THE SAN BERNARDINO
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AMERICAN
“A Man In Debt is So Far A Slave” -Emerson
NEWSPAPER A Community Newspaper Serving San Bernardino, Riverside & Los Angeles Counties Volume 51 No. 47
March 11 2021- March 17, 2021
Mailing: P.O. Box 837, Victorville, CA 92393
Office: (909) 889-7677
Email: Mary @Sb-American.com
Website: www.SB-American.com
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance those of whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)
As California Reopens, Black Doctors Answer Nagging COVID Questions
Black Lawmakers Back Gov. Newsom’s $6.6 Billion Plan for Reopening Schools Bo Tefu | California Black Media
Tanu Henry | California Black Media
Can COVID vaccines affect fertility? Were Black people used in the COVID vaccine research studies? Do you still need to get vaccinated if you’ve already had COVID-19? What is emergency use authorization? These are just four out of about 50 resurfacing questions a group of Black doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals answers in a video intended to penetrate clouds of misinformation about COVID-19 as it provides vital information that address lingering questions, still unanswered, that many people have about COVID-19. T he v ide o t itle d “A Conversation: Between Us, About Us,” is moderated by Palo Alto native, comedian and San Francisco resident W. Kamau Bell. The video is produced with the support of a partnership between the Black Coalition Against COVID (BCAC), a national advocacy group, and the San Franciscobased Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a philanthropic non-profit focused on generating data and resources to equip policymakers and the general public with important health information. B e r kele y- b a s e d Ja c ob Kornbluth Productions worked with KFF and BCAC to create the videos. California Health Care Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund and Sier ra Health Foundation also contributed to funding the production and distribution of the video. “I was a part of the expert African American panel, which is a group of providers like myself – with doctors, nurses, community people, et cetera. This is a group that was created through National Institutes of Health to review the
various vaccine protocols for the different companies that were developing the vaccines,” said Orlando Harris, a public health researcher, during the introduction of the video featuring him. The healthcare professionals’ push to educate African Americans with the intention to reduce “vaccine hesitancy” is just one of many other similar campaigns around the country organized by civil rights organizations, government agencies, professional organizations, community groups, foundations and others. The information they are providing comes at a time when California is taking major steps to relax social isolation guidelines, reopen large businesses like theme parks and restart in-person learning for children attending K-12 public schools. Last week, Gov. Newsom announced that the state is investing $6.6 billion into recovery efforts that include facilitating the safe reopening of schools. On Friday, Mark Ghaly, California Health and Human Services Secretary, said he believes as more Californians become vaccinated the safter it would be to change the stateissued guidance on restricted activities. Theme parks could reopen as soon as April 1, he said. “We feel like now is the appropriate time to begin to reintroduce these activities in some fashion and, again, in a guarded way, in a slow and steady way, with the other protective factors of the blueprint all sort of wrapped around it,” Ghaly said during the news briefing. The medical professionals who participated in “Conversation” project say the information they share in the videos will
facilitate discussions among family members and arm health workers with credible information they need to answer questions patients may have. “Taking off my hat as a clinician and a researcher, I have to go home and have conversations with my mom, with my dad, and my grandparents about the vaccine and why taking the vaccine is important,” explained Harris, who is also a family nurse practitioner and assistant professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing. “Being on that panel with the rest of my colleagues and reviewing the protocols, gave me great insights,” he continued. “So, now I can have the conversation with you. I can have it with my family, and I can say, actually, we were represented in the trials and these are the numbers, et cetera. Black Americans are among groups least likely to get the vaccines even though their COVID-19 mortality rates are among the highest in the U.S., according to KFF. The report states that 34 % of Blacks across the country say they will “wait and see” if the vaccines are working on others before they take it. “As Black health academicians, researchers, and clinicians, we understand our empathy-based responsibility to provide our community with the resources and guidance on surviving this pandemic,” said Dr. Reed Tuckson, a member of BCAC. “As such, we appreciate this partnership with KFF to produce one of the largest of its kind campaigns to creatively provide trustworthy information that will save Black lives.” In California so far, there have been 54,128 COVID-19 deaths
