Sreedhar Upendram, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, has received the 2021 Bonnie Teater Community Development Early Career Achievement Award from the Southern Rural Development Center.
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, 35.3 percent of Tennesseans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, of Tennessee s 95 counties, 18 have vaccination rates of 20 percent or below. Two grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture with funds awarded to University of Tennessee Extension hope to change that. UT Extension has offices in all 95 counties across Tennessee, so we are in a unique position to be able to assist with vaccine education and combat misinformation, states Lisa Washburn, UT Extension community health specialist and principal investigator for the grant. In many communities across the state and the nation, Extension may be perceived as a more credible or highly trusted source than other government entities that do not have a local presence, adds Washburn. Our goal is to utilize local partnerships with the community to increase vaccine rates and continue to eliminate COVID-19 infection and transm