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Widespread installations of drive-thru clinics for mass vaccination could significantly accelerate the nation's efforts to achieve COVID-19 herd immunity, according to research published in the INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics. Researchers studied the successful use of drive-thru clinics for mass vaccinations during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, examining data from The Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness department during its H1N1 vaccination campaign. The study authors found that 19,318 patients were vaccinated via either a drive-thru or walk-up clinic over 1.5 days, and about two-thirds of them went to drive-thru clinics. The research team also said that people generally preferred drive-thru clinics because they perceived them to be more convenient and less contagious than walk-up clinics.

Here is a roundup of the latest news concerning the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to announcements from local, state, and federal governments, as well as international channels. To share a business or nonprofit story, please send us a message. Oakland County Has Administered 99%+ of Allotted COVID-19 Vaccines. Oakland County Health Division reports that it has administered more than 99 percent of the 41,350 COVID-19 vaccines distributed to it by the state of Michigan since Dec. 17, 2020. To maintain its ability to vaccinate residents when adequate supply is available, the health division has launched a network of COVID-19 vaccine provider partnerships to whom they will distribute vaccine.

Policymakers at all levels of government are racing to vaccinate hundreds of millions of people to save lives and blunt the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. New research published in the INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics provides a simulated model for drive-through clinics that can be used for mass COVID-19 vaccinations based on the successful use of such a clinic to address H1N1. The paper, "Lessons from Modeling and Running the World's Largest Drive-Through, Mass Vaccination Clinic," looks at data from The Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness department during the H1N1 vaccinations.

On a recent Saturday morning, Peggy Hoon got behind the wheel of her 2011 Toyota RAV4 and made the 300-mile round trip to Charlotte from her Raleigh home. After weeks of waiting on hold or hearing about COVID-19 vaccination events only after they’d filled up, the 65-year-old Wake County resident finally got a shot. She considers herself lucky and worries about equity issues that leave other seniors unable to find doses of the precious vaccine. State officials say the primary barrier to rolling out the vaccines has been a lack of supply. But the N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network found that in some cases, health workers are giving doses to people who do not yet qualify, according to guidelines from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

From last spring to the current semester, NC State professors and graduate and undergraduate student researchers have been applying their skills and knowledge to further our understanding of COVID-19. Robert Handfield, the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management in Poole College of Management, has utilized his work on the digital transformation of supply chains and the procurement of buyer-seller relationships, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector. “When COVID struck, I was asked by a colleague…to serve as a pro bono expert to the joint acquisition task force,” Handfield said. “This was set up to help the nation try to identify sources of PPE, [or] personal protective equipment, N-95 masks, gowns, gloves, etc.”