San Mateo County has set a milestone in the Bay Area, as 93.2 percent, 626,684 of its residents over the age of 12, have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, showing promising signs of a continued reduction in the prevalence of the virus in the population.
According to figures from the San Mateo County HealthEach week, vaccination and protection rates are increasing among patients and have now reached 68 percent for San Mateo Medical Center; 78 percent for Adult and Senior Services clients, 69 percent for In-Home Supportive Services clients, and 67 percent for Recovery and Behavioral Health Services.
"Closing the gaps for the people we serve has been our top priority and also one of our biggest challenges; we appreciate the ways our staff and partners have been raising awareness and creating pathways to make getting the vaccine possible," said Louise Rogers, chief health officer for San Mateo County.
Of the total number of San Mateo County residents who have received the vaccine, 58.6 percent are people of color, 36.2 percent are white, and 5.2 percent are of unknown race or ethnicity.
"We continue to focus our efforts on increasing vaccination rates among African-American, Hispanic and Pacific Islander communities where rates are still below 80 percent," she said.
However, he detailed that due to data collection and reporting limitations, these estimates likely do not report the true extent in each of the racial or ethnic groups, as approximately 88,900 residents are still classified as "unknown" or "other."
Rogers noted that the county, in addition to focusing on increasing vaccination rates in the hardest-to-reach populations, continues to prepare for the deployment of booster doses while awaiting the conclusion of processes undertaken by federal and state agencies responsible for reviewing scientific data and issuing related guidance.
The Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted last Friday to recommend licensure of a booster vaccine for recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine who are 65 years of age or older, or are at high risk for severe COVID-19.
This followed a committee vote that strongly recommended a Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose for everyone 16 years of age and older.
Thus, the FDA must decide on the VRBPAC recommendation, which is expected in the next few days.
In the meantime, health care providers and local pharmacies are already providing third doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to residents who are considered immunosuppressed.
In addition, Pfizer and Moderna Pharmaceuticals will apply to federal authorities for approval to administer the vaccines to children ages 5 to 12 in mid-October.
"We are planning how to reach these young people along with the larger health care systems - Kaiser, PAMF/Sutter, Dignity, Stanford - who hope to vaccinate their patients and assess and address other important health issues," Rogers said.
COVID-19 in San Mateo County
As of September 20, there were 9.8 new cases on average in 7 days per day per 100,000 in the population, down from 11.5 cases reported a week earlier.
In the case of COVID-19 hospitalizations in San Mateo County, these have been reduced to a census of between 39 and 30 patients in the last week.
The official said that between 19 and 31 residents have been supported to be safely isolated in one of the Alternative Housing Site hotels.
"We continue to monitor test positivity both countywide (1.8 percent) and in census tracts in the lowest quartile of the Healthy Places Index (2.5 percent). The state reported 800 tests per day per 100,000 population.
El estado de California es líder a nivel nacional en su respuesta a la pandemia, sin embargo, aún queda un largo camino que recorrer en materia de vacunación: ciertos sectores aún dudan de su eficacia, especialmente entre afroamericanos, comunidad que ha sido, paradójicamente, una de las más afectadas por el COVID-19.
Esta situación no se debe al azar, pues las personas afroamericanas tienen razones de peso para no confiar en el sistema de salud del país, y eso incluye las vacunas, señalaron expertos durante una sesión informativa con medios organizada por Ethnic Media Services.
Durante su participación, Kim McCoy Wade, directora del Departamento de Envejecimiento de California, detalló que los adultos mayores siguen siendo el sector de la población con la mayor parte de las muertes por la enfermedad.
En ese sentido, destacó que existen marcadas diferencias, pues si bien alrededor de tres cuartas partes de la población de adultos mayores han recibido su primera vacuna, «las brechas más llamativas están apareciendo en las comunidades de color, en particular la comunidad afroamericana, en donde menos de la mitad de la comunidad ha sido completamente vacunada».
Las tasas de vacunación contra la COVID-19 siguen siendo desproporcionadamente bajas entre los afroamericanos en todo el país. En California, aunque está aumentando, el 48 por ciento de esta comunidad sigue estando por debajo de la media del estado.
El doctor Oliver Brooks, del Watts Healthcare Center, coincidió en que los afroamericanos tienen una tasa de vacunación inferior a la de la mayoría de la población. «Eso es cierto en todo el estado y en todo el país».
Y es que en ese grupo existe una mayor tasa de casos y mortalidad, pues de acuerdo con el Departamento de Envejecimiento, la tasa de casos en California es de 5.7 casos por cada 400 mil afroamericanos y en el 5.5 por ciento de los mayores de 65 años la tasa de mortalidad es del 7.1 por ciento frente al 5.5 por ciento de toda la población mayor con COVID-19.
