Pandemic roundup: Crippling winter weather complicating vaccine delivery and distribution

Here's a roundup of recent pandemic and coronavirus vaccine-related news stories:

Crippling winter weather is hampering vaccine delivery and distribution. Read more here.

Efforts to distribute the vaccine in rural areas are complicated by staffing shortages, low vaccine allocations, and transportation barriers. Read more here.

A pastor in rural Florida used his clout to get 600 local residents vaccinated. Read more here.

Hospital workers in rural Louisiana discuss their struggle to cope with the pandemic, and what problems have persisted even after the arrival of vaccines. Read more here.

Family caregivers, who are routinely left off vaccine priority lists, worry about what would happen if they got sick and were unable to care for an ailing or disabled loved one. Read more here.

Manufacturers are churning out N95 masks, but many medical workers still don't have enough because of federal failures over the past year to coordinate supply chains and provide hospitals with clear rules about how to manage their medical equipment stockpiles. Read more here.

Texas has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to combat vaccine hesitancy. Read more here.

Some veterans in rural Montana got their coronavirus vaccines via airplane delivery. Read more here.

Researchers are studying ways to encourage Native Americans on reservations to seek coronavirus testing. Read more here.

A New Yorker story takes a deep dive into how food bank volunteers in Harlan County, Kentucky, have been helping others for decades, but now need help themselves. Read more here.

Undocumented immigrants are a critical part of many meatpacking and agricultural operations, but aggressive immigration enforcement has deterred many from obtaining the coronavirus vaccine, especially in the South. Read more here.

Bipartisan proposed legislation aims to make it easier for rural hospitals to qualify for Paycheck Protection Program loans. Read more here.

An arresting multimedia story from The Washington Post illustrates the pandemic's death toll in January through pull-no-punches statistics, stories and photos from communities across the nation. Read more here.

A health system in upstate New York is one of only a handful of rural locations chosen for clinical trials for Operation Warp Speed, the federal research effort to test treatments for Covid-19. Read more here.

Tribal Nations across the United States are racing to vaccinate elders who are the keepers of culture and tradition. Read more here.