Greetings, public health PHANs! This is just a quick email to let you know about our new survey where we're seeking input about our planned “SAFER” global directory. We also have a terrific new blog post from noted Long COVID reporter and advocate Julia Doubleday. 

 

Come and check out what we're working on!

 

We want to know what you think! Take our survey on our global resources directory

Got an opinion about our new resources directory project? We want to hear from you with our new survey! We're in the early stages of developing a global resources directory called SAFER, which will pull in information from several sources to provide a unified directory of COVID-conscious advocacy and support organizations, businesses, healthcare providers, and other related businesses and groups around the world. This directory will let anyone find the providers and specific resources they need, both locally and online. 

 

We'd love to get your input on it as we're developing it, so please take our survey then share it with your COVID-conscious friends and networks. THANK YOU for your input!

guest blog post from julia doubleday about living with long COVID

Julia Doubleday is a political consultant and campaign staffer who became infected with the SARS-2 virus in November 2023 and later developed Long COVID, which has disabled her and caused her to become unable to work a standard job. She joins us this week as a guest writer on our blog with her piece about her struggles: “Fallout: Living with Long COVID”, where she shares what her life is like after being afflicted with multiple syndromes due to her exposure to COVID in late 2023. You can read more of Julia's writing at her Substack and Patreon.

LATEST NEWS

Feb. 13, 2025: Vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr is confirmed to be head of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. From the AP: “The Senate on Thursday confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Donald Trump’s health secretary, putting the prominent vaccine skeptic in control of $1.7 trillion in federal spending, vaccine recommendations and food safety as well as health insurance programs for roughly half the country.”

 

Feb. 11th, 2025: A  new article in Lancet Infectious Diseases provides a roadmap for possible treatment for clearing SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs in patients affected by Long COVID. “A new Viewpoint published in Lancet Infectious Diseases and supported by PolyBio Research Foundation provides a roadmap for testing interventions aimed at clearing SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs. The report, authored by 36 experts from 20 leading institutions worldwide, details key considerations for trial design, drug candidates, and viral persistence biomarker development. ‘I have been sick for four years and I know the science is there,’ says long COVID patient Jon Douglas. ‘This report confirms that we have a plan for the trials that could finally help patients like me recover.’ ”

 

Feb. 7th, 2025: U.S. flu rate at or near highest level in over 15 years, CDC says.  “There have been at least 24 million illnesses, 310,000 hospitalizations and 13,000 deaths from flu so far this season, according to the CDC. The agency said in its weekly flu surveillance report that seasonal influenza activity continues to increase across the country.”

 

Jan. 24th, 2025: Dianna Cowern (aka Physics Girl) stands for the first time in two years! Many of you may be familiar with Dianna's YouTube channel where for years she enthusiastically discussed science concepts in ways that made them easy to understand, but she was heartbreakingly affected by Long COVID which has left her bedbound and unable to create new videos. But just a few weeks ago, she took her first steps in over two years. We are so delighted and relieved that Dianna appears to be making progress in her struggle with Long COVID.

Some fun from The vertlartnic…

Donate, volunteer, share our posts!

If you're able to donate, we will gladly accept whatever you can offer. Your donations will go towards the projects we're developing and to pay a tiny team of staffers making it all happen. Click here to donate.

 

If you're interested in volunteering, we'd love to have you! We're looking for folks interested in creating videos, graphics, and blog posts, as well as folks interested in machine learning, large-language models (LLMs), public health policy, and volunteer coordination. If you match any of those needs, or you have other skills or experience that you think might help our work, we'll find a way for you to help! Fill out our contact form on our website and one of us will get back to you as soon as we can.

 

Another way to help spread the word of our work is to share our social media posts on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Follow us, like our posts, and share them with your networks to increase our visibility. We really appreciate everyone who follows us and shares our posts!