Vaccine News & Notes — December 2020

COVID-19 assessment and tracking tools

With the holidays upon us, you may be concerned about the risks of hosting or attending a gathering during COVID-19. Two tools can help:

• Wondering how likely it is that someone will be infected at a gathering? — The “COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool” estimates the likelihood that at least one person at an event could be infected with COVID-19, based on the size and location of the gathering. The tool was developed by teams at Georgia Institute of Technology and Applied Bioinformatics Laboratory.
• Wondering how many COVID-19 cases are in your community? — The “Mapping COVID-19 in Your Community” tool provides easy access to weekly test positivity rates and cases by county using an interactive map. This tool also offers projections of positivity rates in the coming weeks. The tool was developed by the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

COVID-19 clinical trial: real or fake?

• Are you considering enrolling in a COVID-19 clinical trial that tests effective vaccines and treatments?
• Did you receive unsolicited emails, text messages or phone calls encouraging you to enroll?

If so, it’s important to make sure the trials are legitimate. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides helpful tips on how to tell the difference between real and fake studies. For example, legitimate clinical trials never ask for money, bank account numbers, credit card information, or Social Security numbers. However, some questions and information will be needed from clinical trial participants. Find out more about how to tell the difference on the FTC’s website.