Explicó que la tasa de COVID-19 es de 7 a 8 veces más alta para los que no están vacunados. «La cuestión es que, si no te vacunas, tienes más probabilidades de contraer la COVID, de morir de ella, de ser hospitalizado por ella, y teóricamente de contagiar a otras personas. Por lo que quiero argumentar que es imperativo que te vacunes».
Agregó que debido al COVID-19 la esperanza de vida se ha reducido en dos años para los afroamericanos, mientras que para todos los demás estadounidenses ha sido de un año. «La gente está muriendo, enfermando, y con casos más largos, más en aquellos que no están vacunados». «El punto es que es relevante vacunarse».
Los afroamericanos afirman que es más probable que no se vacunen porque les preocupa faltar al trabajo, no tener licencia por enfermedad, y tener que pagar las vacunas, lo que significa un concepto general de acceso, «así que, algunos de los que no se vacunan, no es porque sean antivacunas».
Lack of trust in the health system before COVID-19
«La comunidad afroamericana ha sido maltratada por el sistema de salud desde que estamos en este país», puntualizó el doctor Brooks.
El experto destacó que en la época de la esclavitud, las escuelas de medicina del norte del país invadieron y tomaron cuerpos de los cementerios de los esclavos y los llevaron a las escuelas de medicina para usarlos como cadáveres en sus clases de anatomía. Mientras que a principios del siglo XX las mujeres negras fueron esterilizadas a la fuerza en el sur y en otras zonas de la unión americana.
Explicó que, de acuerdo con estudios, los afroamericanos tienen menos probabilidades de recibir estudios y procedimientos cardíacos, además de recibir restricciones en medicación, y menor tratamiento para el dolor cuando hay otras lesiones como fracturas de fémur.
«Quiero que quede claro que la desconfianza en el sistema médico es válida. Así que cuando abordamos la duda sobre las vacunas, que es el caso, tenemos que no ser despectivos»
Es una decisión basada principalmente en la desconfianza en la vacuna y en la desconfianza en el sistema sanitario, en el sistema de prestación de servicios médicos.
Creo que lo más importante es la repetición. Necesitamos escuchar el mismo mensaje una y otra vez: la vacuna es segura y eficaz. No hay ninguna conspiración».
Looking at the history of African-Americans in order to understand
«Creo que tenemos que mirar la historia de los afroamericanos a lo largo de 400 años para darnos cuenta de que tenemos desde la cuna hasta la tumba más enfermedades crónicas, morimos más rápido, estamos más enfermos. Y esto fue una envoltura perfecta para un virus como el COVID-19», dijo en su momento el doctor Michael Lenoir, alergólogo y pediatra.
El experto explicó que una de las razones por las que las tasas de mortalidad en la comunidad afroamericana eran tan altas al principio, fue porque empezaron con una inmunidad comunitaria comprometida. «Pero está claro que los afroamericanos han sospechado de las vacunas durante mucho tiempo».
Recordó el experimento Tuskegee, Alabama, donde a cientos de afroamericanos se les negó tratamiento adecuado para la sífilis y se les engañó al introducirles sustancias que causaron la muerte de muchos de ellos. «Eso ha desencadenado la sospecha de todas las vacunas».
«Por eso durante mucho antes de los últimos dos o tres años aquí en el norte de California tuvimos que discutir con los padres negros, sobre todas las vacuna. Y fue solo hasta que las vacunas fueron obligadas por el estado de California que esa discusión realmente se detuvo».
En ese sentido, apuntó que los afroamericanos mayores estaban mucho más abiertos a la discusión de las vacunas que los jóvenes. Ejemplo de ello, contó, fue que recientemente decidió encuestar a 15 de sus pacientes que estaban en su consultorio con sus hijos y preguntó cuántos de ellos habían sido vacunados, y sólo 2 de los 15 habían sido inmunizados.
«Fue entonces cuando empecé a darme cuenta de que esto va a ser mucho más difícil de lo que pensaba. Porque las personas que dudan de las vacunas ahora son muy parecidas a las variantes del virus: son más duros, más resistentes, más arraigados, y tienen razones que creen que son ciertas, en consecuencia, es más difícil convencerles de que se vacunen».
Agregó que estas personas son reforzadas por los amigos y los compañeros, además de las redes sociales como Clubhouse, Instagram, Ticktock, Facebook y Twitter, entre otras.
En ese sentido, apuntó que los mensajes difundidos a través de esas redes son confusos para mucha gente, lo que «ha generado una gran cantidad de creatividad a la imaginación».
Algunas de las excusas que la comunidad afroamericana tiene para dudar de la inoculación es que, dijo, por una parte, esperan que Dios le diga cuándo vacunarse, y otra más es que dicen conocer a tres personas que murieron por la vacunación.
