San Mateo County is targeting its efforts to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to communities most affected by SARS-CoV-2 by moving away from mass vaccination sites and placing doses in smaller, targeted clinics.
"Census district data shows us exactly which neighborhoods are being most affected by COVID-19. That's why we are focusing our vaccination efforts by providing clinics in hard-hit zip codes and getting a greater number of doses in the neighborhood they live in and in the language they speak," said Board of Supervisors Chairman David J. Canepa.
And, community clinics will generally operate on regular hours, which will allow for better outreach to residents and more opportunities to schedule appointments. So many clinics will also be able to vaccinate eligible residents without pre-scheduled appointments.
"We look at the data and want to focus on neighborhoods where vaccination rates are lower than the county overall," said Anand Chabra, chief of the county's COVID-19 Immunization Division.
"We're trying to reach people where they live and in a format that makes sense to them. As much as possible, we want to remove barriers to getting vaccinated," she added.
This week, county-sponsored or supported community immunization events will be held in East Palo Alto, South San Francisco, Belle Haven and North Fair Oaks. County Health is planning community clinics next week and expects to announce additional locations soon.
This focus on community clinics will allow the county's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to plan for expanded mass vaccination sites when more doses become available.
Notably, since January, clinics at the San Mateo County Event Center and San Francisco International Airport have often vaccinated between three and four thousand residents per day, according to the immunization supply.
However, the county stressed in a statement that it expects to be able to increase daily capacity at these sites significantly when vaccine supplies improve.
"The county's priority, especially through an equity lens, is to vaccinate all residents when they're eligible, and that means we need to take the fight to where the battle is," stressed Warren Slocum, whose fourth supervisorial district includes East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks and Belle.
Through various health care providers, community clinics, partner organizations and County Health, the County has successfully immunized one-third of adults in San Mateo County with at least one dose.
"Ensuring equitable access to vaccines must be our top priority," Supervisor Dave Pine said. "Administering additional vaccines within our vulnerable communities is key to stopping the spread of the virus."
In addition to the additional focus on community clinics, County Health will continue to support vaccination for homeless, prisoners, and those with state-identified medical conditions, as well as the other groups eligible under state Phase 1A and 1B.
Eligible residents of the selected communities or groups will be contacted by the county or outreach partners.
Those who wish to be vaccinated should register on the county's notification tool, as well as the state's MyTurn, to be informed of vaccination opportunities when eligible.
San Mateo County, led by the Office of Emergency Services, has begun developing the updated Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan to address hazards such as earthquakes, flooding, extreme heat and landslides.
In response, the county has asked for residents' help in identifying solutions to problems associated with natural hazards.
For Phase 1, the County invites the public to participate in the hazard mitigation plan by completing a survey about natural hazard risks in San Mateo through the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RG5GTPS, and then attend the first virtual public workshop on Thursday, March 25 at 4:00 p.m. at https://cmo.smcgov.org/events/march-25-2021-preparing-hazards-san-mateo-county-local-hazard-mitigation-plan-public-workshop.
The county detailed in a release that an updated Multijurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan will serve as an important foundation for a more resilient and sustainable area.
"The plan looks at how San Mateo County and its planning partners can reduce the impact of natural hazards such as earthquakes, flooding, extreme heat and landslides," he said.
He added that once approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the plan ensures that San Mateo County and its partners remain eligible for grant funding for pre- and post-disaster mitigation projects.
This, he said, through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs and other non-emergency disaster assistance, such as the agency's new Building Resilient Communities and Infrastructure (BRIC) program.
The current San Mateo County Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan expires in September 2021, as each plan is updated every five years.
The planning process will be organized in three phases and each phase will include opportunities for public comment and input.
Phase 2 will begin in May-June, with an evolving and interactive component of the project website. In addition, there will be a Steering Committee meeting on May 24, 2021 and June 28, 2021 at 2:00 pm. To which residents are also invited.
For Phase 3 to be held in July-August, it will be possible to attend the second public workshop on July 22, 2021 at 4:00 pm, as well as attend another Steering Committee meeting on July 26, 2021 and August 23, 2021 at 2:00 pm.
Without the recently approved U.S. bailout plan that includes the $1.9 trillion financial relief package pushed by President Joseph Biden, the substantial hardship and uncertainty in the national economy that millions of Americans have endured over the past year would have worsened even more, especially among African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans.
So said Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Chief Economist Chad Stone, who added that the economic relief plan will address three points: First, getting the SARS-CoV-2 virus under control so that the economy and life in general can operate more safely and normally.
