Throughout the pandemic, Covid Act Now has been working with experts across many industries, including the tech sector, to keep the public informed by providing timely and accurate data about COVID-19 in the United States.
In the beginning of the pandemic, information was spotty. Covid Act Now is an independent nonprofit started by volunteers in March 2020 that helped streamline information from a variety of reputable local, state, and federal sources. They now have a dozen employees, as well as many volunteers.
“Partnerships with people across policy, academics, epidemiological, and tech have been very helpful. Not any one of them alone is in position to reach the general public in an easily accessible way,” Brett Boval, Covid Act Now’s lead product manager, said. “But together, we can access relevant data that is actionable, which is always our goal — not just to tell the facts, but context as well.”
Empowering consumers
The nonprofit tracks COVID-19 and vaccination rates in every American state, including over 380 metros, 3,100 counties, and two United States territories.
Covid Act Now works with the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Science and Security, Stanford University Clinical Excellence Research Center, and Harvard Global Health Institute. Their partners include COVID Exit Strategy, the COVID County Data project from Valorum, COVID Explained, and others. Their COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index is by Surgo Ventures.
They get their data from a variety of official sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The New York Times, and official state and county dashboards.
Boval said this trusted data has helped empower people to make informed decisions about their health and associated risks during the pandemic.
Currently the information is focused on both COVID-19 risk and vaccine tracking data. He said there are disparities in vaccinations across the country. Boval said the organization will continue until the federal government is able to take over all of the data reporting about COVID-19 cases and vaccine information.