By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]

Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said only 23 percent of pregnant women in the United States have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while doctors have reported an increased number of pregnant women infected with the virus.

In view of this, the CDC strongly recommended that pregnant and breastfeeding women get the COVID-19 vaccine after new research shows it does not increase the risk of miscarriage, the New York Times reported.

According to the agency, the risks of serious illness from coronavirus infection during pregnancy are high.

CDC officials also hope the new safety data will sway the many who have resisted despite mounting evidence that the coronavirus can pose serious health risks and increase the chances of premature birth.

"CDC encourages all women who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant and those who are breastfeeding to get the vaccine to protect against Covid-19," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D. "Vaccines are safe and effective, and there has never been a greater urgency to increase vaccination."

Of note, the CDC noted that in addition to pregnant people, the new guidance will also apply to pregnant people of any sexual orientation; however, the surveillance data it reviewed is based on participants who presented as women. 

The new CDC guidance supports vaccination during pregnancy as does the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other medical groups.

Pregnancy is on the list of "health problems" that increase the risk of serious illness for people infected with the coronavirus because, he said, they are significantly more likely than non-pregnant patients to require intensive care, to be on a heart-lung machine and to require mechanical ventilation, in addition to facing a 70 percent higher risk of death.

To this, he added that, by acquiring COVID, the risk of pregnant women developing dangerous conditions such as preeclampsia increases, in addition to increasing the risk of premature births or stillbirths.

As if that weren't enough, severe COVID has been linked to gestational diabetes and low birth weight. In rare cases, the virus can be transmitted to the fetus during gestation.

According to the NYT, Dr. Walensky pointed out that, according to the new safety data, the results come from a study of nearly 2,500 pregnant people who were immunized with one of the mRNA vaccines - the Moderna or Pfizer and BioNTech injections - during the first 20 weeks of gestation. 

However, previous research has found equally reassuring data for pregnant women who were vaccinated after that number of weeks of pregnancy.

Doubts invade the taking of the vaccine among pregnant women

"I'm seriously considering getting vaccinated, I feel it's the responsible thing to do," said Raeshel Contreras, 29, who lives in the Bay Area. She is 28 weeks pregnant and is concerned that the vaccine could disrupt fetal development, although there is no scientific evidence of this. 

"I don't know what I would do if I got vaccinated and something happened to the baby," she told the NYT.

He has given himself two weeks to make a decision, but the timing of the new CDC directive, during a surge, worried him.

"Why wasn't this recommended before?" she asked. "Now there's this new variant, and now the CDC is jumping in, but it wasn't recommended, I'm like 'Why is that?'

The announcement comes amid an increasing number of infections of COVID-19, largely due to the rise of the Delta variant.

For her part, the epidemiologist who heads the Emergency Preparedness Response Team in the CDC's division of reproductive health, Sascha R. Ellington, said data on birth outcomes are limited, considering that the vaccine has only been available since December, but the small number of pregnancies of immunized obstetric patients followed to term have not identified any safety issues.

"At this time, the benefits of vaccination and the known risks of COVID during pregnancy and the high rates of transmission at this time outweigh any theoretical risks of the vaccine," Ellington said.

In June, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the COVID-19 vaccine "when the benefits to pregnant women outweigh the potential risks". The examples given were women who are at high risk of being exposed to the virus and those with chronic health conditions, such as obesity or diabetes, that put them at increased risk of serious illness.

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By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]

Although parents and students are experiencing moments of fear and uncertainty as they head back to school amidst the increase in COVID-19 and Delta variant cases, safety and mitigation measures may make it possible for millions of California students to return to school safely.

So said California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who in a media session held by the California Department of Public Instruction, said in a statement that Ethnic Media ServicesThe Los Angeles Unified School District, he recalled that under those parameters, 97 percent of all students in the Los Angeles Unified School District returned to school Monday for the fall semester.

"We have learned that our students need face-to-face instruction, that they have suffered from lack of access to teachers and peers. We know that mental health needs have grown and that gaps have been exacerbated. And so as we continue to tackle COVID-19 and the Delta variant, we know that we can deliver and provide a great education for our students," she said.

However, he explained that distance education will continue for those students who have a medical need or need to have some alternative to in-person instruction.

"I think it's okay to be afraid. But let's let that fear translate into action that ensures that our kids can get an education, and then we can keep them, their families and their educators safe with vaccines. I just want to keep reminding everyone that it's not too late to get vaccinated," she said.

