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Lauren Weber | Kaiser Health News
Lauren Weber is a reporter at Kaiser Health News
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More than 650 people have been employed as community health workers in Illinois. Congress authorized $55 million for community health programs nationally during the pandemic. That funding will run out in June and neither the workers nor the communities they assist know what will happen next.
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Over half of states have rolled back public health powers during the pandemic, which experts say permanently weakens states’ abilities to protect their constituents’ health.
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The market for health care labor continues to be pinched. Rural hospitals are finding they can attract staff by not requiring staff to get the COVID vaccine.
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Divisions abound in Missouri, where vaccines are widely available but only 40% of the state has been vaccinated.
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Across Missouri, more than 100 schools have spent over $3.5 million — often at taxpayers’ expense — snapping up ionization and other air-purifying devices in an attempt to keep kids safe from COVID-19. But experts warn the largely unregulated technology hasn’t been thoroughly tested in classroom settings and is “often unproven.”