Two, to alleviate the uncertainties and hardships that have been experienced by many Americans over the past year, and which would have worsened had this relief not been enacted; and third, it provides a substantial stimulus to an economic recovery that, frankly, has stalled halfway back to full employment.
During a briefing held by Ethnic Media ServicesThe expert stressed that programs that alleviate hardship and give money to people who will spend it quickly, such as unemployment insurance and nutrition assistance, are very useful in stimulating economic activity and employment once it is safe to return to work.
"Controlling the virus is the most important thing to deal with the difficulties, but there will also be stimulus that will put us back on the path to recovery," Chad Stone stressed.
This law, he said, expands the availability of nutrition assistance to help address extraordinarily high levels of hunger and poverty, in addition to making comprehensive health coverage more affordable and accessible to millions of people during the current crisis.
And, he recalled, the support includes critical housing assistance for millions of people struggling to pay rent and avoid evictions, as well as providing much-needed funds for communities to cope with homelessness during the pandemic, and emergency funds to help families with the lowest incomes.
"I should stress that all of these provisions are short-term, they are not permanent. But they provide guidance on the kind of policies that we might want to see in the future on a permanent basis," he stressed.
Regarding unemployment insurance, he said the expansions in unemployment benefits in the pandemic have been "an imperfect miracle," as they have been substantial, but temporary.
In that regard, he explained that the rescue plan extends through September 6 three key unemployment programs: The first, additional weeks of benefits to people who exhaust their regular state benefits; The second, called the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program, which is really important for people who don't qualify for regular state benefits; And the third, a federal supplement of $300 a week to regular benefits for all unemployment programs.
"These measures ensure that no one is at risk of running out of unemployment benefits before finding a job, but only through the week ending Sept. 6," he said.
Finally, he pointed out that it will be necessary to wait for Congress, before going on its summer recess, to analyze the economic conditions and decide whether it is reasonable to let these benefits expire on September 6 or to extend them.
Healing and moving forward
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, who represents Illinois' 8th District, said the package "will help our economy heal and, of course, help America recover from the health crisis, and I think it's a great victory for the American people.
He further stated that local aid is basically necessary for two reasons: one, because sales tax revenues and other sources of tax revenue have declined dramatically for many states and local municipalities in the jurisdictions.
He noted that those governments, in particular, face one of two choices: raise taxes or cut services, or potentially do both, "but neither of those options is acceptable during a pandemic.
"Yet because of our inaction to this point at the federal level, 1.4 million government workers have been furloughed, many of whom are first responders needed to fight COVI-19," he stressed.
He said the reality is that many of these governments need additional revenue and to fill gaps, so taxpayers should be spared tax increases or cuts and services.
A Plan that gives children a hand
At the meeting, Elaine Maag of the Urban Institute Policy Center noted that economic impact payments, sometimes called clawback rebates, and an increase in the child tax credit are cash benefits that will help a large share of low-income families.
He explained that in 2021, researchers at the Urban Institute estimated that poverty would be around 14 percent unless action is taken. This figure hides some important differences, because while white families would have a poverty rate of less than 10 percent, black families would have a poverty rate of 18 percent, while in the case of Hispanic families the percentage rises to 22 percent.
In that sense, he said that the American Rescue Plan will reduce these rates substantially. The poverty rate for white families would be reduced by 26.4 percent, for black families by 10.5 percent and for Hispanics by 13.3 percent.
"In other words, the law would reduce the poverty rate for children by 7.0 percent, which is a larger cut than that projected for adults 18 to 64 or for those 65 and older."
He added that poverty harms children throughout their lives, as early brain development is affected, resulting in slower and stunted growth. "They get worse jobs, their health is worse and they live shorter lives."
He said all of those things are bad for the children affected, but also for society, because before the pandemic, child poverty was 11 percent. "So it's gone up during this pandemic, but the American Rescue Plan would bring the poverty rate for children well below pre-pandemic levels.
However, he stressed that it is not just a question of relatively high poverty, as the situation has exacerbated other problems, such as financial and food insecurity, which has almost doubled in the case of families with children.
"Nearly a quarter of families with children report not eating a balanced meal or skipping meals or reducing portion sizes because they don't have enough money to eat."
The story is worse for families with African-American or Hispanic parents, where about four in 10 families reported being food insecure, and about 17 percent of renters reported being behind on their payments.
"The problem is the lack of cash, people need unrestricted funds to catch up."
