Sofi Gratas covers rural health and health care for GPB. She joined GPB in June 2022 as a Report for America Corps member. Based in Macon, her coverage area includes Middle and South Georgia. Her focus is on the crisis facing rural communities that consistently rank near the bottom nationwide in health and health care. Sofi is a 2020 graduate of the University of Georgia's Grady School of Journalism. Prior to joining GPB, she worked at the Red and Black and WUGA.
Against a backdrop of confusing messaging from the federal government, Georgia officials discussed who should consider getting a booster of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
On the April 3 edition: Georgia lawmakers are working on new bills before it's too late; and a South Georgia woman's arrest and case following a miscarriage is in limbo.
Rural health care providers are often the first, and sometimes only, line of information for parents with questions about their child's health care, including concerns over vaccines.
Over $300 million in grants from the federal government to the Georgia Department of Public Health have been terminated, resulting in a reduction of staff and some services related to infectious disease surveillance.
