ICAP

COVID-19

COVID-19 & Emerging Diseases

“When COVID-19 emerged, we realized that we had to pivot to quickly mobilize the resources needed in order to respond to the urgent calls for assistance that we were receiving.”

— Wafaa El-Sadr, ICAP Director

From the moment the first evidence of the coronavirus pandemic appeared in late 2019, ICAP at Columbia University recognized the potentially devastating impact of COVID-19 in many of the countries where it works, countries where health systems are particularly fragile. Building on nearly two decades of experience in responding to the world’s most significant public health challenges and harnessing its longstanding partnerships with ministries of health across the globe, ICAP mounted a comprehensive response to COVID-19 in 24 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas in partnership with stakeholders in each of the countries.

With tens of millions of dollars in funding raised through relentless efforts and a mandate to act quickly in the face of a dangerous and rapidly spreading disease, ICAP directed its teams and these resources to create firewalls of detection, prevention, and response to stand between the spreading virus and the communities in its path.

ICAP’s ongoing response to the continuing pandemic has spanned the gamut of public health activities, including:

  • Training of health workers
  • Standing up emergency operation centers
  • Establishing fever clinics and health brigades
  • Procuring personal protective and medical equipment
  • Identifying new prevention and treatment methods
  • Optimizing infection prevention and control
  • Supporting surveillance and conducting surveys

COVID-19 News

The Price of the Pandemic: ICAP Study Reveals Burden of COVID-19 on LGBTQ+ Community in NYC

New Commentary Suggests the Storm Cloud of Omicron May Have a Silver Lining

(FORTUNE) COVID ‘Super Immunity’ Might Be Turning Into a Reality—Here’s How It Works

Q&A: Director of the New York City Pandemic Response Institute Shares His Vision for Innovative Public Health Resource

(Crain’s New York Business) Hochul Mask Mandate Stays for Now, but a Permanent Injunction Could Delay Omicron Recovery

(The Atlantic) What You Can Actually Do After an Omicron Infection

With New Funding, ICAP Expands Research on the Impact of COVID-19 on Older Adults

(CITY & STATE) New York Officials Push to Turn the Page on Omicron

(WV Public Broadcasting) ‘America First’ Vaccination Policy?

(Wall Street Journal) After Getting Omicron, People Live It Up a Little

(FORTUNE) You Will Probably Get Omicron. It’s Time to Adjust Expectations About What Beating COVID Means

(Archived Webinar) ICAP Grand Rounds Webinar — The Cost of COVID-19: Understanding LGBTQ+ Experiences in New York City

COVID-19 Resources

COVID-19 resurgence: lessons learnt to inform the South African response

COVID-19 Vaccination Procedure Video (Russian, Kazakh)

COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out in South Africa and Zimbabwe: Urgent Need to Address Community Preparedness, Fears and Hesitancy

ICAP Grand Rounds Webinar (Archived Recording): Vaccine Hesitancy

Brain drain: An ever-present, significant challenge to the Zimbabwean public health sector

The paradox of re-opening schools in Zimbabwe in the COVID-19 era (Letter to the Editor)

Webinar (Archived Recording) – COVID-19 Vaccines: Where We Stand

ICAP Special World AIDS Day Event — Tackling Two Pandemics: HIV and COVID-19 (Archived Recording)

Covid-19, Ebola, and HIV — Leveraging Lessons to Maximize Impact

Special Webinar (Archived Recording) – The Impact of COVID-19 on the Opioid Crisis

Maintaining robust HIV and TB services in the COVID-19 era: A public health dilemma in Zimbabwe

Safeguarding gains in the Sexual and Reproductive Health and AIDS Response amidst COVID-19: The Role of African Civil Society