The superintendent acknowledged that Californians have been vaccinated more than residents of any other state. "That's a great job, but let's not stop there. There are still many who can and should be vaccinated," especially for those under 12 who still can't get vaccinated until FDA approval. Maybe later this year.

Meanwhile, he noted that "this is becoming a crisis of the unvaccinated. What we're seeing is that 99 percent of the people who are experiencing serious complications from COVID, including hospitalizations and deaths, are those who have not been vaccinated.

Thurmond said he shares the concerns of parents being one of them, however, he said a return to the classroom in California is possible as long as safety guidelines such as vaccinations, masks, hand washing, social distancing and ongoing testing for both students and school staff are followed.

In this regard, he explained that the tests are an essential point for the return to school, because in addition to the results are obtained in 15 minutes, it is possible to detect who is infected to be sent to quarantine, as well as take the necessary precautions to protect the school community.

In that sense, he said that with the help of the state government, five million rapid tests will be available for this back to school.

He also recalled that in California, the state legislature, Governor Gavin Newsom and the superintendent's office are working together to make a record amount of resources available to all students for counseling.

He explained that many students have experienced the trauma of the pandemic, which is why more than $4 billion has been allocated for mental health services for young people from birth to age 25. 

Plus more than $3 billion for community schools, plus school meals are now universal, regardless of students' background and income. 

Mitigation measures key to back-to-school season 

Superintendent Thurmond noted that money has been given to schools to upgrade classrooms, air purification systems and ventilation. 

"We are working on everything to support our students' mental well-being, their physical safety, and of course, what we call the acceleration of learning."

At the beginning of the pandemic, he said, there were more than a million students in the state who didn't have access to a computer, and there are still a million without access to high-speed Internet, so to offset those barriers, schools now have money for programs like literacy, increased tutoring, hiring one-on-one professional development to work with students, and after-school special education. 

"This is the most thoughtful and robust budget we've seen for education in decades in California - more than $120 billion to support all aspects of our school communities."

"We recognize that this has been a difficult time, but we can rebuild and build a better education system than we had before, especially for low-income students and students of color. This is our opportunity to build the systems that will help push students, making sure they all have access to tools like computer science, to prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow."

He added that the state budget has billions of dollars to invest in broadband so that students in rural, urban, or border communities have access to the Internet.

At the time, he acknowledged the great effort on the part of parents, educators, classified staff, administrators and volunteers to support students in these difficult times. 

On the other hand, he said his office is already working with school districts in all counties that have been severely affected by the fires to support families and students.

A different look at education

Mitigation measures will not be the only changes this back-to-school season, the superintendent said, as there will be a new component in education with an anti-racial focus.

"We have seen, what I call, the pandemic of racism. Certainly beginning with the murder of George Floyd on national television before our very eyes. That's why, during the pandemic I have launched a new initiative called 'Education to End Hate,' which provides implicit bias training to educators in our schools."

This, he explained, following the rise of hatred against Asian-American and Pacific Islander families, as well as the mistreatment of immigrant children.

In that regard, he noted that a new guide has been created so that school districts can create their own ethnic curriculum and so that students of color can learn about the contributions of their ancestors in the growth of the state of California.

Meanwhile, he explained, legislation is still being considered that would create an ethnic studies requirement for graduation.

Health over politics 

The use of masks remains a contentious issue despite nearly a year and a half into the pandemic and a spike in cases due to the Delta variant, which now accounts for more than 90 percent of the nation's sequenced cases.

In response, Thurmond said there is a state mandate from the California Department of Public Health that requires anyone in education facilities to wear a facemask, and if they don't have one, the school will provide one.

But he called on people not to politicize the use of face masks and to put health first under any circumstances.

"It's not just about a mandate, it's about saving lives. I know there are debates going on. People are politicizing it... But at the end of the day it's one of the things that has been proven to save a lot of lives. And that's why we want to encourage everybody to wear a mask."

"We don't want its use to be about law enforcement. We want this to be about keeping people safe, so they can get an education. And yes, wearing a mask means schools, restaurants and public places can stay open. We can be with our loved ones and I encourage everyone to wear them."

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By Joshua Karim. With information from Eduardo Paz and Paola Ricaurte. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]

There are many people who still do not believe in SARS-CoV-2 or in the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and, without thinking about the consequences, use social networks to spread false rumors without scientific support or evidence.