Elaine Magg stated that President Biden's American Recovery Plan expands the credit in four important ways: number one, the credit will be fully refundable. Families will receive the full value of the credit, even if they don't work; number two, the credit will now include children who are 17; and number three, the maximum credit will increase for most families from two thousand dollars per child to three thousand six hundred dollars per child under the age of 6.
The need for a minimum wage
ROC United President and CEO Dr. Sekou Siby explained that 27.1 million service workers are women, people of color and immigrants, while more than one-third of the nation's service workers do not have enough money to make ends meet.
12 percent of service workers live below the poverty line, of which 85 percent are, again, women, people of color and immigrants. Overall, 17 percent of all service workers rely on public strategies, such as food stamps and Medicaid, while working longer hours just to make ends meet, she said.
The minimum wage in California is $12 per hour on average, in Mississippi it is $17.25, however, for those who work in the service area, he noted, in California it is $13 on average, and in Mississippi it is $9, while a living wage in California is $18.66 and in Mississippi it is $13, "you can see the gaps".
"We have a huge gap between what people need to live on and what they're actually getting, which is why there's such a high dependency on government subsidies."
With the American Rescue plan, 553,000 children will be lifted out of poverty and 460,000 restaurant workers who are parents will also benefit from the rescue package, "so it's a great deal nationally," he said.
In that regard, she stressed that to see meaningful and impactful change in the country's society, it is necessary to increase the wages of all workers and "build a ladder" by creating upward mobility and opportunity for all, especially women of color and immigrants."
And, he noted, "it's not dignified for workers to work full time and still rely on public assistance. He said that, because of the pandemic, paid sick days have become a priority for workers.
While small businesses will begin to pick up the slack after the COVID-19 pandemic closures, wage increases are intended to be gradual until there is a win-win situation for both parties.
Finally, he noted that the wage increases for service and agricultural workers will help undocumented people also receive help, since the U.S. Rescue Plan will not support them.
Bay City News. [BCN]. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
California's COVID-19 rental support application website is available starting Monday, which will help eligible landlords and tenants cover last year's unpaid rent.
Funding for the support comes from the $2.6 billion in rental support California's federal share of the U.S. Treasury Department's emergency rental assistance program.
Although some counties or cities have their own application portal for administering rental assistance, Russ Heimerich, spokesman for the California Housing, Consumer and Business Services Agency, said you can apply at any portal. The California state website will direct people to the appropriate website by city or county.
Eligible landlords and tenants may apply for reimbursement of 80 percent of the tenant's outstanding rent between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021 if they accept the remaining 20 percent remission.
Tenants may also apply on their own if their landlords choose not to participate. Those who meet the eligibility requirements can receive 25 percent of the rent in forgiveness accrued between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. This is the amount tenants must pay by June 30 to avoid eviction under California's COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act (Senate Bill 91).
Some tenants may also receive assistance to cover 100 percent of utilities for the past year and 25 percent of future rent when these protections expire to stop evictions.
Applications are not assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, but will be accepted on a rolling basis. Eligible tenants must earn 80 percent or less of the area median income (AMI) for their location and the state will give priority to those earning less than 50 percent of the AMI for their location.
Community organizations in each county are also available to assist with such requests. A list of support organizations and their contact information is available at https://housing.ca.gov/covid_rr/partner_resources.html.
For more information and eligibility requirements, you can visit HousingIsKey.com or call toll-free (833) 430-2122.
The form will be available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Chinese and Korean. Support is available in over 200 additional languages via telephone.
Police have arrested Nestor Lopez, 66, in Redwood City for allegedly making threats with a gun Friday night in the 500 block of Shorebird Circle.
Police responded to a call at 8:46 p.m. for a report of a domestic disturbance involving, they say, a suspect with a gun.
Police arrested Lopez on suspicion of threatening bodily injury with a firearm and injury with a firearm. They also recovered a .38 caliber handgun.
Police urge anyone with information about this incident to contact Detective Sergeant Nick Perna at (650) 780-7672 or the department's communications line at (650) 780-7107.
Police are looking for a group of men who beat up a person early Monday morning at a bar located at 840 Brewster Avenue.
Redwood City Police responded to a report, generated at 2:18 a.m., of a fight at Wine Bar and found a victim unconscious with head injuries. Witnesses told police that the victim was assaulted by a group of men who had been drinking at the bar, that the men punched the victim, he fell to the ground and the men continued to punch and kick the victim.
Witnesses told police that the group of men fled the scene in several vehicles in different directions.
The victim was transported to a local hospital and is expected to survive his injuries.