Además, detalló que les preocupa que la vacuna fuera lanzada demasiado rápido al mercado, o que consideran que están inyectando algo que en un par de años se va a deteriorar.
«Creo que todos los mensajes que hemos hecho han sido creativos. Creo que el estado de California y personas como sus organizaciones han sido muy creativas al tratar de transmitir un mensaje sobre lo buenas que son las vacunas y lo importantes que son y, por lo tanto, creo que va a ser una discusión individual entre mensajeros de confianza y examinados de nuestra comunidad la que convenza a la gente de que se vacune», subrayó.
Fe y ciencia, el camino a la salvación
El reverendo Steven Shepard, de la Iglesia Episcopal Metodista Africana San Pablo en San Bernardino, California, experimentó en carne propia el virus que provoca la COVID-19.
«Sí, tuve COVID. Estuve a las puertas de la muerte y no quise recibir la vacuna debido a algunos de los temas que ambos doctores han discutido, el experimento y algunos otros temas con los que nosotros, como gente negra, lidiamos, no solo el trasfondo histórico del experimento Tuskegee, sino cómo somos tratados todos los días, cuando vamos a los consultorios médicos o a las salas de urgencias que nos lleva a dudar de recibir tratamiento y vacunación». Dijo.
Pero, agregó, históricamente la iglesia negra ha servido como epicentro para lograr un cambio positivo en la comunidad. Recordó que, en 1793 en Filadelfia, Pennsylvania, la iglesia estaba en primera línea de lucha contra la fiebre amarilla, y esta vez podría no ser la excepción.
«Sentí que era mi trabajo cuando me dieron de alta del hospital. Uno, era asegurarme de que nuestra comunidad tuviera la información correcta. La Biblia nos dice que nuestro pueblo perece por falta de conocimiento. Yo estaba tan metido en lo que sucedió en el pasado, que no me tomé el tiempo para darme cuenta de la ciencia que hay detrás y los que están detrás de la vacuna, y cuando me enteré e investigué, descubrí que esas cosas que me asustaron en el pasado no deberían preocuparme ahora».
En segundo lugar, dijo que quiso hacer posible que los miembros de su comunidad acudieran a un lugar de confianza para vacunarse, a fin de facilitarles la tarea y enviar el mismo mensaje de los médicos, científicos, y comunidad sanitaria afroamericana: « las vacunas son seguras».
Y, en tercer lugar, puntualizó, quería llevar esperanza, ayuda y curación a una comunidad desatendida que sufre disparidades de salud.
Así, y en conjunto con organizaciones, elaboraron un plan y empezaron a vacunar a la gente. «De hecho, todavía tenemos gente que quiere, que llama, que quiere vacunarse porque, en primer lugar, confían en el mensajero de confianza de la iglesia; en segundo lugar, porque era un entorno agradable para venir a vacunarse; y tres, porque todos estamos viendo la misma canción. Puede que estemos cantando en diferentes partes, pero todos estamos cantando la misma canción».
A story to move dozens
Alva Brannon, feligresa de la misma iglesia, sabe lo que es tener miedo a las vacunas y desconfiar en el sistema de salud del país, sin embargo, cambió de opinión.
Brannon fue producto del estudio del instituto Tuskegee. «Mi padre fue uno de los jóvenes, sin saberlo, y por supuesto no fue tratado. No era consciente. Así que cuando nací contraje la sífilis. La familia no reconoció ni supo esto hasta que tuve 7 años cuando perdí la visión. Estuve completamente ciega desde los 7 hasta los 15 años cuando me hicieron un trasplante de córnea y recuperé la vista».
Ante ello, su familia siempre dijo que no a las vacunas. «Recuerdo que tuve que conseguir una orden judicial para que me vacunaran contra la viruela, porque decían que se te pudriría el brazo y porque se hizo una gran ampolla. Así de convencida estaba».
Alva tiene tres hijos, cinco nietos y siete bisnietos. No se vacunaron. Siempre creyó que todo lo que quisieran hacer llegar a la comunidad afroamericana era algo malo. «¿por qué quieren dárnosla a nosotros primero? ¿por qué quieren darnos esta vacuna?», se cuestionaba todo el tiempo.
Sumado a su edad, Brannon tiene comorbilidades: hipertensión pulmonar, presión arterial alta y diabetes. Cuando acudió a su cita con el neumólogo, este le dijo que le aplicarían la vacuna, ella se negó.
El médico le advirtió que si adquiría el virus era posible que la matara, pero ella siguió renuente. Hasta que su hija le habló de la vacuna de una dosis de Johnson & Johnson.
