Public Health On Call

After the murder of George Floyd, a number of jurisdictions formally declared racism a public health crisis. Dawn Hunter, deputy director of the Southeastern Region for the Network for public health law, is studying these declarations to see how cities, counties, and states actually take action to follow through. Hunter talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what the declarations actually do and why they are important, and how they put in place real world solutions to combat systemic racism and create healthier communities where everyone can thrive. KEYWORDS: health equity; racial disparity; social determinants of health

Today's episode is audio from a webcast recorded last week with two members of President Joe Biden's COVID-19 advisory board. In a conversation moderated by Global Health NOW's Brian Simpson, infectious disease and epidemiology expert Dr. Celine Gounder and public health policy expert Loyce Pace talk about the challenges the new administration faces coming into the COVID-19 crisis with millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths, a significant number of Americans who deny the severity of the virus, a faltering vaccine distribution effort, and a new and more contagious variant of the virus—all in the context of a bitterly divided nation. KEYWORDS: policy; vaccine hesitancy; health communication

There are more than two million federally-subsidized apartments, units, and homes designated for senior housing. These communities, which tend to serve lower-income racial and ethnic minorities, have unique opportunities and challenges compared to assisted living and nursing care facilities and have been largely overlooked in the COVID-19 response. Juliana Bilowich, director of Housing Operations and Policy at Leading Age, and Shanna Dell, the lead infection control adviser on the outbreak team of the Baltimore City Health Department talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about these challenges and about a new, free course available on Coursera developed to help assisted living facilities to keep their residents safe. https://www.coursera.org/learn/strategies-senior-housing-covid19 KEYWORDS: geriatric health; health equity

What accounts for the sluggish rollout of COVID-19 vaccines? Dr. Michael Fraser, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the challenges states are facing with vaccine distribution, what's working and not working well so far, and why there are reasons for hope in the coming months.

Urban areas in Spain have been hard hit by COVID, but the rural northern state of Cantabria has fared much better thanks to a strong public health approach. Dr. Paloma Navas, former director general for public health in the region, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the area's hard-won successes in lower case counts and deaths. KEYWORDS: policy; pandemic response; contact tracing

What caused the variants seen in the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the UK and elsewhere? Why is the UK variant more contagious? Is it more lethal? Will the current vaccines still work against these variants? Is there anything we should be doing differently to protect ourselves? Expert virologist Dr. Andy Pekosz talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how the virus that causes COVID-19 is changing, and what it means for 2021. KEYWORDS: viral mutation; spike protein; policy

The Latino immigrant community has been hard hit by COVID—in Baltimore, there are sustained positivity rates of up to 30%. Dr. Kathleen Page, medical director of the Johns Hopkins The Access Partnership, talks with Stephanie Desmon about how undocumented and low-income immigrants are caught in a "perfect storm" with conditions for lots of transmission and few ways to seek help. They also talk about how unchecked transmission anywhere means the pandemic will continue to rage, and the culture of fear that will make it harder to provide vaccines to immigrants. KEYWORDS: health equity; racial disparity; vaccine hesitancy

Helping members of the Black community get the information they need in order to trust COVID-19 vaccines is a daunting task. But it's also an opportunity to invest in the health and wellbeing of Black people. Rev. Dr. Terris King, pastor of Liberty Grace Church of God in Baltimore and former Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services minority health director, and Hopkins immunization policy expert Lois Privor-Dumm, talk with Stephanie Desmon about the opportunities the pandemic has brought forth to build bridges between health institutions and the Black community. KEYWORDS: health equity; racial disparity; health communication

With a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, is it a good idea to give people just one dose now and a second dose later when there is more available? How can the process of rolling out vaccines be sped up? What do we know about potential side effects? Which vaccine should I get? Immunologist Dr. Gigi Gronvall from the Center for Health Security talks with Stephanie Desmon to answer these questions and more about COVID-19 vaccines. KEYWORDS: vaccine hesitancy; herd immunity

States are rolling out COVID-19 vaccines to "high risk groups" but there's a lot of nuance in how "high risk" is defined. Dr. Monica Bharel, health commissioner of Massachusetts, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the state's unique approach, which includes prioritizing communities impacted by institutional racism and those with disproportionately high numbers of COVID infections. Dr. Bharel also talks about what the state is doing to go beyond just making the vaccine available to support high uptake of vaccination among people who can benefit the most. KEYWORDS: health equity; racial disparity; health communication