Why young adults remain hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine

July 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Starting next week, 150 Connecticut college students will begin training to go out into communities in their state that are lagging in vaccination rates and try to combat COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among young adults.

The program comes as the nation enters a period where the delta variant is surging in some locations and officials are having difficulty convincing millions of Americans to get vaccinated — currently the best hope of averting yet another wave of COVID-19.

Officials nationwide are trying to reach unvaccinated people — in particular those between the ages of 18 and 24, who have lower rates of getting the shot when compared to older age groups and the highest rates of COVID-19 cases.

“It really is meeting people where they are, giving them the important information for them to be able to make the decision for themselves,” Janelle Chiasera, dean of the School of Health Sciences at Quinnipiac University, which is working with the state health department on the Connecticut Public Health College Corps program, told ABC News. “What we’re trying to do is to get those people who are on the fence, over that fence to get the vaccine.”

Unvaccinated adults are “significantly younger,” according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest vaccine monitor report; 29% of the unvaccinated are 18- to 29-year-olds, compared to 17% of those vaccinated, for the smallest percentage of adults vaccinated.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 41.8% of Americans ages 18 to 24 are fully vaccinated, compared to 66% of those ages 50 to 64 and 80.9% of those ages 65 to 74.

The reasons are myriad, including fear of side effects, but experts stress the need to overcome that hurdle through targeted and trusted messaging.

“The more unvaccinated people you have, the more the chances that we’re setting up this virus to be able to create another variant,” Chiasera said. “We are allowing that virus to get smarter.”

Concerns about side effects

The reasons behind the reluctance are varied and not fully known. One may be the “lingering effects” of not prioritizing younger populations during the initial vaccine rollout, Dr. Monica Schoch-Spana, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and co-leader of CommuniVax, a national rapid research coalition focused on improving vaccine equity in Black, Hispanic/Latino and Indigenous communities, told ABC News.

A new study by University of California San Francisco researchers published in the Journal of Adolescent Health this week found that about 1 in 4 unvaccinated people between the ages of 18 and 25 said that they “probably will not” or “definitely will not” get the COVID-19 vaccine.

“There’s still that lingering perception that ‘I am young, I am strong, I can fight this thing off,'” Schoch-Spana said. “So there’s that youthful sense of invincibility that was reinforced early on when we had less vaccine available.”

Older adults and those with underlying conditions diagnosed with COVID-19 generally fared dramatically worse than those who were younger — more than 95% of deaths were in those 50 and older, according to CDC data.

Others are worried about potential side effects of the vaccine. A CDC report published last month found that one of the main reasons U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 39 were not vaccinated were due to concerns about possible side effects. The UC San Francisco study found that was a concern for more than half of respondents. Neither study specified what those concerns were.

In a survey of patients at its California sites last month, COVID-19 testing and vaccination startup Curative also found that the number one reason people hadn’t gotten vaccinated until that point was due to concerns about side effects, according to Alexandra Simon, director of vaccines for the state.

“It could mean that they’re worried that they’re gonna have to miss work, they’re worried about cab fare, or they’re just kind of worried about getting sick,” Simon told ABC News. “I think there’s a ton of misinformation floating around about side effects.”

Chiasera said she has also heard concerns about blood clots and “fertility issues in women.”

The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been associated with an extremely rare but severe blood clot disorder and, more recently, a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre.

Experts and public health officials maintain that any risks from the vaccine are outweighed by the benefits. The vast majority of side effects are mild, and long-term side effects are “unlikely,” according to the CDC. Additionally, researchers have found that there’s a greater risk of developing clots from COVID-19 than from the vaccines.

Meanwhile, there is no evidence that any vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccines, affect fertility in women or men, according to the CDC.

‘No sole, single identity’

More education could help with vaccination efforts. The CDC report on vaccination in young adults found that about two-thirds of respondents who were not sure about getting vaccinated reported they didn’t have adequate information about vaccine safety or effectiveness.