«Dos días después, recibimos la llamada de la iglesia de la que soy miembro, estaban dando la de Johnson & Johnson, así que lo tomé como una señal de Dios, y que era el momento. Así que mi hija fue el catalizador y nos inscribió en ese momento. Al final me vacuné».
Hoy toda su familia está vacunada, excepto uno de sus nietos que sufre de alergias severas por lo que su médico recomendó no hacerlo. Se vacunaron, dijo, porque además de evitar caer gravemente enfermo, ayuda a evitar ir al hospital.
«Porque normalmente como afroamericano, la única vez que entras en estado crítico, según mi experiencia, vas a urgencias y te mandan a casa diciéndote que te tomes un par de aspirinas y que bebas mucho líquido».
Historias como ésta se suman a las de otros, que hoy han cambiado de opinión y han escuchado a la ciencia, más allá de aquellos que no tienen información correcta o que simplemente han decidido hacer oídos sordos sin dar una oportunidad para avanzar en bienestar de su comunidad.
Redwood City's Hispanic community comprises about 40% of its total population.
Latinos represent a strong pillar in the economy and culture not only of our community, but they are already an essential part of the development of the United States.
A few days ago, we celebrated with fervor the beginning of one of the most important months for the Hispanic community in the U.S., because in each of our sister countries there is a legacy of Latino pride that permeates the lifestyle towards the rest of the population of which we are a part.
Therefore, we regret that, eight days having passed while awaiting any kind of pronouncement, there has been no mention of the start of Hispanic Heritage Month by Diane Howard, Mayor of Redwood City.
Additionally, it is surprising that Redwood City Council members have similarly failed to express their support for the Latino population they represent.
Although the Hispanic community actively participates in the daily life of Redwood City, it is of utmost importance that this sector of the population be made visible in the different spheres of society, including politics, because only in this way will the future of the Hispanic community be able to open up and face, with the support of its representatives, the current problems of xenophobia, discrimination and hate that affect U.S. Latino residents.
Isolated communities in remote rural areas in Northern California, once protected from the spread of coronavirus, have now become a critical focal point for the COVID-19 pandemic.
In that area, there has been a recent increase in the Delta variant of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the adverse effects of which began in the first quarter of 2020; however, the effects of the health crisis are now more severe, as young people of Latino descent who have not yet been vaccinated are dying at alarmingly high rates.
We invite you to listen to this report, where Manuel Ortiz, in collaboration with Radio Bilingüe, Ethnic Media Services and Peninsula 360 Press, visited the epicenter of the COVID-19 Delta wave in Northern California and reports on how COVID-19 infections increased exponentially in these communities as well as the phenomenon of fake news surrounding the application of the vaccine.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a series of problems, in addition to health issues: thousands of people have been left without work and therefore with debts, including those related to housing.
In this regard, the state of California offers resources to help those who need to pay rent arrears and are not currently financially able to do so.
Thus, the CA COVID-19 Rent Relief program provides rent and utility support to income-eligible California tenants, as well as affected landlords, as long as they qualify they are eligible for 100 percent of the rent and utilities owed. San Mateo County tenants and landlords can apply NOW for assistance!
However, many people still don't know how to access this help or don't have the tools they need to obtain the support for rent and services, so the nonprofit organization Casa Circulo Cultural provides residents in need with assistance in filling out forms and submitting their application. Interested individuals can send a text to (650) 628-8487.
And if you prefer, come to the organization's facility, located at 3090 Middlefield Rd. Redwood City, 94063 CA.
Who qualifies for rental assistance?
- Assistance is for California residents only, regardless of immigration status.
- If you had a financial hardship during COVID-19, you may be eligible for assistance. But, in addition, if you receive subsidies from programs such as MediCal, WIC, or CalFresh, or if you can demonstrate similar hardship, you are automatically eligible.
- Also, those affected by COVID-19. For example, if you lost your job, had your work hours reduced, were unable to find employment, had additional child care or health care costs, or had other increased costs due to the pandemic, you also meet this requirement.
- Assistance is prioritized based on the applicant's needs, so be sure to apply while the program is open and funds are still available.
The U.S. Soccer Federation said it strongly believes that the best thing for the future of the sport in the country is to have a single pay structure for both the men's and women's national teams in order to have greater pay equity.
"This proposal will ensure that players from both associations remain among the highest paid senior national teams in the world, while providing a revenue sharing structure that would allow all parties to start fresh and collectively share in the opportunity to combine the investment that will be delivered over the course of a new collective bargaining agreement."
In a comunicadoHe also called on the players and the Associations to join the Federation in finding a way to match the FIFA World Cup prize money, as he will not accept any collective bargaining agreement that does not take the important step of matching those amounts.
