Georgetown University: Title: Georgetown Lab Finds COVID-19 Transmission, Variant Risk Higher In Clusters Of Unvaccinated U.S. Counties

Georgetown DC

13 July, 2021

5:01 PM

Description

Press release from Georgetown University: July 13, 2021 A team of alumni, student and faculty researchers in the Bansal Lab is tracking COVID-19 vaccination in the United States, identifying five clusters of southeastern U.S. counties with high populations and lower-than-expected vaccination rates. According to the tracker, unvaccinated individuals have a higher chance of interacting with other unvaccinated individuals in these geographic clusters, increasing the risk for transmission of COVID-19 – and creating opportunities for a new variant to emerge. Shweta Bansal, an associate professor in the Department of Biology who leads the Bansal Lab, warns that unvaccinated clusters can impact even highly vaccinated parts of the country.  "The risk of SARS-Cov2 outbreaks remains high in some parts of the country, putting us all in danger," says Bansal. "The biggest predictor of where this risk is concentrated is vaccination rates, and so it's critical to track those locations that are behind on their vaccination efforts so we can help them and help us all get safely out of the pandemic." Tracking COVID-19 Vaccinations Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the tracker compiles spatial and demographic data on an interactive map that reflects the distribution of COVID-19 vaccination coverage.  The tracker documents vaccination patterns at the county level to identify vulnerable areas obscured by state-level data and help ensure vaccination resources are distributed to communities that need them. "Maximizing vaccination requires that we track vaccination patterns to measure the progress of the vaccination campaign and target locations that may be undervaccinated," says Bansal. "Our findings highlight the critical role of detailed, accurate, and transparent data curation and dissemination to enable informed public health decision-making." As the country eases health restrictions, travel within and from unvaccinated parts of the country increases the risk for disease transmission and variant emergence – including variants that are resistant to the safe and effective vaccines currently available. "Unvaccinated individuals are efficient fuel like dry wood for the fire of future outbreaks," says Bansal. "Vaccinated individuals are like soaked wood – while it can't easily catch fire, if it's surrounded by dry wood, the chances are much higher. And mobility between locations fans and spreads the outbreak like wind would a wildfire." Student and Alumni Leadership The vaccination tracking team is composed of Bansal, undergraduate research assistant Alexes Merritt (SFS'23) and Georgetown alumni and research associates Andrew Tiu (NHS'21) and Zack Susswein (C'20). "Public health officials have been tirelessly campaigning for increased vaccination and have stressed its importance in the face of dangerous variants and a rise in cases. We're lending additional specificity and statistical power to this message," says Tiu. "In response, I hope that vaccination rates pick back up." Susswein, who started working in the Bansal Lab as a student more than three years ago, hopes the tracker will influence policymakers to make vaccination even more accessible. "I hope it reminds people that much of the country is still unvaccinated and, as long as that continues, we'll continue to see COVID-19 transmission," says Susswein. "If we want the pandemic to end, we need policy that makes vaccination as easy and available as possible." 'Why I Chose to Go to Georgetown' Merritt, a Science, Technology and International Affairs major who has been working in the Bansal Lab since September of 2020, has leveraged her passion for public health and disease ecology to contribute to the scientific community in a time of great need. "Working and learning about global issues is exactly why I chose to go to Georgetown," says Merritt. "Working on this project has been a way of using this knowledge to help others at a time where we all need a little help." Related ContentThis press release was produced by Georgetown University.The views expressed here are the author's own.