“There’s a lot that we see on social media about vaccines, but not a lot that people really truly understand about them,” Chiasera said.

Through Connecticut Public Health College Corps, the trained students will attend vaccine clinics, community efforts and do other outreach over the course of four weeks and be there to answer people’s questions on topics like the availability, safety and efficacy of the vaccines and side effects, Chiasera said.

“We’re realists in knowing that there are people — it doesn’t matter what you say, it doesn’t matter what you do — they’re not going to get their vaccine, but that is a small percent,” she said. “There’s a lot more people that are on the fence, and I think our best efforts are really on those people that are on the fence — that really truly have questions that they need answered to help make that decision.”

As much attention is being paid to reaching unvaccinated young adults, vaccination is a hyperlocal effort that can’t be generalized, Schoch-Spana said.

“One can’t expect some magic bullet to get everybody between the ages of 18 and 28 showing up in large numbers,” she said. “You really do have to think about, OK, if I want to target college-aged kids, what should I be doing? If I wanted to target Spanish-speaking youth, where do I need to go?”

“There’s no sole, single identity, so a youth-oriented vaccination campaign has to think about the different kinds of youths that are out there and to develop very specific communication approaches, outreach approaches and delivery locations to meet youth where they are,” she added.

‘Trusted influencers’ needed

It largely boils down to trust, and who the “trusted influencers” are, Schoch-Spana said.

Through its research, she said, CommuniVax has seen that in Black communities in rural Alabama, grandparents are the ones advocating for their grandchildren to get vaccinated; meanwhile, in Hispanic/Latino communities in rural Idaho, the younger generation is helping grandparents get shots.

“Different age groups have different levels of influence, according to where they are in their family and also the larger community,” she said.

In its survey of its California vaccination sites, Curative found that one reason why someone who was previously hesitant to get vaccinated ultimately did was because “someone I trust convinced me.”

A majority of patients at its California vaccination sites came based on referrals, most of which were from people who had been vaccinated at the site, Curative learned. After realizing that, they started a program dubbed “Vax Tripling,” based on the political organizing concept of vote tripling.

“It’s the idea that every person who commits to vote, you also ask them which three people they can talk to about voting,” Simon said. “So it’s kind of leveraging that trusted messenger network that happens organically.”

To further spur referrals, Curative created business cards with information about the site for patients to give to those in their community to turn “every person who chooses to get vaccinated into an ambassador for vaccination in general, in a way that is authentic to the community and real to their relationships,” Simon said.

Can monthly tax credit payments improve US childhood poverty?

July 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — There were times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when Maeghan Murdock worried about how her family — which includes a newborn — would keep up with all their growing financial demands.

Facing an inevitable $300 rent increase as bills piled up, their dreams of saving to eventually buy their own home seemed to be a far-fetched goal.

But then several rounds of economic impact payments came through. She and her husband were able to save those federal stimulus dollars and apply about $18,000 to help purchase a new home in Tucson, Arizona.

Now Murdock, 29, a non-profit professional, sees the Biden administration’s new, expanded child tax credit with its monthly payments as a means of bringing some stability to their family as her husband’s return to work as a professional chef depends on how fast the restaurant industry bounces back from the havoc wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The tax credits will help us make sure that we’re able to pay our mortgage and have things that we need for our child,” she said.

Even as Americans begin returning to work and school this fall in greater number, economic uncertainty for those living at or below the poverty line is still a top-of-mind concern. For the families of nearly 12 million children in the U.S. who live in poverty and disproportionately identify as African-Americans or Latinos, the Biden administration’s child tax credits could be a game-changer, but those monthly payments are scheduled to end in December.

Touting the payments as they started to go out Thursday, President Joe Biden called them “another giant step toward ending child poverty in America.”

“This has the potential to reduce child poverty in the same way that the Social Security reduced poverty for the elderly,” he said.

Biden’s American Rescue Plan proposes an extension of the tax credit for four more years through 2025, but Congress still needs to vote on that.

