The team in Prince George's County, Maryland has released several new videos from The Cutting Edge, their live weekly show exploring community health and dismantling COVID-19 misinformation. View the videos here, and tune into their live show here, every Thursday at 7 PM ET.

Drs. Sandra Crouse Quinn and Stephen B. Thomas recently participated in the 20th National Minority Quality Forum's Annual Leadership Summit on Health Disparities and Health Braintrust. Watch their panel discussion here.

Quarter of U.S. covid deaths were probably preventable with vaccination. Since June 2021, the point at which every American adult had access to coronavirus vaccines, they estimate that just over 234,000 unvaccinated Americans died who could have lived had they been immunized against the virus. (Washington Post, 4/21/22)

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Health Equity: Vaccines. Join Washington Post Live for a series of conversations with Atul Gawande, MD, USAID assistant administrator for global health, LaQuandra S. Nesbitt, MD, director of the District of Columbia Department of Health, Cheryl Bettigole, MD, health commissioner of Philadelphia, and Cameron Webb, MD, White House senior policy advisor for equity, about solutions to close the vaccine access gap and how vaccine inequities worldwide have raised the stakes in preparing for future global health crises. The webinar will take place on May 17, 2022, 9 AM ET. Registration is required. (Washington Post, 5/22)

For some people, religious leaders might be most effective at communicating the importance of COVID-19 vaccination. Researchers found that of the three messengers, only the religious messenger succeeded in pushing the interest of the unvaccinated toward getting the shot. Compared to the participants in the control group, those who received a message from the religious leader showed a 12% greater likelihood of getting vaccinated. (The Conversation, 5/12/22)

See also: The Messenger Matters: Religious Leaders and Overcoming COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy (Political Science & Politics, 3/22)

Strategies That Promote Equity in COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake for Latinx Communities: a Review. This rapid review provides a basis for developing strategic implementation to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake in this ongoing pandemic and planning to promote health equity for future bio-events and health crises. (Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 5/6/22)

See also: Tackling Ethnic Health Disparities Through Community Health Worker Programs: A Scoping Review on Their Utilization During the COVID-19 Outbreak (Population Health Management, 4/22)

California Bill Allowing Vaccines for Children 12 and Up Without Parents' OK Clears First Hurdle. A California measure that would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent, including against the coronavirus, cleared its first legislative hurdle Thursday. If the proposal becomes law, California would allow the youngest age group of any state to be vaccinated without parental permission. (NBC, 5/6/22)

I Lost My Baby. Then Antivaxxers Made My Pain Go Viral. I did not expect the moment of my deepest grief and pain to be weaponized against pregnant women and vaccines that could protect them from the worst consequences of Covid-19. The juxtaposition of the two images felt like a violation of the space my husband and I needed to grieve. The realization that people may still see bits of my story and have it influence their health choices hurt, both as a mother and as a public health professional. The human toll of this misinformation continues. (New York Times, 5/11/22)

Vaccine Medical Exemptions Are Rare. Thousands of Nursing Home Workers Have Them. With the pandemic now in its third year, thousands of workers have found a way to avoid getting vaccinated, claiming what experts say are questionable medical exemptions from a federal mandate for health care employees, which went into effect this year. (ProPublica, 5/21/22)

Partnering for Vaccine Equity: Funding Opportunity for Community-Based Organizations. With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Urban Institute is pleased to announce that a second year of funding and technical assistance will be made available to up to 20 community-based organizations (CBOs) working to increase vaccine confidence and uptake for adults of color. Selected awardees will develop and implement health communication and community engagement strategies designed to expand COVID and/ or influenza immunization coverage, confidence, and access. To support their efforts, selected CBOs will receive grants as well as the opportunity to receive tailored, one-on-one technical assistance as well as access to a large, national vaccine equity learning community. Applications must be submitted by 8:00 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, May 20, 2022. (Urban Institute, 5/22)

The BUILD Health Challenge 4.0. BUILD is looking to support up to 19 innovative community collaboratives that include a: 1) community-based organization, 2) hospital/health system and/or health plan, 3) public health department, and 4) residents, who are all working together in dynamic ways to address upstream challenges and drive sustainable improvements in community health. Inclusion of additional cross-sector partners such as businesses, universities, foundations, and others that are aligned with proposed efforts are encouraged. Round 1 applications are due June 30, 2022. (BUILD Consortium, 5/22)

CMS Outlines Strategy to Advance Health Equity, Challenges Industry Leaders to Address Systemic Inequities. Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) outlined an action plan that demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing efforts to provide high-quality, affordable health care for all people, regardless of their background, and to drive health equity across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (CMS, 4/20/22)

Resident Mortality And Worker Infection Rates From COVID-19 Lower In Union Than Nonunion US Nursing Homes, 2020–21. Researchers found that unions were associated with 10.8 percent lower resident COVID-19 mortality rates, as well as 6.8 percent lower worker COVID-19 infection rates. (Health Affairs, 4/20/22)

Building Public Trust in Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Science: A Workshop. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a two-day public workshop to examine issues of building public knowledge of and trust in the public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) science enterprise. Videos from the workshop are now available to view. (NASEM, 4/22)

Queer, trans and sick with Long COVID. It’s not a great time to be an LGBTQ+ person seeking healthcare in the United States, given recent political efforts to criminalize some types of trans-affirming healthcare – but there are additional barriers for those with complex and often misunderstood chronic illnesses. LGBTQ+ COVID-19 “long-haulers” sit at the intersection of these challenges. (About Long COVID, 5/9/22)