World Cups reflect lack of pay equity
It is worth mentioning that the U.S. women's national team, considered one of the best by winning four World Cups, received a prize of $4 million when they won the 2019 World Cup, held in France.
In comparison, when the French national team took the 2018 World Cup, held in Russia, they received a prize of $38 million, which hints at the lack of pay equity that exists between the men's and women's teams.
In that regard, the Federation indicated that the best way to achieve these important objectives is by bringing together the Men's and Women's Players' Associations to negotiate a contract.
However, he pointed out that if the players' associations choose to continue negotiating separately, as they have done to date, the women's association will be invited to participate in those of the men's association and vice versa, for the sake of full transparency.
The federation "remains eager, ready and willing to meet with both the players' associations and the players as soon as possible, and as often as necessary, either separately or together to close a deal and focus on the future of football."
A PR stunt?
The women's soccer association responded to the public announcement of the offer via Twitter, which it called a public relations stunt and again reiterated its belief that the federation was not negotiating in good faith.
"The Federation's public relations gimmicks and negotiating through the media will not bring us any closer to a fair agreement. On the contrary, we are committed to bargaining in good faith to achieve equal pay and the safest possible working conditions."
And is that, so far, the U.S. Federation has not released details about the contract offered to both parties, the only information we have is that it is the same contract, but there would be other reasons why the women's association would be rejecting the offer.
Pauletta Pérez was folding some towels in her room. It was January 2, 2010 when a loud noise made her turn around and she discovered that the sound came from a gun pointed at her head. It was her husband. The person she trusted the most shot her five times, four of them in the head. She survived and now dedicates her life to supporting other women who, like her, have experienced domestic violence.
This surviving woman managed to get out of her house and seek help from her neighbors, who, upon seeing her, called 911. After long and painful surgeries, as well as constant therapies, Pauletta came out ahead, but not without damage such as hearing loss in her right ear and constant check-ups to prevent any of the fragments of the bullets from causing more serious damage.
Before that terrible day, Pauletta suffered other types of violence from her husband that never happened during their courtship.
"You might wonder, where did he get this gun? Well, my father, who two years earlier had a stroke and was an avid gun enthusiast, asked him to please take them, which were all legal and registered, and leave them at the police department. He could no longer shoot. As it turns out, my husband never turned those guns in. He shot me with my father's gun," Pauletta detailed in a media session conducted by Ethnic Media Services.
Pauletta's husband committed suicide the same day he committed the murder.
"That relieved me of having to face him in court, long battles, divorce and other difficult situations. However, once I got back on my feet, I wanted to do something and I wanted to make a difference. I didn't want anyone else to go through what I went through. I decided I wanted to become an advocate. So I took the training and started my advocacy work," she said.
However, many are not so lucky.
Is there a link between gun sales and domestic violence?
Both situations have increased by more than 20 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data suggest a close connection as 4.5 million women have been threatened with a gun by a domestic partner. One million women have been shot and 600 have been murdered.
"The increase in domestic violence and the increase in the sale and purchase of guns will definitely contribute to the increase in deaths caused by domestic violence," said Pauletta Perez, who, among her many activist positions, created "Flutrr," an online platform where victims and survivors of abuse and human trafficking can safely sell their artwork.
According to Tiffany Gardner, who currently serves as the state manager of the Community Violence Initiative at Giffords, situations like Pauletta's are common but preventable, which is why it is necessary to crack down on current gun laws.
What is domestic violence?
"Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior that seeks to demonstrate power in controlling the other, regardless of race, education, economic status, and ethnicity," Gardner said.
The expert stressed that the combination of intimate partner violence and access to firearms "is a deadly combination and especially puts women at tremendous risk".
In that regard, she explained that in the U.S., women are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than in other high-income countries, while in the U.S., women are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than in other high-income countries. every 14 hours a woman is shot under domestic violence.
"There are more than a million women alive today who have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner."
He added that 4.5 million women have reported that their partner has threatened them with a gun.
While it is true that there are men affected by the same situation, the statistics indicate that it is in much smaller proportion, since 70 percent of the victims of homicide by their intimate partner are women. Ninety-eight percent of them are killed by male partners.
Gaps and challenges towards a safe path
Tiffany Gardner pointed out that in the prosecution of domestic violence cases, there is a gap: the prosecution follow-up.
Nationally, she noted, most cases are handled in the context of civil contact, but there are a variety of reasons why domestic violence cases don't go to court, and some of those might include the victim not seeking protective orders, or deciding to withdraw or reject any legal recourse.
On top of that, proving domestic violence is difficult: "You have to prove that the offender and the victim had a violent relationship as defined by law. And that the alleged victim feared at the very least imminent harm from the alleged offender. Which means that the harm would be immediate and that the offender could actually cause the harm."