Senior administration officials say it is the president’s goal to see the child tax credits extended past this year and ultimately become a permanent fixture of U.S. government policy.

The Treasury Department says as much as $15 billion in funds are expected to go to the families of 60 million children, with average payments totaling up to $423 per family.

Democratic lawmakers are embracing the idea that these child tax credits will go far in tackling the nation’s long fought battle against child poverty.

“The expansion of the Child Tax Credit is one of the single biggest investments we’ve made in American families and children in generations, benefitting 96% of families with kids,” said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., in a statement. “Now, we must seize the opportunity to make it permanent.”

The Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University found that the child tax credits could cut child poverty by more than half.

“We also know that families living below the poverty line are over 40 times more likely to enter the child welfare system than those above the poverty line,” said Laura Boyd, a public policy specialist with the Family Centered Treatment Foundation. “We have an ability and a moral obligation as a society to empower families, and the child tax credit is certainly one thing that will do that.”

Republican lawmakers have proposed their own payments for children and aren’t expected to move forward with a $3.5 trillion budget deal proposed by Democrats to extend the child tax credit.

The Federal Reserve found in a 2019 study that some 40% of Americans don’t have up to $400 in the bank to cover an emergency expense.

“We think it’s absolutely vital that it continue,” said John Sciamanna, vice president of public policy at the Child Welfare League of America. “This could be one of the most significant family supporting initiatives that we’ve ever dealt with in terms of the child welfare field. Poverty creates a range of factors and stressors on families.”

The Treasury Department estimates that families containing more than 26 million children who would have received less than the full child tax credit under the previous rules because their incomes were too low will now receive the full, expanded credit.

But millions of Americans who work in the cash economy and did not submit a tax return, which is how the Internal Revenue Service will determine eligibility for the credits, stand to miss out on these payments if they don’t register through agency’s non-filer portal.

An administration official said that the White House is coordinating an effort across Treasury and the IRS to identify and reach-out to non-filers who are likely to be eligible for these payments.

The White House coordinated effort will also seek to identify families of children that may be eligible by looking at individuals signed up for government welfare programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) aimed at low-income households and focusing on high poverty zip codes, in addition to non-profit outreach.

The White House also hopes that its partnership efforts with children’s advocacy groups, women’s organizations, and faith-based organizations will help in identifying the estimated more than seven million children who won’t automatically receive the child tax benefit.

An IRS spokesman, in a statement, said that the agency is partnering with “non-profit organizations, churches, community groups and others hosted events in 12 cities last weekend to help people who don’t normally file a federal tax return to register for the monthly advance child tax credit payments.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued Thursday that it is only a small percentage of Americans who will not automatically receive the payments, but that the administration would continue to work at reaching those Americans, pointing to previous efforts to get stimulus payments out to individuals who didn’t pay taxes earlier this year.

COVID-19 complications could strain health system for years

July 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 developed complications associated with the virus, prompting experts to warn that long-term problems from COVID could strain the health system for years, according to new research out of the United Kingdom.

The study, published Thursday in the Lancet, analyzed hospital records from 73,197 adults in the U.K. who were hospitalized with severe COVID-19. Of those patients, 36,367 developed one or more complications during their hospitalization, including kidney problems, complex respiratory disease (such as bacterial pneumonia), acute respiratory distress syndrome, neurological problems (like seizures or stroke) and heart problems.

Overall, men and patients older than 60 were most likely to have complications, and the incidence of complications rose with age. Still, even young and previously healthy people had relatively high levels of complications. Among 19- to 29-year-olds, 27% developed complications, compared with 37% of 30- to 39-year-olds and 43% of 40- to 49-year-olds.

“This work contradicts current narratives that COVID-19 is only dangerous in people with existing comorbidities and the elderly,” Calum Semple, a professor at the University of Liverpool and coauthor of the paper, said in a statement. “Disease severity at admission is a predictor of complications even in younger adults, so prevention of complications requires a primary prevention strategy, meaning vaccination.”

