Public Health

Using Rapid Drug Analysis to Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths

A partnership between the Maryland State Police and Maryland Department of Health will allow for faster and broader testing of illicit drugs found in the state.

  • By Andrea Noble

Public Health Departments Need 80,000 New Employees. But That's Not Enough for Another Pandemic.

A recent analysis found that state and local health agencies should increase staffing levels by 80% just to deliver basic services. Federal Covid-19 relief money can pay for some positions, but stability requires permanent funding.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Drought-Stricken Western Towns Say No to Developers

“We need to protect the people who live here before we let more people come in.”

  • By Alex Brown, Stateline

How Public Health Officials Overcame Vaccine Barriers in Minority Communities

A series of reports issued by the Communivax Coalition explores resistance to Covid-19 vaccinations in four states and strategies to improve immunization rates.

  • By Andrea Noble

Survey: 46% of US Organizations Will Institute Vaccine Mandates

Tech companies are among those taking the lead following federal guidance on vaccine mandates.

  • By Frank Konkel

My Dad Is Dead. His Landlord Just Evicted Him.

COMMENTARY | A jumble of complicated and unexpected logistical tasks can fall into your lap after a loved one dies.

  • By Stephanie Murray, The Atlantic

CDC Director: ‘Walk, Don’t Run’ to Get Your Booster

While some Pfizer recipients can now get an extra shot, federal officials are still mum on what’s next for the at-risk individuals who got Moderna or Johnson & Johnson.

  • By Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic

A Daily Pill to Treat Covid-19 Could Be Just Months Away, Scientists Say

At least three promising antiviral treatments for the coronavirus are being tested in clinical trials, with results expected as soon as late fall or winter.

  • By JoNel Aleccia, Kaiser Health News

How America Dropped to No. 36

The U.S. has fallen far behind in distributing the vaccines that it pioneered.

  • By Derek Thompson, The Atlantic

Supply of Antibody Drugs Could Drop in Some States as Feds Take Over Distribution

The Biden administration announced the new policy after a handful of states, most of them with low vaccination rates, accounted for nearly three-fourths of orders for the Covid-19 monoclonal antibody treatment.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

States Embrace Vaccine Mandates Despite Potential Worker Exodus

“No one’s in panic mode here.”

  • By Alex Brown, Stateline

Forceful Vaccine Messages Backfire With Holdouts. How Can It Be Done Better?

COMMENTARY | A communication strategy that is sensitive to psychological reactance could empower the holdouts to willingly get vaccinated instead of grudgingly comply with a mandate, writes a communication scientist.

  • By S. Shyam Sundar, The Conversation
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Missouri Is the Next Front in the Covid Culture War

Can Eric Schmitt, Missouri’s anti-mandate attorney general, sue his way to the U.S. Senate?

  • By Kathy Gilsinan, The Atlantic

Best and Worst Cities for Mental Health Care in America

Denver tops the list for best places while Dallas is in last place, according to a recent report.

  • By Andre Claudio

GOP Governors Balk at Biden’s Business Vaccination Order

Deriding the mandate as ‘un-American,’ several Republican governors have promised to sue.

  • By Andrea Noble

The Case for Building a Collaborative Intergovernmental System

COMMENTARY | No significant public initiative fits entirely within one government agency or even one level of government.

  • By Terry Gerton

Hoping to Boost Vaccine Rates, One State Announces Grants for Primary Care Doctors

The Colorado program will use federal relief money to help health care practices boost vaccine distribution.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Counties and States Embrace Fentanyl Test Strips in Battle Against Opioids

Arlington County, Virginia announced that it would begin distributing the strips to addiction-prone people leaving the county jail, the latest in a growing number of government agencies to turn to the tests as a way to prevent overdoses.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

State Efforts to Ban Mask Mandates in Schools Mirror Resistance to Integration

COMMENTARY | Southern states ignoring federal educational guidance is not new.

  • By Dustin Hornbeck, The Conversation

Another State Will Train Police to Draw Blood From Drunk Driving Suspects

Georgia will establish a phlebotomy program to instruct law enforcement officers on how to collect blood samples, the latest in a growing number of states to embrace the practice.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Calling All Unvaccinated Nurses: This State Will Hire You

Job ads for open positions in Nebraska’s state-run facilities highlight optional Covid-19 vaccines, a move that contradicts federal mandates for health workers and could cost the state some of its insurance reimbursements.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram