4.15
Coronavirus
How Penn is handling COVID vaccinations
How Penn is handling COVID vaccinations
Jack Heuer, vice president of the Division of Human Resources, details Penn’s process and planning.
Racial bias in mortality prediction scores
Racial bias in mortality prediction scores
In mass casualty situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, mortality prediction models alone could divert scarce critical care resources away from Black patients.
An approach to COVID-19 vaccination equity for Black neighborhoods
An approach to COVID-19 vaccination equity for Black neighborhoods
A new paper centers racial equity and address the structural barriers that have prevented Black and other underrepresented minority communities from being vaccinated against COVID-19 at equitable rates.
In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020
In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020
Comparing death rates in the United States with those of the five biggest European countries, Penn and Max Planck demographers found that significant excess mortality cost more lives annually than the epidemic itself.
COVID communications and first generation students
COVID communications and first generation students
Marcus Wright, undergraduate program manager and academic coordinator in the Department of Sociology and doctoral student at the Graduate School of Education, analyzes academic messaging to expose blind spots.
How young athletes can safely return to sports after COVID-19
How young athletes can safely return to sports after COVID-19
Sports medicine experts at Penn worked with school districts to develop a protocol for student athletes to safely return to competitive sports, and the strenuous exercise levels associated with those activities.
Understanding and addressing barriers to COVID vaccine acceptance
Understanding and addressing barriers to COVID vaccine acceptance
Different communities have different reasons for wanting to wait on this shot. Getting to the heart of those concerns can help meet people where they are.
David S. Roos on the future of COVID-19
The E. Otis Kendall Professor of Biology and infectious disease specialist discusses the virus, its variants, and vaccines in a Q&A.
The power of architecture to address public health and environmental crises
The power of architecture to address public health and environmental crises
Two new studies, one on UV sterilization in occupied rooms and another on radiative cooling, show how architecture can help create interior spaces that are both COVID-safe and energy-efficient.
Anxiety in a post-COVID world
Anxiety in a post-COVID world
A return to the next normal post-pandemic may trigger anxiety for people anticipating a more public-facing life after a year of isolation.
In the News
The Washington Post
Vaccine etiquette: A guide to politely navigating this new phase of the pandemic
Carolyn Cannuscio of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about how people justify engaging in unsafe behaviors during the pandemic. “People are looking for the magical loopholes that they can step through so that they can return to their free and rich and rewarding social world,” she said. “And we’re not there.”
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Axios
Americans will likely have to navigate a maze of vaccine "passports"
Eric Feldman of the Law School spoke about the legality of businesses requiring proof of vaccination. “In general, private businesses can decide who they're willing to admit into their businesses and serve so long as they don't violate either the federal Civil Rights act or a state law,” he said.
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CNBC
Dr. Zeke Emanuel on why the U.S. should consider a vaccine mandate
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel talks about why a vaccine mandate for some types of workers may be a necessary last resort in establishing herd immunity. “I don’t think the risks of the vaccine compare to the risks for the country of the coronavirus is really at issue,” he said.
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The Atlantic
COVID-19 vaccines are entering uncharted immune territory
Meena Bewtra of the Perelman School of Medicine said, regarding still unknown facets of how the coronavirus interacts with the immune system, “We still don’t understand why only certain people get so sick and die” from COVID-19.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Against the clock
Tarik Khan, a Ph.D. student in the School of Nursing, has been spending his evenings delivering leftover COVID-19 vaccine doses to homebound people in Philadelphia.
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The Verge
How the Johnson & Johnson pause could move the needle on vaccine fears
Melanie Kornides of the School of Nursing spoke about the FDA’s recommendation to pause use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. “I think that they did the right thing,” she said. “The worst possible thing that they could do would be—if they had a legitimate concern, which it seems like they did—to investigate it without announcing, which would make it seem like they were covering something up.”
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