How One of the Most Remote Places in the World Vaccinated Nearly Its Entire Population
The biggest obstacles to COVID-19 vaccination in the U.S. are, by now, mental and emotional. Supply is not a problem here, and Americans have relatively good access to the shots. Instead, vaccine hesitancy is a primary reason why only 64% of Americans have been fully vaccinated.
Different parts of the world face that challenge plus many others, like not having enough shots and, if you live in a place like Dhari, having too few places to distribute them.
Yet the COVID-19 vaccination rate in the remote Indian region, which has only one walk-in vaccination center to serve its population of about 30,000, "far outstrips those of much richer places with better health infrastructure and where vaccines are widely and easily available," writes Nilanjana Bhowmick in a new story for TIME. In fact, 100% of eligible adults in Dhari have received their first shot, she reports, and more than 80% so far have had their second. "I hear about people not taking the vaccines in the cities, and I am puzzled,” a farmer in the region told Nilanjana. “They don’t even have to climb a mountain or negotiate broken roads."
How did the remote Himalayan region manage to succeed where so many other cities and countries have struggled? The answer underscores the value of health workers.
In Dhari, health workers are mainly local women who are trained as health educators and have, in that role, built up a great deal of trust in their communities over the years. They track and monitor cases, explain the dangers of COVID-19 to residents, and reach out to people who can’t visit the health center. "The health workers came to the village and explained and encouraged us,” the Dhari farmer told Nilanjana. “They are one of us, so we trust them."
Dhari’s vaccination success points to an important lesson that the rest of the world should heed. Trust—something severely lacking in the U.S.—matters.
More than 417.7 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 12 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 5.8 million people have died. On Feb. 16, there were 2.5 million new cases and 12,770 new deaths confirmed globally.
The U.S. had recorded more than 78.1 million coronavirus cases as of 12 a.m. E.T. today. More than 928,000 people have died. On Feb. 16, there were 134,686 new cases and 3,058 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Due to technical issues, our usual maps and charts are not available today. All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Feb. 17, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
It's time for the U.S. to start taking steps toward normalcy, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the president and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in an interview with Reuters yesterday. "They just really need to somehow get their life back," he said of Americans who are frustrated with the pandemic. "You don't want to be reckless and throw everything aside, but you've got to start inching towards that." Though case numbers nationwide are dropping as Omicron eases—and states continue to roll back mask mandates—hospitalizations and deaths are still high. But restrictive living is also taking a large toll on people’s mental health, Fauci said.
People who have had COVID-19 have a higher risk of mental health disorders than people who have not been infected, finds a large new study published yesterday in the BMJ. Anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, sleep problems, and cognitive decline were all linked to COVID-19, even in mild cases of the disease. "The increased risks of mental health outcomes in people with COVID-19 demands greater attention now to mitigate much more serious downstream consequences in the future,” the lead study authors wrote in a corresponding editorial published today.
As the spread of Omicron starts to slow in his country, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced today that Japan will begin reopening its borders starting in March, Nikkei Asia reports. International students, business travelers, and people seeking technical training—but not tourists—will be allowed in, though the total number will be capped at 5,000 per day. The last time the borders were open for a significant period of time was more than a year ago; the government tried reopening the borders in November, but quickly closed them once Omicron hit.
The Biden Administration plans to distribute "high-quality" masks to U.S. children, a White House adviser said during a press briefing yesterday, though details were vague. ”We’ll have more to say about that in the days ahead,” said Dr. Tom Inglesby, a senior adviser on the White House COVID-19 response team. The move comes after the White House recently began distributing free N95 masks to pharmacies and community health centers across the country, and as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to soon issue new guidelines about masking in light of declining case numbers.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here.
Today's newsletter was written by Mandy Oaklander and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
沒有留言:
張貼留言