The CIDRAP take on the current understanding of the science and policy surrounding COVID-19.
Key Insights & Resources
Living with COVID-19 will require some shifts in approach and new goals. No one knows what the future will hold, but now is the time to improve vaccine acceptance, vaccine technology, therapeutics (drugs), ventilation, surveillance, reporting, testing quality, and testing capacity. We need global investment. We need to focus on equity. These approaches are fundamental to dealing with future variants or viruses.
If can get vaccinated, do it. The risk from natural infection with COVID greatly outweighs any slight risk from COVID-19 vaccines. It is important to be fully vaccinated, which means three doses of Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines or up to four doses for people with compromised immune systems. Also, newer bivalent (two-strain) vaccines are available that better protect against emerging variants.
Starting at the beginning of the pandemic, CIDRAP compiled a groundbreaking of series of reports on key aspects of COVID-19, such as what direction the pandemic might take, how to communicate risks effectively, smart testing for the virus and for antibodies to it, contact tracing, surveillance, ensuring a resilient drug supply, and vaccine strategies. Click here to check them out.
COVID-19 Risk Communication
Part 1 of a 2-part commentary explains the differences in cloth face coverings and surgical masks, the science of respiratory protection, and the hierarchy of disease controls.
Experts detail the necessary elements of a rigorous mask study and explore some recent studies that, though highly touted by both scientists and the lay press, fell quite a bit short.
CIDRAP Viewpoints