The study also pointed to racial disparities in patient outcomes. White, South Asian and East Asian patients had similar rates of complications, but Black patients (58%) were more likely to develop complications than white patients (49%).

Following hospitalization, roughly a third of patients were less able to look after themselves than prior to contracting the virus, an effect that was most pronounced among men, older patients and those who’d been in critical care. Neurological complications had the biggest impact on patients’ ability to care for themselves.

“Policy makers and health-care planners should anticipate that large amounts of health and social care resources will be required to support those who survive COVID-19,” the study authors noted. “Data on long-term health difficulties posed by COVID-19 will be of great importance, particularly as a large proportion of COVID-19 survivors come from economically active age groups.”

The study had a few limitations. Since the research was conducted in the U.K., which has a different population and medical system than the United States does, the results can’t necessarily be extrapolated to the U.S. population. The study period (Jan. 17 to Aug. 4, 2020) took place toward the beginning of the pandemic and before vaccines were widely available, meaning the population skewed older. More research needs to be done to determine whether COVID-related health complications are temporary or enduring.

Mom shares warning about extreme thirst, wet diaper after son diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes

July 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A California mom is sharing a warning for other parents after her 16-month-old son’s wet diapers ended in a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, a chronic disease.

Courtney Moore, of Sacramento, said she began to notice in early July that her son, Maddox, was waking up with soaking wet diapers each morning.

She also noticed the toddler was waking up each morning extremely thirsty.

“When he woke up he would be so ferociously thirsty and reaching for my water bottle and chugging it,” Moore told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I knew that wasn’t normal.”

Moore said she reached out to fellow moms on Facebook for ideas and searched the internet on her own, but did not believe Maddox’s symptoms were signs of Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the pancreas makes little to no insulin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“When you do a Google search, what pops up is Type 1 diabetes, but we don’t have a family history of that,” she said. “Since we had no knowledge of Type 1 diabetes, I could justify all the different signs we were seeing.”

Moore said that, for example, she and her husband, Jason, attributed Maddox’s thirst to the hot weather of summer and the slight weight loss they noticed to the fact that he was an active toddler who was now walking.

After noticing that Maddox seemed more and more “off,” according to Moore, they took him to the doctor for bloodwork.

One hour later, Moore said she received multiple calls from the doctor’s office telling her to take Maddox to the emergency room because his blood glucose, or blood sugar, level was nearly 700. A normal blood glucose reading for a toddler Maddox’s age is 100 to 180.

“They said I needed to take him to the emergency room right away and my world just stopped,” said Moore. “I can’t imagine had we waited any longer.”

Maddox was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and was immediately treated for diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes that happens when the body doesn’t have enough insulin to allow blood sugar to be used as energy, according to the CDC.

He spent two nights in the hospital and then was sent home, where Moore and her husband are now overseeing Maddox’s regimen of insulin shots and blood glucose monitoring.

“I’m very blessed that he’s as young as he is in a sense because he doesn’t understand and he’s so resilient,” said Moore. “Yes, our lives got turned upside down but he’s happy and he’s doing really well.”

Moore took to Facebook to share what happened to Maddox in hopes of warning other parents to not ignore symptoms their children may be experiencing, like thirst.

“I’m sharing this because what we could’ve written off as being due to warmer weather and being an active toddler literally could’ve killed our son,” she wrote. “Moral of the story, parents, pay attention to your kids and trust your gut. We got very lucky.”

Describing why she spoke out about her family’s experience, Moore told GMA, “My point is not to scare people but just [remind them] to be very aware and keep tracking those things.”

What parents should know

Moore’s Facebook post highlighted how symptoms of Type 1 diabetes can be mistaken for other conditions or overlooked, especially in young children.

“It’s really hard at [Maddox’s] age when he can’t talk,” said Moore. “I fear for the parents who may not be adding things up and having something detrimental happen to their child.”

In addition to excessive thirst, frequent urination and unexplained weight loss, symptoms of Type 1 diabetes can include dry mouth, fatigue and weakness, increased appetite and slow-healing cuts, according to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on research and advocacy for Type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes, previously called insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes, is a chronic disease for which there is currently no cure.

