Public Health Preparedness

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National Security After Roe, Women Veterans, COVID-19's Lasting Effects: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how overturning Roe could affect national security, supporting women veterans, responding to the next pandemic, and more.

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Can South Korea Help the World Beat the Next Pandemic?

As the world emerges from the long and devastating COVID-19 pandemic, nations around the world, including the United States, could look to South Korea's near-perfect response as a model for dealing with future public health crises.

Jennifer Bouey

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Vaccinating All Kids for COVID-19 May Demand a Block-by-Block Effort

Community-based organizations know how to register voters and increase census participation. Reaching out block by block, even door to door, they can be just as effective in boosting vaccination rates.

Laura J. Faherty @LauraFahertyMD, Jeanne S. Ringel @JeanneRingel

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Learning, Relearning, and Not Learning the Lessons of COVID-19

Recent announcements have demonstrated how little has been learned from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential need for a national reckoning to assess shortfalls and develop recommendations for preparing for and responding to future pandemics and other biological risks. The United States could create a national commission to develop a way forward.

Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein

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Tunisia: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Tunisia's response to the COVID pandemic has been spotty, though vaccination rates have improved and mortality rates have dropped. When the political instability is factored in, Tunisia's emergence from the pandemic may not be quick.

Emily Hoch, Mahshid Abir

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Jordan: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Lockdown restrictions that may have contributed to low COVID-19 case numbers in Jordan early in the pandemic resulted in economic stresses and increased psychological distress in the general population. RAND researchers identified challenges faced by Jordanians during the crisis and the country's innovative and equitable response to mitigate them.

Nazia Wolters, Mahshid Abir

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Qatar: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Qatar adopted a spectrum of policies and health measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 and encouraged its innovation ecosystem to play a role in fighting the pandemic. The health sector has gained experience during the pandemic that might inform response to future spikes in demand for health system resources.

Hamad Al-Ibrahim, Nazia Wolters, et al.

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Lebanon: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

In Lebanon, COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and daily deaths continue to decline. This is an accomplishment worthy of celebration in the midst of hyperinflation, all-time high unemployment, nadir purchasing power, and a health sector on the verge of collapse.

Nasma Berri, Mahshid Abir

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Iran: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Iran has faced an uphill battle since the first cases of COVID-19 were found in the country. Despite limited resources, Iran has also had its share of successes and innovations in combating the virus.

Nazia Wolters, Emily Hoch, et al.

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Helping Ukrainian Refugees, Truth Decay, Algorithmic Inequity: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how to help Ukrainian refugees, the link between cognitive processes and Truth Decay, tracking wastewater to understand the spread of COVID-19, and more.

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National Wastewater Tracking Could Help Us Stay Ahead of COVID-19—but Congress Cut the Funds

For years, medical experts have used wastewater to track the spread of diseases. The National Wastewater Surveillance System has the potential to significantly change the way we fight COVID-19 as well as future pandemics, bacterial diseases, and viruses. But building up the robustness of a wastewater surveillance system will take financial support, and it's not clear Congress will provide it.

Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung

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How Have Communities Been Faring During COVID-19? And How Will Lessons Learned Inform Future Response and Planning?

As the United States emerges from the devastation of the pandemic, it may be time to examine the choices communities made during the last year to see how these approaches shape continued COVID-19 response and recovery and help build resilience for future pandemic response.

Anita Chandra, Linnea Warren May @LinneaKWMay, et al.

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Rebuild Public Health for the Next Pandemic?

COVID-19 exposed how underprepared the United States was for a pandemic and raised questions about preparedness for the next one. With political will to spend money on public health, how can America take a holistic view of all the options? And how should investments be prioritized?

Edward W. Chan, Andrew M. Parker

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Thinking Through Rapid and Scalable Rollout of Healthcare Innovations for Public Health Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that rapid innovation in the face of public health emergencies is possible. In only 15 months, 15 vaccines have been approved or authorized for use in various parts of the world. What thinking is required to support uniform rapid rollout for future public health emergencies?

Robert J. Romanelli, Michael Whitmore, et al.

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Origin Story: How Did the Coronavirus Emerge?

President Joe Biden has called for the U.S. intelligence community to redouble efforts to determine the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. In conducting this investigation, it might be useful to avoid only focusing on a binary choice. That is, either the virus escaped from the laboratory or from a spillover from an infected animal to a human.

Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein