Empowering Youth Vaccine Ambassadors to Promote COVID-19 Vaccination in Local Communities: A 7-Step Approach.

Despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccines for youth since 2021, vaccine hesitancy has resulted in suboptimal uptake. Public health campaigns that empower local youth ambassadors as trusted messengers who share their personal narratives related to getting vaccinated hold promise for promoting COVID-19 vaccination. We used a seven-step approach to develop, implement, and evaluate a youth-led ambassador campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake in communities experiencing COVID-19 disparities in Worcester, MA. The seven steps included (1) engaging with key partners; (2) determining a community of focus; (3) identifying trusted sources; (4) determining campaign components; (5) training the vaccine ambassadors; (6) disseminating the campaign; and (7) evaluating the campaign. We trained nine youth as vaccine ambassadors. Ambassadors were guided through self-reflection of motivations for COVID-19 vaccination and the resulting personal narratives became the campaign messaging. English/Spanish vaccine messages developed by youth ambassadors were disseminated through social media platforms (n = 3), radio (n = 2), local TV (n = 2), flyers (n = 2,086), posters (n = 386), billboards (n = 10), and local bus ads (n = 40). Qualitative youth feedback indicate participation in the campaign was a positive and empowering experience which reinforces the importance of engaging youth in public health messaging. Youth empowerment through personal narratives (and storytelling) holds promise for future public health campaigns.

A multidisciplinary approach to estimating wolf population size for long-term conservation.

The wolf (Canis lupus) is among the most controversial of wildlife species. Abundance estimates are required to inform public debate and policy decisions, but obtaining them at biologically relevant scales is challenging. We developed a system for comprehensive population estimation across the Italian alpine region (100,000 km2 ), involving 1513 trained operators representing 160 institutions. This extensive network allowed for coordinated genetic sample collection and landscape-level spatial capture-recapture analyses that transcended administrative boundaries to produce the first estimates of key parameters for wolf population status assessment. Wolf abundance was estimated at 952 individuals (95% credible interval 816-1120) and 135 reproductive units (i.e., packs) (95% credible interval 112-165). We also estimated that mature individuals accounted for 33-45% of the entire population. The monitoring effort was spatially estimated thereby overcoming an important limitation of citizen science data. This is an important approach for promoting wolf-human coexistence based on wolf abundance monitoring and an endorsement of large-scale harmonized conservation practices.

Una estrategia multidisciplinaria para la estimación del tamaño poblacional de los lobos para la conservación a largo plazo Resumen El lobo (Canis lupus) está entre las especies de fauna más controversiales. Se requieren estimaciones de abundancia para informar al debate público y las decisiones políticas, pero es un reto obtenerlos en escalas con relevancia biológica. Desarrollamos un sistema para la estimación completa de la población en la región alpina de Italia (100,000 km2 ), con la participación de 1,513 operadores entrenados que representan a 160 instituciones. Esta red extensa permitió una colecta coordinada de muestras genéticas y análisis de captura-recaptura espacial que trascendieron las fronteras administrativas para así producir las primeras estimaciones de los parámetros clave para la evaluación del estado de la población de los lobos. Se estimó la abundancia en 952 individuos (95% intervalo de confianza 816-1120) y 135 unidades reproductivas (es decir, manadas) (95% intervalo de confianza 112-165). También estimamos que los individuos maduros representaban el 33-45% de toda la población. El esfuerzo de monitoreo se estimó espacialmente, por lo que sobrepasó una limitación importante de la ciencia ciudadana. Esta estrategia es importante para promover la coexistencia entre lobos y humanos con base en el monitoreo de la abundancia y el apoyo a las prácticas armonizadas de conservación a gran escala.

A Citywide Approach to SARS-CoV2 Testing.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused more than 30 million infections in the United States between March 2020 and April 2021. In response to systemic disparities in SARS-CoV2 testing and COVID-19 infections, health systems, city leaders and community stakeholders in Worcester, Massachusetts created a citywide Equity Task Force with a specific goal of making low-barrier testing available to individuals throughout our community. Within months, the state of Massachusetts announced the Stop the Spread campaign, a state-funded testing venture. With this funding, and through our community-based approach, our team tested more than 48,363 individuals between August 3, 2020 and February 28, 2021. Through multiple PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycles, we optimized our process to test close to 300 individuals per hour. Our positivity rate ranged from 1.5% with our initial testing events to a high of 13.4% on January 6, 2021. During the challenges of providing traditional inpatient and ambulatory care during the pandemic, our health system, city leadership, and community advocacy groups united to broaden the scope of care to include widespread, population-based SARS-CoV2 testing. We anticipate that the lessons learned in conducting this testing campaign can be applied to further surges of SARS-CoV2, international environments, and future respiratory disease pandemics.