It is usually diagnosed in children, teens and young adults, but can develop at any age. Approximately 1.6 million Americans are living with Type 1 diabetes, including about 200,000 people under the age of 20, according to JDRF.

The disease is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction that destroys the insulin-making cells in the pancreas, according to the CDC. As a result, people with Type 1 diabetes must remain dependent on insulin, delivered via shots or an insulin pump, to stay alive.

In addition to taking insulin, people with Type 1 diabetes, like Maddox, must measure their blood glucose levels multiple times a day, by either finger pricks or wearing a continuous glucose monitor.

Unlike Type 2 diabetes, which is brought on by lifestyle factors, there is no known way to prevent Type 1 diabetes, according to the CDC. Family history of type 1 diabetes or any other autoimmune disease is commonly seen.

Common complications of Type 1 diabetes include hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, and diabetic ketoacidosis. Long-term complications from the disease can include increased risk of nerve damage, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Gaetz campaign paying former Epstein lawyer amid sex trafficking investigation

July 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As Rep. Matt Gaetz faces an ongoing federal investigation into alleged sex trafficking, a new campaign finance report reveals how the Florida congressman is spending the funds that he’s raised amid the scandal.

Since news broke in late March that the Justice Department was investigating whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him, the congressman has launched a nationwide rally tour and has fundraised off the allegations.

From March 30 through the end of June, his campaign has brought in roughly $1.4 million, a drop from $1.8 million that the campaign took in over the first three months of this year, the filing shows. But the campaign’s spending has jumped since the probe was made public, with $1.9 million in expenditures from April through June, compared to $1.3 million in the first three months of this year, according to the filing.

As the investigation has ramped up, Gaetz has beefed up his legal spending, with his campaign paying $50,000 to law firms in June alone.

Half of that went to the law office of New York criminal defense attorney Marc Fernich, who lists on his website “notable clients” that include convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Mexican drug lord El Chapo, former mobster John A. “Junior” Gotti, and “alleged propagandist in Nazi Hungary” Ferenc Koreh.

Fernich did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

The other $25,000 went to the Baltimore office of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, according to the filing, though it doesn’t say who specifically from the firm was representing the campaign.

The latest legal expenditures bring the Gaetz campaign’s legal spending to $135,000 in just the past year. Between 2016 and 2019, the campaign had spent less than $10,000 on legal bills.

Gaetz has also continued to pay political operative Roger Stone amid the ongoing investigation. The congressman first paid Drake Ventures, an LLC connected to Stone, $5,000 on March 24 of this year for “strategic campaign consulting,” and since then has made three subsequent payments totaling $20,000.

In April, the Department of Justice sued Stone and his wife for using Drake Ventures to avoid reporting taxable income to the federal government and for failing to pay $2 million in taxes from 2007, 2011 and 2018. Stone has denied any wrongdoing and said that the lawsuit is “politically motivated.”

Former President Donald Trump commuted Stone’s prison sentence in December 2020 after Stone was charged and convicted on a seven-count indictment of obstructing justice, witness tampering and multiple counts of lying to Congress in the course of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. ABC News previously reported that Gaetz sought a blanket presidential pardon from the Trump White House, which was ultimately not granted. A spokesperson for Gaetz, who has denied any wrongdoing, said at the time that the congressman’s request was conflated with a general push for pardons.

“Our FEC filings speak for themselves,” a Gaetz spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News when asked about the new financial filing. “Despite an endless stream of lies from the media, Congressman Gaetz continues to be among the most prodigious fundraisers in Congress and is the only Republican who doesn’t accept donations from federal lobbyists or PACs. He thanks his tens of thousands of donors and promises to always fight for them.”

During the three months after news broke of the scandal, the Gaetz campaign’s biggest payments — more than $825,000 for advertising and strategic consulting — went to a firm named Logan Circle Group, a newly-hired PR group led by Harlan Hill, the filing showed.

