Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: India Battling Covid Misinformation; Black Women Key In Reducing Vaccine Hesitancy
The Washington Post: India Is Facing An Epidemic Of Misinformation Alongside Covid-19
As the covid-19 pandemic rages across the globe, India has seen some of the most catastrophic losses in the world. Images of helplessness, pain and despair have become emblematic of the crisis: overflowing crematoriums and funeral pyres, a torrent of pleas for oxygen and beds, and a health-care system in shambles. At a time when the country reels from the compounded effects of this devastating pandemic, social media abounds with falsehoods: unscientific claims that cow urine can prevent covid-19, baseless allegations that Muslims spread the virus and unsubstantiated narratives that Western media is making up death tolls, among others. Social media groups have morphed into havens of misinformation. (Sumitra Badrinathan, 6/7)
Modern Healthcare: With The Help Of Black Women, We Can Boost Vaccine Acceptance And Uptake
Black Americans have been hit hardest by COVID-19. Yet we're also much less likely to take the vaccines. In the District of Columbia, for example, Blacks account for 55% of all COVID-19 cases and 70% of all deaths, yet have received only 40% of vaccinations. That pattern sadly reoccurs in state after state. (Linda Goler Blount and Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath, 6/7)
The New York Times: You Can’t Rely On The C.D.C. To Make Your Pandemic Decisions
How should we think about the risk from Covid now? When it comes to public health emergencies like the pandemic, if people fail to be safe enough, or the danger and uncertainty are just too great to rely on individual decisions, then the government must act, as it did with stay-at-home orders and mask mandates last year. But as the country emerges from the pandemic, it’s going to fall increasingly on each of us to figure out what to do ourselves. (Aaron E. Carroll, 6/7)
The CT Mirror: COVID Isn't Over. Public Health Communication Must Reflect That
In the public health world, there is a common saying: “When public health works, nothing happens.” The downward trend of COVID-19 cases in Connecticut and across the United States, the reduction in the number of hospitalizations and deaths, are early signs of our gradual return to “normalcy.” This trend back to the status quo is a result of a working public health system. The opposite also holds true: when public health fails, people get sick, and people can die. (Dr. Sosena Kebede, 6/7)
Kansas City Star: Josh Hawley Knows Anthony Fauci Isn’t Who Fumbled COVID-19
Josh Hawley is calling for the head of the man he claims is responsible for the United States’ tragically inept response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, Missouri’s junior senator joined the chorus of GOP voices insisting that Dr. Anthony Fauci must step down as director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “The time has come for Fauci to resign and for a full congressional investigation into the origins of #COVID19 — and into any and all efforts to prevent a full accounting,” he tweeted. (6/7)
