After an extensive legal battle over its handling of COVID-19 at detention facilities, ICE will not provide basic information on how many detainees have been vaccinated at its Buffalo (Batavia) Center upstate. Here’s what City Limits has been able to find out.
‘I’m beyond thrilled some inkling of normalcy may return to this gorgeous mosaic of a city by summer. But city and state officials are going to have to step up their game on how to best address vaccine coronavirus hesitancy or otherwise, we may be setting ourselves up for problems down the road.’
‘To gain a deeper understanding of how we can recover and rebuild, the Health Department recently launched a new series. The vision is to spark conversation by bringing together communities across the city, thought leaders, and partners in the fields of science, medicine, public health, racial justice, and social justice.’
If there were no barriers to accessing the vaccine, then there would be no need to be creative in reaching people of color, Native Americans, African Americans, or immigrant communities, advocates say.
‘To reach those currently experiencing homelessness, it is essential for organizations with longstanding visibility to be empowered and unrestricted to vaccinate in non-traditional settings. Imagine a popup clinic under the GW Bridge, inside Port Authority or inside the MTA terminals at Barclay Center or Grand Central.’
In this week’s episode of The Check In, Spanish-language reporter Daniel Parra discusses the frustration New York’s farmworkers feel about being treated like “third-class essential workers” when it comes to getting access to vaccinations.
‘When vulnerable populations were reluctant to participate in the census, the city and state spent tens of millions of dollars on public outreach and education. They should use the same playbook now to fund initiatives that disseminate information about vaccine efficacy and safety.’
Earlier this month, the state began vaccinating incarcerated people 65 and older. But advocates, as well as local officials who run the city’s jails, want eligibility expanded to include all inmates, citing the extra risks posed by correctional facilities.
Several Republican critics of the governor (and one of his Democratic allies) are pushing legislation that could undermine efforts to achieve broad immunity to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
On Feb. 9, President Biden announced the immunization program for community health centers (FQHC), which includes farmworkers, but the governor has not yet included them in the immunization rollout.
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
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