Inoculating Cities: Case Studies of the Urban Response of the COVID-19 Pandemic uses detailed case studies to document and describe how cities located in high, middle and low-income countries responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. City governments and municipal authorities exist and operate in extremely varied contexts (i.e., socioeconomic, demographic, legal and governance, etc.) and intentionally documenting the experiences in these different contexts provides guidance to decision-makers for future preparedness and response activities.

This volume highlights the innovative solutions throughout the pandemic as described by the people who designed and implemented pandemic response efforts in their cities. In addition, it identifies successful models that can be adopted in the future by city leaders around the world.


Includes a holistic set of pandemic response considerations, such as contact tracing, quarantine and isolation, surging public health and medical workforces, risk communication, provision testing and vaccination services, reaching vulnerable populations, and city-to-city coordination
Provides a global scope that describes various approaches used by cities around the world in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic
Presents best practices on pandemic response that all can learn from


Section I. Contact Tracing

1. Contact Tracing in a city in a high-income country

2. Contact Tracing in a city in a low-income country

Section II. Quarantine and Isolation

3. Quarantine and Isolation in a city in a high-income country

4. Quarantine and isolation in a city in a low-income country

Section III. Workforce

5. Surging the workforce in a city in a high-income country

6. Surging the workforce in a city in a low-income country

Section IV. Risk Communication

7. Risk communication activities in a city in a high-income country

8. Risk communication activities in a city in a low-income country

Section V. COVID-19 Services clinical care, testing, vaccinations

9. Provision of COVID-19 services in a city in a high-income country

10. Provision of COVID-19 services in a city in a low-income country

Section VI. Reaching the hardest to reach

11. Reaching vulnerable populations in a city in a high-income country

12. Reaching vulnerable populations in a city in a low-income country

Section VII. Governance and Coordination

13. Local-level pandemic coordination in a city in a high-income country

14. Local-level pandemic coordination in a city in a low-income country