Coronavirus | Penn Today

Age-based vaccine distribution is not only unethical. It’s also bad health policy

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel and Emily Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine collaborated with Govind Persad of the University of Denver on an op-ed about equity in COVID-19 vaccine distribution models. “Age-only distribution is unethical, likely illegal and bad health policy,” they wrote.

Medical worker wearing a face mask and latex gloves holds a syringe tagged with a vaccine label.

How vaccines protect communities

While individuals who are vaccinated feel relief that they’re better protected, the rollout of vaccines to anyone in their community is still good news.

A partnership to help fight COVID and develop a STEM career pipeline

Working with the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, University City District’s workforce development program, Penn Medicine is creating pathways to science careers for local jobseekers.

two children wearing masks in front of a log cabin and lush ferns

Striking a balance in camp planning

Amidst the uncertainties of the pandemic and with time to plan, this year organizers of summer camp offerings at Penn have developed an array of in-person and virtual programs.

The website Findashot.org may be a better way to get a COVID-19 vaccine appointment

David Newell, an MBA student in the Wharton School, built a website that finds available COVID-19 vaccine appointments. “The idea is to aggregate appointment availability, not just inventory availability, which a lot of the projects out there and even the CDC’s partner vaccinefinder.org are focused on,” he said.

Being vaccinated doesn’t mean it’s safe to take off the mask

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel spoke about minimizing COVID-19 transmission risks after vaccination. “Do the visit outdoors if possible. And as spring is coming, it's going to be a lot easier to do that. Go walk in the park,” he said. “And if you're going to have a meal together, the meal should be outdoors and with good distancing because you're going to have the mask off while you're eating.”

A close-up of an old chipping door. Blurred in the background is a sign that reads "EVICTION NOTICE" in all capital letters.

Eviction linked to depression risk in young adults

Research from sociologist Courtney Boen and anthropologist Morgan Hoke shows that this issue, compounded by the toll of the pandemic, disproportionately affects low-income households and communities of color.

students walking around campus wearing masks and sitting outside eating food

Campus public health measures help mitigate the spread of COVID-19

Alongside regular saliva-based COVID-19 testing, other tools such as contact tracing, quarantine and isolation facilities, and health and well-being monitoring platforms are critical for protecting and supporting the campus community.

‘This is something that we weren’t taught’: How a brand-new nurse learned to treat an unknown disease

Linda Aiken of the School of Nursing said short staffing in hospitals has been exacerbated by the pandemic. “Chronic understaffing in hospitals and chaotic and inefficient work environments put nurses in a very poor position to be able to respond to the COVID surge because they were already reaching deep inside themselves in the normal context of care,” she said.

As a new vaccine becomes available, CDC chief warns against rolling back safeguards

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel said lifting restrictions on indoor dining and other COVID-19 precautions is premature, in spite of the new vaccines. “The peak was just six weeks ago. We have been in this heightened state of public health alert for the last six, seven weeks,” he said. “We should not just rush out and reverse all of the advances we have had, especially with these new variants.”

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