So, often "women and victims choose not to take this any further, there are so many things that could be involved in court cases".
In this sense, she explained that an offender or abuser is continually harassing, threatening or stalking his victim during the judicial process in order to prevent him from continuing with the proceedings. Another situation that victims go through is when the Prosecutor's Office requests evidence to ventilate the cases, such as photos, videos and testimonies, which is difficult to obtain.
However, if firearms are involved, the perpetrators can face multiple charges, although it depends on each state and its laws.
According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, an estimated 90 to 95 percent of cases result in plea bargains and do not even progress to a restraining order.
Laura Cutilletta, CEO of the Giffords Law Center, said there are two main ways to restrict access to firearms for those who have committed domestic violence through the law.
The first is the prohibition against buying or possessing a gun. If the person has been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor, the sale and possession will be denied under federal law and the laws of numerous states.
However, at the federal level there are loopholes in the law, as background checks are only required when buying from a licensed dealer or at a gun show, but an individual advertising a gun on the Internet does not do a background check, so they don't know there is a ban for domestic violence. Plus that law only applies to current or former spouses.
The second, he said, is the restraining order, which often begins with an emergency proceeding where a victim can obtain an ex parte order, meaning the defendant is not given notice.
"Restraining orders are very effective. States with these laws have seen a 13 percent reduction in intimate partner homicides involving firearms," he said.
Although it's worth noting that protective orders have seen a 16 percent decrease. "We have lots of laws in place in all 50 states and at the federal level, but if we don't implement them, well, they're going to be a lot less effective in saving lives."
In the case of immigrant women, applying for relief or restraining orders is almost nonexistent, as the fear of being deported due to their immigration status holds them back. However, these women can apply for the remedies and even some others that would allow them to obtain asylum in the country.
Children, the most vulnerable
Children are victims of domestic violence and can also be perpetrators, Cutilletta said. "We know that as many as 10 million children and teens witness violence between their parents or caregivers each year, and can experience emotional, mental and social harm that affects their development," Cutilletta said.
Male children who witness domestic violence appear to be at greater risk of using violence when they are older, "and we know that having a gun in the home when a family is in crisis puts adults and children at risk including other forms of violence such as unintentional homicide and suicide."
According to the expert, children and young people can also be perpetrators of domestic violence. Nearly 1 in 11 females and about 1 in 14 male high school students report having experienced physical dating violence in the past year.
While 26 percent of female victims of sexual violence, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner first experience other forms of intimate partner violence before the age of 18.
California and Gun Violence
For Shikha Hamilton, national advocacy and mobilization director for "Brady: United Against Gun Violence" and who has been fighting this social phenomenon since 2000, there is an indisputable link between firearms and fatal outcomes in domestic violence situations: it increases the risk of homicide by 500 percent. "This is a pressing issue in our country."
During his activism, Hamilton has seen state legislatures pass incredibly broad and thoughtful laws that will help reduce gun violence, without focusing and increasing vigilance in vulnerable communities, which bear the brunt of this crisis.
"During the 1980s and early 1990s, California's gun death rate was consistently higher than the rest of the U.S. The state responded by enacting the strongest gun laws in the country, and it worked."
Thus, California's firearm death rate began a sharp decline from 1993 to 2019, as it dropped nearly 59 percent, four times as much as the rest of the nation in 2019.
The activist noted that California passed an extreme risk law following the 2014 mass shooting in Isla Vista, a shooting perpetrated by a 22-year-old with a mix of mental health and other issues, but who had exhibited misogynistic tendencies and violent actions toward women in the past, among other violent and deadly crimes.
"Approximately 54 percent of mass shootings are related to domestic violence or family violence. In 2019 alone, there was a reported 700 gun and violence restraining orders issued throughout California. This law is saving lives. Unfortunately, action remains stalled on a similar law at the federal level. That's why we continue to advocate for comprehensive bills at the federal level that would include a federal extreme risk law, but also a bill that expands and strengthens our background check system," he said.
He further explained that the background check system has helped stop nearly 2 million firearm sales to prohibited purchasers. However, many sales, such as private transfers between individuals are exempt from a background check, meaning someone can purchase a firearm.
"While we've made great strides with state legislation, at the federal level, to continue legislation, the influence of the NRA - National Rifle Association - and politicization have stalled needed change. And that delay is costing lives."
Americans own an estimated 393 million guns and approximately 4.6 million children live in households with a firearm, which is stored loaded and unlocked.
75 percent of shootings are facilitated because children have access to unsecured firearms in the home. Meanwhile, unintentional shooting deaths from children handling a firearm rose to 31 percent during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An average of 100 people die every day from gun violence in this country. "That means every day we are falling behind in passing needed laws. Our fellow Americans, including children are dying."