Police encourage anyone with additional information about this incident to contact Detective Joe O'Gorman at (650) 780-7147 or the department's tip line at (650) 780-7107.
The state of California announced Tuesday that, as of tomorrow, March 17, San Mateo County will move to the "orange level," a less restrictive level that allows for the easing of certain limitations and where most indoor businesses will operate with modifications.
The change to orange will happen in the first minute of this Wednesday. The move comes a year to the day after the first stay-at-home order in the Bay Area.
"This is an important milestone for San Mateo County and all residents should be proud of the role they played in bringing us here by continuing to wear a mask, maintaining social distance, getting tested and receiving the vaccine when eligible," said Board of Supervisors Chairman David J. Canepa.
Through a statement he stressed that "this is not the time to become complacent. This is the time to stand strong as a community and help those around us so that we can continue to open up our economy even more.
The county moved to the orange or "moderate" level because of two metrics calculated by the state: the adjusted case rate has dropped to 2.8 per 100,000 in the population and the test positivity rate, excluding prisons, is 1.1 per 100,000.
They also noted that the health equity quartile positivity rate is 1.9 per 100,000 population. The health equity quartile measures rates of HIV infection in the county's most disadvantaged communities according to the California Health Place Index.
With the change to the orange level, malls are now allowed to open with indoor modifications, where common areas must be enclosed, and food courts with reduced capacity.
Meanwhile, places of worship can now open indoors with modifications, where they can be at 50 percent capacity or 200 people, whichever is less, as can restaurants.
Non-essential business offices, bars/breweries where food is not provided, as well as movie theaters, gyms and fitness centers, including indoor swimming pools may also operate with modifications and a maximum capacity of 25 percent. However, indoor hot tubs, saunas and steam rooms must be closed.
Climbing walls can be opened as well as family entertainment centers, go-kart racing, miniature golf, batting cages, bowling alleys, amusement parks and theme parks, all with modifications and limited capacities.
Attractions may only open by reservation or advance ticket sale, and only with local attendants - from the same county as the park location.
As for hotels, lodging and short-term lodging rentals, these will also begin operations with the necessary modifications.
Museums, zoos and aquariums will be limited to 50 percent of their capacity.
For schools, California has updated guidance and framework for reopening 12 schools for in-person learning by the 2020-21 school year.
It was reported that, in the state of Florida, a mother, a frontline health care worker, gave birth to a baby girl with antibodies to COVID-19.
The mother, at 36 weeks of pregnancy, reportedly received the Moderna vaccine because she was a frontline health worker caring for COVID-19 patients.
The birth took place at the end of January; however, the specialized media MedRxiv reported the findings of the investigation recently.
Once the mother gave birth, the researchers took a blood sample from the umbilical cord immediately after it was cut, and plasma was obtained from the placenta to see if an antibody test resulted in any reaction to the S protein of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease thought to have originated in a market in the Wuhan region of China.
It is important to note that the vaccine from Moderna Pharmaceuticals requires two doses. The mother would have received the second dose during her postpartum period, after 28 days of receiving the first dose of vaccine to achieve immunity.
The study urges the scientific community to thoroughly investigate the safety and efficacy of vaccines against the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus during pregnancy, as the effectiveness in newborns is unknown even when clinical studies show the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 to prevent disease derived from the new coronavirus: COVID-19.
In addition to its effectiveness in newborns, the researchers also called for research into the ideal time for pregnant women to get any of the available vaccines.
Bay Area health officials expressed full support for the three vaccines currently available in the U.S. against COVID-19, issuing a letter emphasizing the safety of the immunizations and calling on the public to get their doses.
"As local health officials, we fully support the three vaccines currently available for COVID-19. All three vaccines are safe and have been shown to be highly effective in preventing symptomatic disease and hospitalizations," notes the letter, which was released March 15.
The document notes that clinical trials of all three vaccines showed that they were 100 percent effective in preventing deaths from COVID-19, and that there is growing evidence that such immunizations also help prevent asymptomatic disease.
This, they said, means that people who have been vaccinated are unlikely to transmit COVID-19 to others who are not immunized.
"There has been much debate about the advantages of one brand of vaccine over another, but it is difficult to compare their efficacy. The different brands of COVID-19 vaccines have not been studied in head-to-head comparisons," they explained.
They noted that each of the vaccines has been studied in slightly different groups of people and tested in different phases of the pandemic.
They also noted that community transmission rates and the presence or absence of COVID-19 variants differed between studies.
