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Date is exactly
2022-03-26
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2022-03-26
Russia spread anti-vax lies in Ukraine. Will it cause a COVID crisis for Europe?
This is a news story from the Los Angeles Times by Melissa Healy and Emily Baumgaertner. The authors claim that even prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that Russia has been working to undermine the confidence of Western vaccines. It says that these messages were encouraged by President Vladimir Putin and shown on Russian TV and social media. In Ukraine, only 35% of residents are fully vaccinated, some of the lowest in all of Europe. This makes the refugee crisis in Ukraine more dire, as people needing to leave will risk spreading COVID more places. The authors assert that with the low vaccination rates of Ukrainian refugees that it will cause another surge in COVID cases throughout Europe. The CDC has advised countries accepting refugees to offer them the vaccine upon entry. This article details that this is not the only vaccine that Ukrainians have not accepted as much compared to the rest of Europe. In 2021, only 53% of Ukrainian babies were vaccinated against polio. That number has now risen to 76% of infants being immunized against polio. Though, the likelihood of these diseases spreading as far as COVID are fairly low. The vaccine hesitancy, the authors say, is rooted in deep distrust of the government. In December 2020, only 14% of Ukrainians reported having trust in their government in a poll. -
2022-03-26
Coping with the Pandemic--A Personal Look at Mental Health and COVID-19
According to the Center of Disease Control, in June of 2022, US adults reported considerably elevated adverse mental health conditions associated with COVID-19. Out of a survey they did on 5,412 people, 40.9 percent of respondents reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health conditions, including symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorder which were around 31 percent. One of the causes of this is due to increase sedentary behaviors and low levels of physical activity due to quarantines and lack of business operation. Over the past two years, government mandated quarantine, work from home, and online schooling has caused me to stay at home for longer periods of time than what I use to. Because of this sedentary behavior, I had dealt with the negative effects of isolation, stress, and anxiety on both my mental and physical health. According to the World Health Organization, 150 minutes of moderate exercise or physical activity is usually recommended per week, however, with working a full-time job and being in school, the question that remains is how that is possible? I have learned to accommodate these physical needs indoors, by taking active breaks during the day and exercising at home. While this does not necessarily help with isolation and loneliness sometimes, I have learned to take these matters one day at a time and not shun myself for feelings them. CDC argues that from a recent comprehensive review that the impact of COVID-19 on mental health particularly seems to affect more young women disproportionally than any other group. Therefore, I recommend any young adult or women facing severe mental health to take advantage of online support or mental health services through telehealth such as ZocDoc. It is important to highlight COVID-19's impact on mental health in the United States and my personal life because it shows how the pandemic changed the means and the ways we received mental health services in the past. As the pandemic ventures on, people like myself will continue to have to find ways to cope and receive services for our problems. Thanks to the pandemic, much of our mental health problems have come more to the forefront due to us having ample amounts of time now to navigate and deal these issues unlike never before. -
2022-03-26
Locked In and Locked Down: Surviving COVID-19 in FCI Edgefield BOP
The COVID-19 crisis has impacted mass incarcerated facilities at an exceeding rate, exacerbating existing staffing shortage and leaving those housed in large numbers increasingly vulnerable to COVID-19. The Federal Correctional Institution in Edgefield, South Carolina is no exception to this hardship. FCI Edgefield has be forced to expand its use of a practice called "augmentation" or allowing those in non-correctional roles at the prison to work in correctional officer roles. This is because staff members are getting sick an exceedingly high rate, causing some staff to have quarantine for several days while others have chosen to retire early out of the fear of high exposure and incentives losing way due to the crisis. Since the pandemic has taken off, only a small number of inmates have died from COVID-19, about 50 in total. Yet, due to less experienced staff on site due to shortages, one inmate died due to undermined symptoms on January 27, 2021. Overall, stories like these are important because they show how state officials, lawmakers, and policymakers have made little strides in reducing and slowing down the spread of the coronavirus in state and national prison systems. People like my mother, who works at FCI Edgefield, have preexisting medical conditions that put them at a heightened risk for complications if they were to catch COVID-19. Thus, we should make aware that these state officials have waited too long to make strides towards reducing the prison population, routinely rotating staff, and increasing social distance measures in the jail populations. As the pandemic wears on, much is still needed to be done in prioritizing staff and prison populations for vaccination matters. While this idea has generated some wide societal debate, I find it hard to argue that people who work and live in correctional facilities are at a major disadvantage in this crisis. Therefore, it is only fair to consider these high-risk groups first when prioritizing phases and measures of the vaccines and health and well-being.