Beginning in November, all foreign nationals wishing to visit the United States by air will be required to show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients announced Monday.
Thus, all foreigners must show proof of vaccination before boarding a plane to the U.S., in addition to a negative test performed within three days prior to the flight.
However, fully vaccinated passengers will not be required to quarantine themselves, Zeints said.
The new policy will also tighten rules for Americans who have not been vaccinated, requiring them to be tested and tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 one day before leaving the country and the same upon return.
It should be noted that this new policy replaces those first announced by the Donald Trump administration last year and then tightened by Joseph Biden, which restricted entry to the country by foreigners who in the 14 days prior to their entry to the U.S. had been in the United Kingdom, the European Union, China, India, Iran, Republic of Ireland, Brazil and South Africa.
For its part, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will require airlines to collect phone numbers and e-mail addresses of foreign travelers as part of an enhanced contact-tracking system to make it easier to follow up with nearby individuals if necessary.
In addition, the CDC itself will also determine which vaccines will be accepted under the new policy.
Land entries remain restricted
"We do not have any updates on land border policies at this time," Zients said when asked if these policies will apply to people entering from the Mexican and Canadian borders. So, apparently, these entries will continue to be restricted.
Airlines will have just over a month to prepare for these new guidelines.
Pfizer announced Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine - Comirnaty - is safe for children 5 to 11 years old, with a "robust" antibody response in a smaller dose than that given to those 12 and older.
According to the results of a test phase 2/3 trial, he said, there is a favorable safety profile and strong neutralizing antibody responses in children aged 5 to 11 years, with a two-dose regimen of 10 µg - micrograms - given 21 days apart, a lower dose than the 30 µg dose used for people 12 years and older.
The antibody responses in participants who received 10 µg doses were comparable to those recorded in a previous Pfizer-BioNTech study in 16- to 25-year-olds immunized with 30 µg doses, the drugmaker said in a statement.
He noted that the 10 µg dose was carefully selected as the preferred dose for safety, tolerability and immunogenicity in children aged 5 to 11 years. "These are the first results from a pivotal trial of a COVID-19 vaccine in this age group."
"Over the past nine months, hundreds of millions of people aged 12 years and older around the world have received our COVID-19 vaccine. We look forward to extending the protection it provides to the younger population, subject to regulatory clearance, especially as we track the spread of the Delta variant and the substantial threat it poses to children," said Albert Bourla, president and CEO of Pfizer.
He noted that since July, pediatric cases of COVID-19 have increased by approximately 240 percent in the United States, underscoring the public health need for vaccination. "The results of these trials provide a strong basis for seeking licensure of our vaccine for children 5 to 11 years of age, and we plan to submit them urgently to the FDA and other regulators.
"We are pleased to be able to send data to regulatory authorities for this group of school-aged children before the start of the winter season," said Ugur Sahin, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of BioNTech.
"The safety profile and immunogenicity data in children aged 5 to 11 years vaccinated at a lower dose are consistent with what we have observed with our vaccine in other older populations at a higher dose," he added.
Summary data from this Phase 2/3 study, enrolling children 6 months to 11 years of age, included 2,268 participants who were 5 to 11 years of age and received a dose level of 10 µg in a two-dose regimen.
In the trial, the geometric mean titer of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies was at a 95 percent confidence interval, demonstrating a strong immune response in this group of children one month after the second dose.
Pfizer and BioNTech plan to share this data with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other regulators as soon as possible.
For the United States, the companies expect to include the data in a near-term submission for Emergency Use Authorization as they continue to accumulate the safety and efficacy data needed to apply for full FDA approval in this age group.
Pfizer and BioNTech also plan to submit data from the full Phase 3 trial for peer-reviewed scientific publication.
This November 28 Honduras will elect a new president in the general elections organized by the National Electoral Council, 128 congressional legislators and 20 deputies for the Central American Parliament, as well as mayors, deputy mayors and councilors.
In this process will be elected the replacement of the current president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, considered a political heir of the 2009 coup d'état.1 that hastily ended Manuel Zelaya's term in office.
Roberto Micheletti, head of the National Congress when the coup was consummated, assumed the de facto presidency of the Central American country.
Zelaya, leader of the Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre), tried to call a plebiscite to write a new constitution for Honduras, which led to a political crisis and his replacement from executive power through the factious intervention of the armed forces, who arrested him at the presidential residence on June 28, 2009 and expatriated him to Costa Rica, despite the fact that Article 102 of the Constitution prohibits it.
In addition to the rejection of the constituent project by the other powers, the Free Party attributes the coup against Zelaya to the integration of Honduras into the project of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - Peoples' Trade Agreement (Alba-TCP), which represented a threat to the interests of the United States in the Latin American region.