It was last August 11 when different media reported that Mexican actress and singer Paty Navidad had been admitted to the hospital, due to complications from the COVID-19.  

According to a quantitative analysis of the social network Twitter, it was observed that from August 8 to 13, 2021, both the newspaper El Universal and El Heraldo de México were the main centers for the dissemination of news on this social network.  

The Peninsula 360 Press investigation, in which journalists and data scientists Eduardo Paz -Mexico- and Paola Ricaurte -Ecuadorian with studies at Harvard- collaborated, identified that almost immediately, mainly on Twitter, different users noted that throughout the pandemic the actress had made statements undermining vaccination.

In addition, since the last U.S. elections, the host had already made false statements about the then presidential candidate Joe Biden, and even assured that members of the Democratic Party, including former President Barack Obama, participated in satanic cults that included pedophilia among their practices.

Once the pandemic caused by COVID-19 began, the presenter made controversial statements such as that the "supposed virus" was a fraud, or that the vaccine was intended to decrease the population, sterilize it and enhance diseases. 

All this, as part of a plan aligned to a globalist, communist and satanic agenda, led by investor George Soros, billionaire Bill Gates, and joined by the president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, he assured. 

Through her Twitter account, Paty Navidad also expressed that the serious illness caused by COVID-19 could be easily cured with "guava tea and aspirin," which earned her the suspension of her account.

Disbelief about COVID-19: a boomerang effect

Thus, from the moment the news of his hospitalization due to severe complications from the coronavirus broke, Twitter users recalled his statements and disbelief about COVID-19 and began to mock him.

Of all these messages the most popular on this social network was generated by a user who retweeted a video with the following comment: "I hope you can send it to our friend Paty Navidad and to all those who could get vaccinated but don't get vaccinated". 

In the video, a middle-aged man can be seen claiming that his wife was unable to receive treatment for a chronic illness due to hospital overcrowding with COVID-19 patients.

The person questions why so many people don't believe in the virus or still have disbelief about the protection provided by COVID-19 vaccines as a preventative measure, but do trust that doctors can cure them when it's too late.

It is noteworthy that so far, the video has more than 23 thousand 600 retweets, six thousand 500 quotes, more than two thousand comments and 76 thousand 500 likes.

Meanwhile, recently, the actress posted through a story on Instagram that she was already recovering from the disease. "I've been trying to get rid of the virus for a while now," she said.

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By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P] 

In anticipation of the start of face-to-face classes, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) recently released its COVID-19 guidance for the 2021-22 school year, which applies to both public and private schools and follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.

The key message from both CDPH and the CDC is that schools can and should be open for students to receive full-time face-to-face education beginning in the fall. 

The COVID-19 School Guide to the CDPH details safety standards for campuses, and includes vaccination protocols, testing, and health and hygiene principles. 

Of note, the schools will continue to work with the San Mateo County Health Department and other health organizations to increase the number of vaccinations in the county. 

Schools also have a variety of options for assessing students and staff and will be refining their assessment plans over the next few weeks. In addition, schools may expand health protocols such as hand washing and others from last year. 

San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee said, "Schools have become adept at implementing safety protocols and can extend many of those measures through the 2021-22 cycle."

Unlike CDC guidance, CDPH requires all TK-12 students and adults to wear facemasks indoors when sharing spaces with students. 

There will be exemptions for students who are unable to wear a mouth guard, and its use will not be required outdoors.

Given that the global pandemic is not over, the Delta variant remains a concern, and many students are still not vaccinated, CDPH stated that universal masking provides important and necessary protection and prevents children from feeling singled out because of their vaccination. 

In a statement, the San Mateo County Office of Education said universal masking makes it possible for CDPH to eliminate physical distance requirements, which had been a key barrier to all students returning to full-time, in-person learning last year. 

According to CDPH, "recent evidence indicates that face-to-face education can occur safely without minimum physical distance requirements when other mitigation strategies - e.g., use of face masks - are fully implemented.

Similarly, they noted that facemasks may not be required for the entire school year, however, CDPH said it will continue to assess conditions on an ongoing basis and will determine no later than Nov. 1, 2021, whether to update its face protection requirements.

"After a challenging year for student mental health, keeping students in classrooms to engage directly with teachers and staff are top priorities. Universal use of facemasks will help schools keep all students regardless of their immunization status in school. We need to start school strong this fall," said Superintendent Magee.

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