Another big chunk went to fundraising consulting, with $120,000 being paid to a new vendor named Trishul LLC and just under $100,000 paid to Red Rock Strategies, according to the filing.

The Gaetz campaign also spent a total of $800 at the Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., for “meal expenses” and a “parking fee” in April and May, the campaign reported in its filing.

Multiple sources have confirmed to ABC News that the DOJ’s ongoing investigation involves Gaetz and former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, who in June pled guilty to crimes including sex trafficking a minor, and agreed to help prosecutors in the probe.

Gaetz has not been charged with any crime and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. He has repeatedly denied ever paying for sex or having sex with a minor, and has at times joked about the allegations.

“Today is my birthday […] I already know how CNN is gonna report it: ‘Matt Gaetz has wild party surrounded by beautiful women in The Villages,'” the congressman said at a rally at a Florida retirement community in early May.

Nestle debuts pumpkin spice cookie dough and other new seasonal treats

July 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — For anyone who prefers cool crisp autumn air and warm baking spices, there’s a new treat hitting shelves this fall that will make the change of the season an extra sweet transition.

Nestlé Toll House announced its all-new seasonal cookie doughs and Morsels & More flavors and yes, that means pumpkin spice.

In addition to the fan-favorite seasonal coffee drink flavor, there will also be a classic and nostalgic flavor combo — peanut butter and jelly.

Check out the full lineup of offerings below that will be available starting in August for a limited time at grocery stores and retailers nationwide:

PB&J Cookie Dough: A combination of peanut butter cookie dough and sweet strawberry-flavored pieces.

Pumpkin Spice Cookie Dough: Pumpkin spice-flavored cookie dough mixed with premier white morsels.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Flavored Morsels & More: A one-of-a-kind assortment of premier white morsels, mini coffee biscuits and pumpkin spice-flavored chunks.

Cinnamon Roll Cookie Dough: Cinnamon sugar cookie dough mixed with naturally flavored cream cheese pieces.

Trick or Treats Cookie Dough: Indulgent fudge cookie dough topped with festive Halloween sprinkles.

Cuba protestors demand answers for economic crisis

July 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Thousands of Cubans have been protesting food, vaccine and medicine shortages, in the one of the country’s largest demonstrations in decades.

Some residents went days without power in the summer heat, while others continue to be forced to wait in long lines for basic goods, as prices continue to rise. Activists say COVID-19 has exacerbated other structural issues, like health care and poverty, and the extended electricity outages signal a breaking point.

The country is facing a surge of COVID-19 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heightening concerns about government protection and services.

Chanting “freedom,” “enough” and “unite,” protestors started taking to the streets on Sunday, July 11, in Cuba and the U.S., blocking traffic to demand action from the Cuban government and President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Cuban historian and activist Marley Pulido told ABC News this hasn’t been an organized effort, but that the government’s continued inaction in addressing inequality has forced many to take the streets.

The August 1994 uprising was the last anti-government protest of this magnitude — when Cuba fell into an economic crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to Pulido.

Cuba’s economic crisis

During a December 2020 parliament session, Cuba’s Economy Minister Alejandro Gil announced that Cuba’s economy shrank 11% during the pandemic, worsened by the U.S.-imposed trade embargo. The trade embargo, which first began in the early 1960s, bans American businesses from working with Cuban interests.

At the event, he also reported that imports were down 30% in 2020 compared to 2019.

Rising international food and shipping prices have continued to worsen the country’s access to goods from overseas, according to Gil.

More than 70% to 80% of Cuba’s food is imported onto the island, according to World Food Programme. So that 30% reduction in imports led to a scarcity in food, as well as medicine, fuel and more that it imports.

On top of a lack of access to basic needs, Cuba declined to import foreign vaccines through a World Health Organization-led COVAX dose sharing initiative, which provides free or reduced cost vaccines to low resource countries. Instead, the country opted to create its own vaccine.