"Never in the history of Honduras has a government based its domestic and foreign policy on the interests of the majorities. Honduras had represented, up to that moment, what the countries of the iron curtain represented in the post-war period; the most lackey and crass allies of the whole continent," says the Libre Party in a statement.2
Twelve years after this episode, which is reminiscent of the Condor Plan in South America and other phenomena of political intervention against the sovereignty of Latin American countries in a complex process of definition since the colonial period that began in the 16th century, what consequences and resonances did the coup d'état have in the cultural sphere of Honduras and Central America?
A Central American Intelligence Response
Writers such as Claribel Alegría of Nicaragua and Rodrigo Rey Rosa of Guatemala, among several hundred signatories, signed a missive3 where they condemned the political maneuvering that ended Zelaya's mandate.
"We, the writers and publishers of this region, gathered at the VI International Book Fair of Guatemala and the Meeting of Central American Writers, strongly condemn the repudiatory coup d'état perpetrated against the Republic of Honduras, and we call for the restoration of constitutional order as soon as possible and the reinstatement of the constitutional president, Manuel Zelaya Rosales, democratically elected by the people of Honduras," the signatories said in August 2009, just two months after the coup.
"We consider unacceptable this type of actions that take us back to the history of reprehensible and shameful regimes for the democratic order recovered and built by our Latin American peoples".
National Front against the Coup d'Etat in Honduras
The critical resistance came together in the first hours after the coup against Zelaya in the Popular Resistance Front, later the National Front against the Coup d'Etat, which entrusted the poet Samuel Trigueros with the coordination of the artistic community.
"It is false that President Manuel Zelaya Rosales and his cabinet have resigned from their posts, an argument infamously used by the National Congress to make official the removal of President Zelaya and install Roberto Micheletti Baín in his place," said the group, which emerged from spontaneity and rejection of the climate of authoritarianism, in its first statement.4
This civil resistance force also organized an international concert on Sunday, August 23, 2009, Concert Voices Against the Coup.5despite the resistance of the coup authorities. Musicians from Venezuela, Guatemala and Argentina participated, at least, along with Honduran artists.
Poetry to mock power
And, as is the tradition in Latin America and in the spheres where an emperor and the sensibility of an artist intersect, poetry took over the critique of the political situation in Honduras.
Among others, Francesca Randazzo, Fabricio Estrada, Jorge Martínez Mejía, Délmer López Moreno, Waldina Mejía, Jessica Isla, Rigoberto Paredes, Mayra Oyuela, Diana Vallejo, Óscar Deigonet López, Luis Méndez and Trigueros himself used poetic writing to criticize the coup and the tradition of U.S. political interference in Central America.
The Poetry Newspaper of the UNAM arranged for a small anthology6 of verses by these authors against the situation of instability unleashed in Honduras after the ousting of Zelaya.
"We still / plan to carry our flag, the jar with vinegar, / bandanna, cap with star and burning slogans on our chest / on the day of the march / We still / read, write, make the banner, / conspire, / want to see the era of power in our hands / We - I tell you, brothers, / sisters, comrades - / are the lucky ones," Trigueros ironizes.
"As one more cultural worker in Honduras, my presence in the Front, representing all artists, has the importance of channeling the views of the cultural sector, historically invisibilized by the politicians in office. It also establishes the need to include this sector of the population in the country's decision-making process. We strengthen the struggle because we have something to say and do at this juncture and in all processes of national life," said the poet in an interview with journalist Mario Cassasús, a text published by Círculo de Poesía.7 Mexican.
The tradition of resistance
It is up to each generation of writers, filmmakers, painters, sculptors, journalists and poets to take up critical resistance to the abuses of their time.
Experienced in breakdowns, counter-guerrillas, looting, authoritarianisms, dictatorships, executions, tortures, disappearances, Central America has generated a complex tradition of rebellious artists capable of imaginative, creative, ironic, painful criticism in the face of the violence that crosses them and stuns them.
In view of the general elections in Honduras in November 2021 and echoing the response of intellectuals and artists to the coup d'état in 2009, we recall Guatemalans Alaíde Foppa, Otto René Castillo, Miguel Ángel Asturias and Luis Cardoza y Aragón; Nicaraguans Gioconda Belli, Ernesto Cardenal8Leonel Rugama and Omar Cabezas; to Salvadorans Roque Dalton and Horacio Castellanos Moya9The Honduran Augusto Monterroso.
From spirituality, humor, palimpsest, guerrilla malice, bitterness, surrealism, police anguish, autobiography, eroticism, political sarcasm, self-incarnation, magnanimity, epic, journalism, the body, denunciation, all these authors wrote the lucid complaint of their time and composed works that invite us to a profound conversation about our America.