"What we can say with certainty is that all three vaccines provide levels of protection that are comparable to some of the best vaccines we have for other serious infectious diseases for which we routinely vaccinate people," they stressed.
Experts advised that while working toward community immunity, "the best vaccine is the one you can get as soon as possible. Different immunizations have different storage requirements, and with current limited vaccine supplies, the same brand may not be available at all vaccine sites on a consistent basis.
They called on the public to talk to their medical provider if they have questions about the vaccine, and more information about the vaccines is available on the state's COVID-19 website.
It was March 5, 2020 when Sacramento County declared a health emergency due to COVID-19, and since then, for residents, organizations and government "it's been quite a journey" of learning, which will make the word "normalcy" take on a whole new meaning, as despite efforts it has not been able to break free of the Purpura level of restriction.
The return of some travelers who had been on a cruise ship was the beginning of the county's "Stations of the Cross" that brought with it guidelines, restrictions, tests and more tests and additional measures that were never enough, recalled Olivia Kasirye, an official with the Sacramento County Department of Public Health.
As of March 12, Sacramento had 4,770 cases of COVID-19, with a stable pattern where about 60 percent of those infected are residents between 18 and 59 years of age, which speaks of a mobile population, said the official during a briefing held by Ethnic Media Services.
In that regard, he noted that of the deaths recorded due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus - 1,525 - about 80 percent of them were in people over 65, and of those, 50 percent were in residents who were in long-term care facilities, which made it "one of the most affected populations.
This population was joined by those who, because of their geographic location, were underserved, those where the zip code makes a difference in services and care. So when the Department of Public Health received funds to help the community, part of that response was allocated to serve these vulnerable areas.
Kasirye recalled that through different collaborations they were able to help homeless people by giving them access to clean water, sanitation and testing.
The team of firefighters and paramedics made a difference, because thanks to them, older adults from various long-term care facilities were able to be diagnosed with tests, and if necessary they themselves transferred them to hospitals, he said.
He explained that another vulnerable group were farmers, who could not stay at home and continue to work during the pandemic, a situation that placed them in the most vulnerable spectrum, the positive cases were not long in coming.
In response, she said, the Housing for the Harvest program provided comprehensive services for people in the agriculture sector, and community-based testing was also offered at 11 sites, which helped ensure that even people without health care, without a home or medical facility to go to for testing or with transportation issues, could be tested. "So we made sure that these testing sites were in communities that were underserved."
Vaccines have arrived in the county, however, Sacramento remains at Purple, the most restrictive level of all due to the still high incidence of COVID-19 positive cases.
"-Contagion- is way down compared to where it was at the end of 2020. So we've definitely turned the corner, we've passed the peak and now our efforts are focused on vaccination," determined Olivia Kasirye.
Mike Nguy, Health Equity Lead for the Sacramento County Department of Public Health, noted that the deployment of vaccine doses in the area has been thanks to multiple partners who have sought to make Cuellar the most efficient route for these immunizations to reach everyone.
In that regard, he said that with a limited number of vaccines, "we were really working very hard and closely with our community partners to ensure equity and inclusive outreach, especially in those zip codes that have been disproportionately impacted by SARS-CoV-2.
Currently, the county has two mass vaccination sites, one of which is in one of the hardest hit and underserved areas, in an effort to level the "playing field" and ensure that disproportionately impacted communities and areas have equitable access to the resources needed to address the pandemic.
Added to this, she recalled, have been community pop-up clinics, in which they work closely with areas and organisations to reach out to those residents who face digital language barriers.
"We not only talk about how to provide vaccines equitably, but also how to combat misinformation and align some of the communication to build trust among community members, especially in indigenous people and communities of color," she added.
Mike Nguy, Sacramento County Department of Public Health Health Health Equity Leader
He reminded that it is necessary that residents can have access to resolve all their doubts regarding the vaccine, so that they can apply it and enter a new phase of the pandemic.
In that sense, he explained that the best vaccine is the one that is available, and given the shortage of doses it is necessary that people accept the vaccine that is currently available to them, which will prevent further spread of the virus and the disease.
"Especially at this time when we have so few doses available and the demand is so much greater than the number of doses, if you go to a site, whatever vaccine they offer, it's the best," he added.
Mike Nguy, Sacramento County Department of Public Health Health Health Equity Leader
Currently, Sacramento County has administered 429,212 doses to its residents, of which 33.8 percent have been to Caucasians, 11.1 percent to Asian Americans, 11.1 percent to multiracial, 8.4 percent to Latinos, 4.1 percent to African Americans and 4.1 percent to Native Americans, 11.8 percent were of other ethnicities, and the origin of 18.3 percent of those immunized is unknown.
