Contraceptive Technology Update – March 1, 2022
March 1, 2022
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New Research Highlights Effect of COVID-19 on Contraceptive Care
The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions and barriers to contraceptive care in its first year. Reproductive health providers have navigated conflicting and confusing messages about vaccine mandates. -
A Tale of Two Times: Contraceptive Care in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Patients faced difficulties accessing contraceptive care in April 2020 and December 2020, but the steepest drop occurred during the COVID-19 shutdown in April 2020, according to researchers. -
Disrupted Contraceptive Care Hurt Disadvantaged Patients the Most
The COVID-19 pandemic affected most women seeking contraceptive care — but those who already are disadvantaged by structural inequities were hit the hardest. The problem worsened as the pandemic continued. The pandemic made reproductive health access disparities worse, creating economic hardship for many women and disproportionately affecting Black, indigenous, and people of color. Recently, researchers found that people were less happy with their ability to access contraceptive care in January 2021 than in July 2020. -
Researchers Highlight Isolation, Stigma of Abortion Providers in the South
Abortion providers in the South face many challenges, including being outed online, fired from hospitals, and ostracized in professional and social circles, according to the results of a recent study. -
Accessing Hormonal Contraception by Pharmacy Prescriptions
A stopgap step to increasing access to hormonal birth control is to expand prescribing authority to pharmacists. Compared to other clinical settings, pharmacies can be easier for people to access, given their wide distribution across the country and their extended hours of operation. -
STI Rates Increasing, but Efficient Testing Can Help
Incidence rates of many sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have increased in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is evidence that STIs have continued to rise during the pandemic, according to the results of a new study. -
Herpes Vaccine Could Be Available by 2030
Early efforts to produce a protein-based vaccine for herpes failed. But a new mRNA approach has outperformed the efficacy of the past vaccines in preclinical trials and is expected to be introduced in clinical trials in the second half of 2022, investigators say. This new approach for a prophylactic genital herpes vaccine showed great promise in early studies.
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U.S. Chlamydia Rates Continue to Climb
The chlamydia infection rate has been rising unabated. While rates of some STIs have fluctuated over the past 40 to 80 years, chlamydia rates have increased progressively since the first reporting data became available in 1984.