as of March 7. Across the state, there have been about 3.8 million confirmed cases with about 1.2 million of them registered in Los Angeles County alone. Dr. Pamela Simms-Mackey is chair of Pediatrics and Chief of Graduate Medical Education at Alameda Health System in Oakland. She says much of her work has been centered around promoting equity and reducing health disparities for African Americans and other minorities who have been underserved. “When people in their minds think of side effects, they think of something that happens that is not supposed to happen,” she said. “Soreness at the injection site, headaches, fever, a swollen lymph node. Those are vaccineanticipated reactions. That shows your body is reacting to the vaccines. Those are good signs. You want to see that. That shows that the vaccine is working in your body.” Dr. Rhea Boyd, a physician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Chief Medical Officer of San Diego 211, a community health organization, says she believes roadblocks that prevent African Americans from getting COVID-19 vaccines have little to do with hesitancy. “The barriers are accessible facts about the COVID-19 vaccines and convenient access to receive a vaccine,” said Boyd. She co-developed the project with KFF and the Black Coalition Against COVID. “This is a comprehensive effort on behalf of Black health care workers across the cou nt r y,” she said. To watch t he v ideo, visit Greaterthancovid.org
Black officials and health advocates across the state have thrown their support behind Gov. Gavin Newsom’s equityinformed plan for safely reopening California’s schools and economy. The plan includes an increased education budget, as well as vaccine distribution protocols informed by data to minimize the threat of COVID-19 spread. Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said the vaccine equity plan addresses the injustices and health disparities in the communities most affected by the pandemic. “The virus has magnified the systemic and structural racism our communities have experienced in the criminal justice, education, and health care systems for generations,” Sen. Bradford said. “We are first in line for infection and death but last when it comes to the vaccine. Black Californians need to be included in practice and not just in a promise if we want to truly be a California for all.” The state has set aside 40 % of its vaccine doses for distribution in communities the most impacted by the coronavirus, as part of its Blueprint for a Safer Economy initiative. Last week, Gov. Newsom signed a $6.6 billion bill to accelerate the safe reopening of schools and expand student support statewide. An additional $30 million was administered to 180 community organizations that will prioritize underserved populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic through outreach programs and healthcare resources. Rhonda Smith, executive director of the California Black Health Network, said many lowincome individuals in underserved communities seek health care services at community health care centers. State officials funding local community health centers addresses the challenge of limited supplies and resources for vaccine distribution, said Smith. “Working with tr usted resou rces providers and community partners is important. They are key influencers in our communities where there are concerns and hesitancy
about the vaccine,” Smith said. Racial disparities in the healt hca re system have contributed to the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on the African American population, said Smith, emphasizing that chronic diseases and underlying health issues have put African Americans at greater risk of being infected with the coronavirus. The state’s goal is to administer two million vaccine doses for communities that were the most affected by the coronavirus. State officials also updated protocols and metrics – such as effective testing locations, contact tracing, and quarantine procedures – to reduce the spread of the coronavirus while maximizing vaccine efficacy. Once authorities successfully vaccinate two million people in the hardest hit communities in the state, which represents about 25 % of eligible Californians, the governor’s office will readjust its “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” a color-coded, four-tiered system California currently uses to tighten or loosen restrictions county by county. The tiers will be updated to allow for somewhat higher case rates. The purple (widespread) tier will shift from greater than 7 cases per 100,000 to greater than 10 cases per 100,000; and the Red (Substantial) tier will be widened to 4-10 cases per 100,000. Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles), vice-chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said the vaccine equity plan helps close the privilege gap between the “haves and the have-nots.” “Vaccines are the ticket to the end of the pandemic. For too long, those tickets were taken by people with a wealth of time and resources,” Kamlager said. “The playing field has been leveled so those in our community who work for a living and can’t sit on their computer all day will now have the opportunity to get their fair share of vaccines.” Last week, Kamlager won a special election for state senator representing California’s 30th District, which covers areas in Los Angeles County. continued on page 2