In 23 states with available data, white Americans are being vaccinated at higher rates than Black Americans, a recent analysis by Kaiser Health News’ Hannah Recht and Lauren Weber found. This analysis followed a similar study that I cited two weeks ago—Recht and Weber write that “disparities haven’t significantly changed” with two more weeks and several more states reporting.
Read MoreVaccination is a logistics problem
The federal government is distributing millions of doses each week, and many of those doses are making it into arms. By sheer numbers, we are already on track to meet President Biden’s 100 million vaccinations in 100 days goal. Our current problem is, in fact, a logistics one. It’s a build up of infrastructure failures, with all the weight falling on underfunded local public health departments.
Read MoreOnly 19 states report vaccinations by race/ethnicity
Today, I’m focusing on a vaccination issue that hasn’t gotten as much press: who is actually getting vaccinated? On the national level, we largely can’t answer this question, thanks to a lack of demographic data.
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