Public Health

Stock image of two vials of COVID-19 vaccines. One is upright, the other laying on its side. They both say "COVID-19 vaccine, LOT: D66A443, EXP: 03.22, INJECTION ONLY"

Four facts about the COVID-19 boosters

This week, the FDA and CDC authorized boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, just a month after the agencies did the same for a Pfizer/BioNTech booster. Here’s what’s known today about these shots.

Michele W. Berger ・

Former president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf sits on a stage with NPR reporter Deborah Amos, with rows of onlookers in chairs and a sign behind them reading Perry World House

Africa’s Iron Lady 

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former president of Liberia and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, came to Perry World House as part of the Global Order Colloquium.

Kristen de Groot ・

people in a large open tent taking saliva covid tests

A how-to guide for PennOpen Pass

Penn Today provides details on how to use the daily and exposure symptom tracker, what members of the Penn community should do if they receive a Red Pass, and new platforms available for visitors accessing campus spaces.

Erica K. Brockmeier ・



In the News


The Washington Post

Four conservative radio talk-show hosts bashed coronavirus vaccines. Then they got sick

Brian Rosenwald of the School of Arts & Sciences comments on how vaccine skepticism and defiance of public health mandates in talk radio may have started in the early 1990s.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Philly ‘eliminated’ veteran homelessness in 2015. Why are there still vets on the street?

David Oslin of the Perelman School of Medicine explains why mental health perils for veterans are higher due to their service.

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The Washington Post

To get shots in arms, governments turn to money in pockets

Harald Schmidt of the Perelman School of Medicine reflected on the use of incentives to motivate people to get vaccinated for COVID-19. “If we just get needles into arms we haven’t really made any progress on the bigger picture, which is that whole communities are lacking trust in health care systems or the government,” he said.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia home repair grants linked to decreased neighborhood crime, Penn study finds

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, School of Arts & Sciences, and Stuart Weitzman School of Design found that the crime rate on a given block was reduced by nearly 22% when the city of Philadelphia funded repairs for even a single house. “The social fabric of a neighborhood is very connected to the physical environment,” said the medical school’s Eugenia South.

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Axios

Conservative media diets tied to distrust in health officials

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center spoke about the politicization of public health information on COVID-19 in the U.S. "When you begin to reduce trust in experts and agencies telling you that vaccines are safe, you're creating all kinds of susceptibilities that can be exploited for partisan gain," she said.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

The number of Philly high school students who are homeless may be four times higher than what’s been reported

Dan Treglia of the School of Social Policy & Practice co-authored a report about homelessness among high school students. The survey corrects for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s tally of those living in shelters and on the street, which Treglia says misses homeless high schoolers who are staying with friends.

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