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This Scientist Created a Rapid Test Just Weeks Into the Pandemic. Here's Why You Still Can't Get It.

Lydia DePillis

December 21, 2021 |

ProPublica |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

E25Bio created a rapid COVID-19 test soon after the pandemic began and had an existing factory that could be repurposed to quickly manufacture tests. The prototypes, priced under $10 each, attracted major donors and would have made at-home antigen tests that identified around 80% of contagious cases available from the pandemic’s early days. Instead, an unclear FDA review process that prioritized higher detection rates over inexpensive ways people could test often, as well as resistance from medical device regulators, prevented the company from producing the tests for the public early in the pandemic.

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My husband is HIV-positive while I'm negative, but our love remains strong

Angela Oketch

November 30, 2021 |

Nation Africa |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Kenya

Public hospitals across Kenya offer Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP), pills for free to people who are HIV negative but are with HIV positive partners, as long as that person has an undetectable viral load. In Siaya County alone, 84,000 people are receiving the pills, which must be taken daily, and it has significantly reduced the HIV incidence there. Counseling and educational outreach are also part of the public health campaign to stop the spread of HIV to those without the virus and their future offspring.

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How Puerto Rico became the most vaccinated place in America

Nicole Narea

November 26, 2021 |

Vox |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Puerto Rico

Political cooperation and an infrastructure of existing relationships and trust built by NGOs and community leaders during Hurricane Maria and a devastating 2019 earthquake allowed for a quick public health response to COVID-19 focused on prevention and vaccination. All trusted public figures, across political backgrounds, advocated wearing masks and getting vaccinated. As a result, Puerto Rico achieved the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate among all other U.S. state or territory. It also had among the lowest Covid-19 death rates since the start of the pandemic.

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Sex workers in Uganda rally to end spread of HIV through condom distribution and sensitization

Kabuye Ronald

November 24, 2021 |

Metro FM 90.8 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Uganda

The WOMAN ORGANISATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY (WONETHA) provides free condoms to sex workers in Uganda to end the spread of HIV. The group distributes about four to five million condoms to regional centers. Everyone can access the free condoms simply by request, without facing stigma or discrimination. The group also carries out “sensitization” campaigns that teach sex workers how to practice safe sex and feel empowered to require condom use among clients. They also work with health care systems to address discrimination and social stigmas that sex workers often face when seeking health care.

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How Vermont Is Winning the COVID Vaccination War

Susan Milligan

November 11, 2021 |

USA Today |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Vermont

A centralized communication and record keeping system, along with ensuring convenience for the largely rural population, led Vermont to the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate nationwide. The centralized system keeps track of data and provides consistent guidance. Trusted messengers, like first responders, local pharmacists, and nonprofits like the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, provide culturally competent information that eases hesitancy. Along with mass-vaccination events, house calls and pop-up clinics at small businesses and local events made getting vaccinated convenient and comfortable.

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How Malta Became a COVID-19 Overachiever

Eva von Schaper Daiva Repečkaitė

November 05, 2021 |

The Inoculation |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Malta

The island of Malta fully vaccinated 90% of the population over the age of 12 against COVID-19 relatively quickly. They quickly vaccinated the most vulnerable in the population, including the elderly and healthcare workers and sent mobile clinics to where the population was. This, along with an effective media campaign that answered questions and dispelled misinformation, was particularly important in getting people, especially young people, vaccinated. A nationwide culture of trust in doctors was very important in the vaccination success.

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How Baltimore Escaped the Worst of Covid-19

Michael Ollove

November 01, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

The city of Baltimore escaped the worst of COVID-19 with high vaccination rates, high rates of health coverage, and strong support from political leaders who cooperated across ideological lines. Medicaid expansion helped achieve relatively high health insurance rates. Officials were also a bit more and cautious in reopening businesses and schools and relaxing mask requirements. The city didn’t escape the death and illness seen during the pandemic, but for these reasons it fared better than comparable areas.

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‘I understand your concern': Sedgwick County's COVID Ambassador program beats back vaccine hesitancy

Celia Hack

October 21, 2021 |

The Wichita Beacon |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Sedgwick County, Kansas

The COVID Ambassador program trains people to listen, be empathetic, and acknowledge people’s COVID-19 vaccine concerns. Ambassadors’ training includes substantial practice talking to people who are resistant to getting vaccinated and they receive ongoing support at bi-monthly meetings, which has increased their confidence and led to more conversations with community members hesitant to get vaccinated. Like other community health worker programs, the ambassador program’s ability to be successful relies on the idea that people trust information from their peers more than from the government.

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Spain has one the highest vaccination rates in the world without government mandates or incentives. Here is what's behind the Spanish success story and what others could learn from it.

Anne-Sophie Brandlin

October 17, 2021 |

Deutsche Welle (DW) |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Spain

Spain achieved one of the highest vaccination rates among Western countries in part because of longstanding trust and confidence in the public health system and data-informed strategies. The public generally trusted the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine because of a history of cooperation and positive public health outcomes. The norm of inter-generational living also gave young people more incentive to get vaccinated to protect their elderly residents and officials used this as part of the public health messaging. Officials also personally called and set up vaccine appointments for everyone they could reach.

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By boat, by motorbike, by foot

Samantha Schmidt

October 12, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Colombia, La Giajira

IPSI Palaima is working to vaccinate Indigenous families who live in hard-to-reach areas of La Guajira, where there are no paved roads, electricity, or running water and staff must use cars, boats, and motorbikes to reach them. A team of nursing assistants and a doctor spend 15 days at a time at a local outpost and travel by motorbike to surrounding communities, carrying vaccines in cooler bags. The organization was founded by an Indigenous woman who grew up in the area. Many of the staff members speak the local language, which can ease the communities’ vaccine hesitation and mistrust of authorities.

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