However, as cases continue to rise on the island of roughly 11 million people, a shortage of syringes has hindered the vaccine rollout, according to Global Health Partners, a non-profit dedicated to public health in Latin America.

The compounding issues have resulted in unrest across the island.

“There is definitely a disconnect between the government and the people,” Pulido said. “People have the right to be heard and people have the right to hold their government accountable.”

How the government has responded

In April 2020, amidst the global coronavirus pandemic and the ever-growing economic struggles, Raul Castro stepped down as head of Cuba’s Communist Party despite the Castros’ decades-long leadership of the party.

The Castros’ nominated successor, Díaz-Canel, condemned the protests in a televised appearance, calling on supporters to counter-protest and confront the anti-government demonstrations.

“The combat order is given: To the streets, revolutionaries,” Díaz-Canel said. “We’re calling on all of the revolutionaries in the country, all of the communists, to come out onto the streets and to go to the places where these provocations are going to take place.”

As videos and posts documenting the protests in Cuba went viral on social media, several activists say that internet service was shut down, which also left residents with limited access to resources outside of the island.

A heavy police presence also trailed protesters. Officials say they began arresting demonstrators and journalists after public property was damaged and police officers were attacked. Cuban officials have not reported how many people were arrested.

One man is confirmed to have died in connection with the protests, according to Cuba’s Interior Ministry.

The Cuban president blamed the unrest on U.S. forces, claiming that Cubans in America used social media to prompt demonstrations and blamed the trade embargo for the country’s economic crisis.

“Who is bothered by the regime, the alleged regime, in Cuba? Who is bothered by the Cuban political system, the way we do things? Not our people, not the majority of our people, because they are the ones who have built that system,” Díaz-Canel said.

US involvement and what’s to come

Though the Obama administration loosened the sanctions against the island government in 2014, former President Donald Trump reversed America’s position and introduced new sanctions to continue to put pressure on the Cuban government.

President Joe Biden has yet to address the call to end the embargo and its role in the country’s economic challenges. However, Biden has voiced his support for Cuban protestors when speaking to reporters on July 12 at the White House.

“The United States stands firmly with the people of Cuba as they assert their universal rights,” he said. “We call on the government, the government of Cuba, to refrain from violence and their attempts to silence the voice of the people of Cuba.”

“The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves,” Biden said.

As for Cubans trying to seek refuge in the United States from the unrest via boat, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas warned against it.

“Allow me to be clear: if you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States,” Mayorkas said. “Anyone intercepted at sea, regardless of their nationality will not be permitted to enter the United States … To those who risk their lives doing so, this risk is not worth taking.”

Ten injured, dozens pepper-sprayed in altercation at Los Angeles County jail, authorities say

July 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — At least 10 people were injured in an altercation between sheriff’s deputies and inmates at a Southern California jail on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The disturbance occurred as deputies were conducting security checks at the North County Correctional Facility, one of four jails located within the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, about 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. During the checks, a deputy was assaulted by an inmate inside one of the dormitories, prompting “multiple” other inmates to become involved, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jail.

Additional deputies were called in for back up “to prevent escalation between the inmates and restore order,” the sheriff’s department said. The deputies initially used verbal commands in an effort to get the situation under control but ultimately had to deploy pepper spray on approximately 20 to 25 inmates, according to the sheriff’s department.

Seven deputies and one custody assistant were injured during the incident. The custody assistant and six of the deputies were transported to a local hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Two inmates were also taken to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff’s department.

The facility was under lockdown due to the disturbance.

Suspect who shot four officers, killed one after barricading himself inside Texas home, in custody

July 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(LEVELLAND, Texas) — Four law enforcement officers were shot and one was killed by a suspect barricaded in a home in Levelland, Texas.

Levelland police officers came under fire at about 1 p.m. Thursday from a person who was locked and barricaded inside a home, police said. They had previously received a call from a citizen who said their neighbor was “acting strange and appeared to be walking around with a large gun,” police said. The Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team was called to assist Levelland police officers at 2:15 p.m. local time.

