Good morning,

The Source of the Week newsletter has been on hiatus for the past few weeks as I was out of office. I’m happy to be back bringing new sources to your inbox weekly, thank you for your patience!

A recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that the share of adults who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine dropped 5 percentage points in a month. Still, 36.5% of the U.S. population hasn’t received a first dose and 45.7% are not fully vaccinated. With school back in session, new federal vaccine and testing mandates for workers and booster shot rollout plans, indecision about getting vaccinated remains for some people. Here are three experts who can offer perspective on what's happening and why.

Henna Budhwani is an associate professor at the University of Alabama, Birmingham's School of Public Health; a visiting assistant professor in the University of California, San Francisco, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies; and affiliated faculty with the Florida State University Center for Translational Behavioral Science. A medical sociologist, Budhwani researches health disparities among stigmatized populations. Her recent work focuses on improving COVID-19 and HPV vaccine use by addressing hesitancy.

Young Anna Argyris is an assistant professor in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. Argyris researches the design, development and use of information technology for public health campaigns. She studies the health misinformation propagated via social media and its negative impact on the use of COVID-19, HPV and adolescent immunizations. 

Dr. Jorge O. Moreno is an assistant professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, an internist, and a diplomat of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. Moreno works in primary care and in COVID-19 units. During the pandemic, he's worked to increase vaccination rates among people with diabetes and obesity-related conditions. He also creates informational videos in Spanish that discuss COVID-19 vaccines and answer common questions. 

Other sources of interest this week

Leaders of the FDA and CDC are telling White House COVID-19 advisers to slow the schedule for booster shot rollout. Both agencies cite a lack of data. 

For questions about the science behind boosters, talk to Aliasger Salem, the Bighley Chair and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy. Salem researches the design of drugs and vaccines. His research group is exploring adenoviruses and modified RNA, both major components in the development of COVID-19 vaccines. 

Sources of the Week on the news

Georges Benjamin spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the history of vaccine skepticism. Dr. Kartik Cherabuddi spoke to Fox 10 News about a surge of COVID-19 cases in Florida. Leila Cobo spoke to AARP about the impact of Hispanic and Latino artists on global music charts. Iván Espinoza-Madrigal spoke to the Boston Herald about several Massachusetts cities’ plans to resettle Afghan refugees. Jawanza Williams spoke to City and State about New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominations for the state's new Office of Cannabis Management. 

Thanks to all who have been utilizing sources.npr.org!