For many in Kansas City, vaccination scheduling success meant driving more than an hour to another county to get the shots.
There’s no centralized system for finding vaccination appointments, and there’s a stark difference in vaccine supply between federally qualified health centers in some rural counties and partners with local health departments.
The Beacon spoke to three Kansas City chaplains representing different faiths to find out how spiritual care provided to patients changed with COVID-19.
Efforts to vaccinate more residents of Kansas City, Missouri, still aren’t serving the needs of the city’s Black community, who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Local organizations are stepping in with ideas of how messaging and vaccination efforts can be tailored to better serve the Black community.
Kansas City’s immigrant populations face challenges with obtaining information about the COVID-19 vaccine in their languages and signing up to get the vaccine.
But Kansas City organizations are starting initiatives to help, like creating messaging around the COVID-19 vaccine for immigrants in their own languages, placing medical interpreters at community vaccine events and having one-on-one conversations with immigrants about their feelings on the COVID-19 vaccine.
From stories of loss to stories of hope, Kansas City residents open up about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their lives.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent data, more than 3,625 animals have been tested for COVID-19 across the U.S. — 131 positive. Household pets can catch COVID-19 from their owners, in turn potentially infecting other pets or humans.
The deaths of professors from COVID-19 highlight the delicate balance schools face in protecting staff while offering the fullest possible education to students.
With the need to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, many medical providers have turned to virtual appointments, known as telehealth, as a solution.
In the middle of a pandemic that has been deadlier for older adults, and without assistance from loved ones or a social services organization, conducting the vaccination sign-up online is a process that could shut out the very people who need the vaccine the most, experts say.
The Beacon’s newest program — the COVID-19 Help Desk — will answer Kansas City’s COVID-19 questions. This project will speed up the distribution of facts through short explainers and guides that companion the solutions and investigative pieces we also run.