The Sacramento Native American Health Center, led by Britta Guerrero, is one of the sites serving one of the communities most affected by COVID-19, and one that has been disproportionately underserved in health care throughout history, as well as serving other underserved communities such as those of color who do not have health insurance.
"About 80 percent of our patients suffer from more than one chronic condition and also have some mental health issue. So there are a lot of social determinants that we need to work on," he stressed.
He added that his patients bear the burden of disproportionate health disparities, which has led to very high rates of COVID-19 and deaths from the disease.
This, he said, is mainly due to the limited access that minority communities have to adequate health facilities, in addition to the poverty they face and the need to keep their jobs, many of them without adequate protection, in order to meet their basic expenses.
Recently, she said, they've increased 106 percent in psychiatric appointments, which meant patients were suffering from depression and anxiety and dealing with all the additional stressors of being isolated, missing work and caring for children, and perhaps dealing with substance abuse issues while separated from their families and community.
"As one of the most vulnerable communities, we decided to start vaccinating all Native Americans 18 years of age and older who have had the opportunity to participate in the Indian Health Services vaccine program. So we are using the Indian Health Services vaccines for our patients who are Native," she said.
"I have a lot of hope and also a lot of concern about the current situation. The peace of hope is that native people have a sense of sharing or collective responsibility for each other and protecting our most vulnerable, so many of the young people have been rushing to get vaccinated. We wanted to work with other communities to make sure that we are doing our part to protect other communities that are underserved or vulnerable," he stressed.
Finally, she said she is hopeful that for the first time, there will be equity for all in obtaining vaccines and that systemic racism in Native communities will be openly discussed, so that barriers can be removed and the Native community can be valued.
For Rachel Rios, executive director of La Familia Counseling Center, it is very clear that the Latino community has been heavily impacted both in terms of COVID-19 positive cases and deaths, so many of the disparities that exist are represented.
He pointed out that when the pandemic arrived, they did not have the "luxury" of closing the doors of the organization, due to the services they provide to the Latino community that has diverse needs to meet their day to day life.
Currently, he noted that services are focused on telehealth or remote health, with virtual services, however, they recognize that the community suffers from a lack of digital devices, so they cannot access services in any way other than face-to-face.
He explained that since the beginning of the pandemic, infection rates were increasing for Latinos and no one seemed to be paying attention to that, a situation that could have been controlled if they had been "a little more proactive.
"People say Latinos are rallying, but the data shows that Latinos are the essential workers. They are the backbone of our economy in California. They're the ones who go to work. They didn't have the opportunity to telecommute and stay home. They had to show up to work or lose their jobs," he stressed.
Rachel Rios, executive director of La Familia Counseling Center
Given this, she urged that there be a Spanish-speaking testing center in the community where people can feel comfortable, especially people with mixed immigration status or who are undocumented, "so they can come and feel comfortable giving their information and getting a COVID-19 test, because there are a lot of fears, we know that there is a lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric before this pandemic happened.
Because of this, he explained that he is hopeful that the narrative around immigrants will change, "that we will see the value and finally recognize that they have been working and that they have been holding our economies together, that we will see the value of all of our diverse communities, but I worry that once the infection comes back, we will go back to the way things were."
Stephanie Nguyen, executive director of Asian Resources, explained that we must ensure that we continue to educate communities to collaborate with each other and to ensure that information, resources and health equity reach everyone.
In that sense, he said that before a new pandemic arrives or a new serious health situation arises in the country, it is necessary to unite and work in the communities to prevent a disproportionate number of lives from being lost again.
For Nancy Xiong, director of development and communications for Hmong Innovating Politics, she noted that two of the biggest challenges right now are access to vaccines and misinformation that exists for some non-English speaking communities.
She explained that many members of the Asian community are ready and interested in getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but in the absence of accurate information about immunization in their language, they are distrustful and sometimes choose not to seek access to the doses.
In addition, there is a lack of data to quantify the real impact on the Asian American community.
"We don't know how many Southeast Asian people have died or if any of our Southeast Asian-owned businesses have received recovery dollars and I think both of those numbers are going to be really important moving forward in terms of how we can take the next steps to really address the issues at hand and find solutions around that," he referenced.
Today, Sacramento County is struggling to make progress on health disparities and is seeking to get more and more residents vaccinated and cared for in the face of a relentless war against COVID-19.
