Pandemic roundup: How a tiny county made big vaccine gains; community public-health workers are a trusted source

Here's a roundup of some of the coronavirus pandemic- and vaccine-related stories we've seen this past week:

Many vulnerable people who need the coronavirus vaccine will have a hard time accessing it without transportation. Read more here.

Mental health supports help rural care providers weather a Covid-19 surge. Read more here.

Trump officials actively lobbied to deny states money for vaccine rollouts last fall. Read more here.

Dubious websites and viral posts claim that the World Health Organization changed virus testing protocols for political reasons when Trump left office, and that the WHO said false-positive cases had inflated the case count. That's false. Read the real story here from FactCheck.org.

USA Today has a dashboard with frequently updated data on state vaccination rates and other critical pandemic info. Read more here. It also has a general information resource guide to the vaccine here. 

Alpine County, a rural county that with 1,100 people is the least populated in California, is making big vaccination gains. Here's how it happened. Read more here.

Community public-health workers, often overlooked, are a trusted source for locals during the pandemic. Read more here.

Some health workers say they're not refusing the coronavirus vaccine outright; they just need a little more time to feel confident that it's safe. Read more here.

A clinic in rural Georgia is in shock after the state suspended its access to vaccines after it violated state guidelines for vaccinating teachers. Read more here.

Many patients who are terminally ill with Covid-19 or other diseases are choosing to die at home so they can be with their loved ones, rather than in a hospital where they might have to say their goodbyes via screen or behind glass. Read more here.

Coronavirus cases nationwide are dropping at nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities. Read more here.