Public Health | Penn Today

This is the wrong way to distribute badly needed vaccines

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel and a University of Denver colleague wrote an opinion piece critiquing Covax’s population-based global vaccine distribution formula. “Distributing vaccines purely on the basis of population means some vaccines will fail to reach those whose actual current risk is highest,” they wrote.

Penn Medicine professional in scrubs wearing a face mask receives a vaccine from another medical worker.

Penn Medicine to require all health system employees to receive COVID-19 vaccine

Penn becomes the nation’s largest health system to mandate vaccination, calling for its workforce to set an example to end the pandemic.

Person from Penn Medicine standing at one of the Listening Lab stations holding a headphone to their ear.

Listening Lab: Harnessing the power of storytelling

The Listening Lab, an online storytelling initiative that embraces the simple act of listening and sharing, and advocates for the power of listening as a form of care, highlights experiences and reflections on aspects of health care that aren’t always discussed.

Biden vowed to ‘follow the science,’ but left many out with sudden mask guidance

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel commented on the CDC’s revised mask and social distancing guidelines. “It wasn’t well done,” he said. “Slowing this down would have been the prudent thing to improve the communication and ensure that all the considerations that were needed on such a momentous decision were in fact taken into account and that the administration had answers for the very, very obvious potential scenarios.”

Person at bar waving away a drink offered while holding car keys with smartphone laying on bar next to them.

Smartphone breath alcohol testing devices vary widely in accuracy

Penn Medicine research finds that some devices failed to detect drivers were over the legal driving limit more than half the time.

Hand holding a blank COVID-19 vaccination card.

Three in four people say COVID-19 vaccines effective and safer than getting virus

A national probability Annenberg Science Knowledge survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that about 15% of people are uncertain about the vaccine, but persuadable.

Fox News viewers are getting mixed messages about whether to take the coronavirus vaccine

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center said people tend to trust the hosts of shows they regularly watch. “Combine that trust with ongoing exposure and reinforcement in other media channels, and a popular host who creates or reinforces concerns about a COVID vaccine or about COVID vaccination in general can reduce the likelihood of vaccination among devoted viewers,” she said.

Map of the world with vials of COVID vaccine on top of the map in different countries.

Nationalism in times of crisis

A team of Penn philosophers examine whether it’s morally acceptable for the government to prioritize its own people’s interests and needs during a global pandemic.

Kerwin Barden wearing a face mask wearing military fatigues.

A Penn nurse plays an integral role in temporary COVID-19 hospital

Kerwin Barden, a cardiovascular nurse at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and chief nurse for the 177th Fighter Wing with the Air National Guard, was deployed to a 250-bed field medical station in New Jersey when the pandemic hit.

Here’s how effective vaccine incentives like free beer really are

Emily Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the efficacy of incentives in combatting vaccine hesitancy among Americans. "A donut or a ticket is not going to address their concerns," she said. "We’re still going to need other interventions."

Filters