Skip to main content

All Stories

WVU experts encourage healthcare providers, institutions to build trust with communities of color to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates

While West Virginia is one of the nation’s leaders in COVID-19 vaccine delivery, some folks in the state—notably people of color—may be hesitant to receive the vaccine. Experts at West Virginia University point to misinformation about how the vaccine works and a long-standing mistrust of government and medical institutions as reasons for lower vaccination rates among Black Americans.

WVU to continue distributing emergency CARES grants to students

Eligible, degree-seeking students at any West Virginia University campus can receive emergency grants through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund II, part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. WVU will continue distributing its allotted $10,087,116 in emergency grants to students who qualify.

WVU researchers study high-risk populations in low-tech communities

Closed religious communities such as the Amish are high-risk populations for the spread of both infectious diseases and public health misinformation, according to sociologists from West Virginia University who are working with data from Amish and Mennonite settlements to understand the COVID-19-related beliefs and behaviors prevalent within their communities.

West Virginia’s enduring, intertwined epidemics: Opioids and HIV

Long before COVID-19 entered the picture, West Virginia had been battling two other major public health crises: opioids and HIV. Dr. Sally Hodder, a leading infectious disease expert at West Virginia University, believes that despite the threat of COVID-19, the opioid and HIV epidemics should not be ignored.