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Reminders to stay cautious aren’t the biggest reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

Reminders to stay cautious aren’t the biggest reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

Melanie Kornides of the School of Nursing said cautious messaging around the COVID-19 vaccine isn’t a major factor in vaccine hesitancy. “We’ve been seeing all along, even before the vaccine came out, that they’re worried about long term safety, that they’re worried that the process was rushed, and that there are political motivations for not wanting to be vaccinated,” she said. “Those continue to be the large majority of the concerns.”

More chairs, new presence expand dental care access
View of workers and a patient in a dental clinic

At Sayre Health Center, Penn Dental Medicine expanded from one chair to four to serve the West Philadelphia community. (Image: Mark Garvin)

More chairs, new presence expand dental care access

A growing presence in community care centers has given Penn Dental Medicine more opportunities to serve Philadelphians and to train its students.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Penn Med students create unexpected community outreach
Person standing outside holding a brown lunch bag to distribute wearing a face shield and mask outside a building in West Philadelphia

Image: Courtesy of Michael Burch

Penn Med students create unexpected community outreach

The Perelman School of Medicine’s Medical School Government used its annual funding that usually goes to events in non-pandemic times to help the West Philadelphia community.

From Penn Medicine News

Black and Hispanic Americans are most likely to miss health screenings due to COVID-19. A Penn physician is meeting the need

Black and Hispanic Americans are most likely to miss health screenings due to COVID-19. A Penn physician is meeting the need

Carmen Guerra of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the structural and social barriers that have prevented communities of color from getting screened for cancer, even before the pandemic. Guerra and her colleagues have created a colorectal cancer screening navigation program to help remedy this disparity in West Philadelphia.

Addressing breastfeeding disparities for African American mothers
African American woman breastfeeding a newborn baby on a couch.

Although the rate of breastfeeding initiation in the United States has continued to rise since 1972, African American mothers continue to experience a significant disparity in initiation.

Addressing breastfeeding disparities for African American mothers

Despite an abundance of data on the importance of breastfeeding and human milk for babies and their mothers, a disparity exists for African American mothers and infants, where breastfeeding is initiated only about 69% of the time.

From Penn Nursing News

Take-at-home tests boost colorectal cancer screening tenfold
Four empty vials for human stool samples.

Take-at-home tests boost colorectal cancer screening tenfold

By making it the default to send screening tests to patients’ homes unless they opted out via text message, screening rates increased by more than 1000%.

From Penn Medicine News

When the message matters, use science to craft it
Close-up of a smiling person in a black V-neck shirt, standing outside near marble pillars.

Jessica Fishman, director of the Message Effects Lab, is a faculty research associate with appointments at the Annenberg School for Communication and in the Department of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine. (Image: Courtesy of Annenberg School for Communication)

When the message matters, use science to craft it

An interdisciplinary initiative called the Message Effects Lab aims to understand, tap into, and develop communication around what motivates specific behaviors for specific populations. Its first projects center around COVID-19 testing and vaccines.

Michele W. Berger

From animals to people and back again
four panels with photos of a mink, a tiger, a dog and cat, and a gorilla

Humans aren’t the only species susceptible to COVID-19. A growing number of other animal species have become infected, posing a threat to the health of wildlife and domesticated animals, and in some cases exacerbating threats to people.

From animals to people and back again

Penn researchers are studying the propensity of SARS-CoV-2 to cross between species, and they are working to protect people, pets, and wildlife from COVID-19 infection.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Evicted and infected: How the housing crisis could worsen the COVID-19 pandemic
Person wearing a face mask stands outside their door looking at an eviction notice in their hand.

Evicted and infected: How the housing crisis could worsen the COVID-19 pandemic

A research team found that evictions could lead to a considerable uptick in COVID-19 infections in U.S. cities. With rising eviction rates, COVID cases in Philadelphia could cause 53,000 additional infections.

From Penn Medicine News