Viewpoints: New Lessons On Values Of Health Care For Minorities, Trust In These Vaccines

Cleveland Plain Dealer: COVID-19’s Disproportionate Harms Challenge Us To Address The Inequities
MIAMI -- As we pass the gruesome milestone of 300,000 American deaths from COVID-19, scant attention has been paid to another grim aspect of the pandemic: it's grossly disparate impact on minorities. When we chance to hear about it, we attribute the phenomenon to the usual suspect: inadequate health care among communities where low wages, unemployment, and the constriction of opportunity are rampant. In doing so, we conveniently overlook the most repugnant theme in our history. (Jay Sterling Silver, 12/16)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Leaders Must See Racism As A Public Health Crisis 
What do the American Medical Association, Ventura County and Sacramento County have in common? All three recently voted to declare racism a public health crisis. They join a growing list of states, counties, cities and organizations that recognize the pervasive and systemic threat racism poses to the health, safety and well-being of our communities. In July, we joined with nearly 200 organizations to ask Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare racism a public health crisis. He has yet to do so, but our broad and diverse coalition is continuing this urgent campaign. You need look no further than the news to see the disproportionate impact COVID-19 is having on our Black communities, Indigenous communities and communities of color. (Flojuane Cofer and Kiran Savage-Sangwan, 12/15)

Houston Chronicle: How To Win Black, Latino Trust In Vaccine
Robert Luckey, the first person in the Houston region to get the coronavirus vaccine, is a registered nurse at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and is assigned to the hospital’s COVID-19 unit. He is also Black. Why does that matter? Because the image of Luckey rolling up the sleeve of his blue scrubs to get the shot may help convince folks in Black and Latino communities that the much-anticipated vaccines are safe. Experience with a public health system that has often failed and abused people of color has sown a deep mistrust in those communities, even as COVID-19 ravages entire Black and Latino families and leaves others grappling with the economic fallout. (10/16)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Trump Could Boost The Pro-Vaccination Campaign. But He Can't Be Bothered.
At long last, medical centers across the country this week began vaccinating priority personnel and initiating the process of liberating the nation from this coronavirus scourge. Anti-vax skeptics abound, as they do with all vaccines, even though this vaccination campaign should have been different. High levels of participation are essential to ensure the virus goes into remission and breaks a 10-month chain of death and economic destruction. The biggest impediment to that effort is the very science-averse movement that President Donald Trump cultivated during the presidential campaign. Instead of being a champion of the very medical science that saved his life after he was infected, Trump instead championed stubborn ignorance couched as a defense of freedom. (10/16)

Boston Globe: Power, Privilege, And The COVID-19 Vaccine 
Who gets to jump to the head of the COVID-19 vaccine line? President Trump delayed initial plans, first disclosed by The New York Times, to fast-track distribution of the vaccine to most White House staff members, “unless necessary.” The scent of privilege for someone other than himself was too strong — even for a president whose cronies have shamelessly benefitted from COVID-19 treatments unavailable to others. But already there are other vaccine line-cutters, and their identity shows exactly whose work is valued by society. For example, congressional leaders who have yet to come up with a COVID-19 relief package for the country will be offered the vaccine before grocery workers who stock the shelves so the rest of us can eat. (Joan Vennochi, 12/14)

Fox News: Despite Vaccine, COVID Rages On — Keep Taking Precautions, As My Dr. Husband Battles Pandemic
My husband is one of the many dedicated health care workers who are soldiers in the war on COVID-19 — an enemy that has killed more than 300,000 people in the U.S. and more than 1.6 million around the world this year.We are all thankful that the first vaccine against the deadly disease has now received an emergency use authorization in the U.S. and has been approved in a few other countries as well. Vaccinations began Monday in some American cities. But make no mistake: the COVID-19 pandemic is raging in the U.S. and around the world, hospitals are filling up, and people will keep getting sick and dying for months to come before the vast majority of us are vaccinated. The nightmare facing our health care professionals continues. (Leslie Marshall, 12/15)

Los Angeles Times: Don’t Want To Tell Your Customers To Mask Up? Try Using Artificial Intelligence
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, plenty of evidence has emerged that wearing face masks cuts down on disease transmission and saves lives. Yet even in cities and states that have mandated mask use, compliance in the United States has been ... unenthusiastic. And good luck finding a law enforcement officer eager to enforce those mandates. So here’s an idea: Why not enlist the help of artificial intelligence to nudge people to mask up? (Jon Healey, 12/15)

CNN: Too Many Quarantinis -- A Risk, Especially For Seniors
Traditional holiday gatherings are off the table. Across the country, families and friends are staying home and gathering online to protect themselves and others from Covid-19, starting with vulnerable older adults. Overindulgence of food and drink is somewhat expected during any holiday season, but these are not normal times -- and losing track of how many quarantinis you've had seems easier these days. While excessive drinking is a problem at all ages, heavy alcohol use is especially a concern at older ages, and never more so than during the pandemic. (Esteban Calvo, Katherine M. Keyes and Alvaro Castillo-Carniglia, 12/15)