Officers made brief contact with the suspect, but they said he was very hostile and didn’t want to talk to police. Minutes later, they said “he opened the front door of his residence and opened fire. Officers returned fire but suspect did not appear to be hit.”

SWAT Commander Sgt. Josh Bartlett was struck by gunfire shortly after arriving to help the Levelland Police Department. He was taken to Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock where he was later pronounced dead, according to the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.

“We appreciate the public’s support during this difficult time and ask for continued prayers for his family, both blood and blue,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Three other law enforcement officers, including one other Lubbock sheriff’s deputy, a Hockley County sheriff’s deputy and a Levelland police officer, were shot, according to officials.

One of the injured officers, Sergeant Sean Wilson, is out of surgery and is in critical but stable condition, authorities said. The others were treated and released.

The suspect was arrested following an 11-hour standoff with police.

Levelland Police Chief Albert Garcia and Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe said at a press conference Friday morning, around 1:30 a.m. ET, that the standoff was over, and the suspect was in custody. He has now been identified as Omar Soto-Chavira, 22.

Police said Soto-Chavira is known to law enforcement and they have had prior contact with him.

“Our community mourns the loss of Sgt. Josh Bartlett, with the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team,” the Levelland Police Department said in a statement. “He gave his life in the defense of the citizens of Levelland today. We send our heartfelt prayers to his family, both blood and blue. Thank you for your service, Sgt. Bartlett. It is a debt we can never repay.”

“The Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office continues to work with The Levelland Police Department, The Texas Department of Public Safety, The Lubbock Police Department, Hockley County Sheriff’s Office, ATF, Homeland Security, FBI, and US Marshal’s office to find a resolution to the current situation,” the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Levelland is located about 30 miles west of Lubbock.

Prosecutor calls request for new trial by Mollie Tibbetts killer a ‘fishing expedition’

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(DES MOINES, Iowa) — An Iowa judge is expected to decide as early as Friday if he will grant a request from the attorneys for Cristhian Bahena Rivera the man convicted of murdering University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, to compel law enforcement agencies to allow them to review evidence in a purported sex trafficking investigation and the search for a missing 11-year-old boy.

Attorneys for Bahena Rivera argued on Thursday that they suspect the two cases are linked to a man they say could be Tibbetts’ killer.

“There’s something rotten in this area,” defense attorney Chad Frese said, saying that the sex trafficking investigation and the disappearance of Xavior Harrelson both occurred in the same rural area where Tibbetts, 20, was abducted while out for a jog in 2018 and murdered.

The request to review records in both cases came as part of a motion made by Bahena Rivera and his attorneys for a new trial based on evidence revealed by two independent witnesses who claim the same man told them he and a 50-year-old sex trafficker kidnapped Tibbetts and then killed her when the search for her whereabouts drew national attention.

Poweshiek County, Iowa, Judge Joel Yates said he will decide by the end of this week whether to force law enforcement agencies to allow the defense attorneys to review evidence in investigations that prosecutors say have no link to the Tibbetts case.

“We resist providing anything that they’re asking for. There is no discovery post-trial,” prosecutor Scott Brown, an assistant Iowa state attorney general, told Yates, calling the defense request “a fishing expedition.”

“If they want to go and knock themselves out trying to find out all of this confusing information that has been presented to the court, go right ahead and do that,” Brown said of the defense. “But there is nothing in the rules, nothing in the case law that compels the state to chase its tail because they’re asking us to do it.”

Yates has tentatively scheduled a second hearing for July 27 on the remaining part of the defense motion for a new trial.

Yates had been scheduled to sentence Bahena Rivera on Thursday, but he postponed it to hear the defense argue its motion.

During Thursday’s hearing, Bahena Rivera sat handcuffed at the defense table wearing black-and-white striped prison clothes and listening to the proceeding with the aid of a Spanish interpreter.

A jury convicted Bahena Rivera, a 27-year-old Mexican national farmworker, in May of first-degree murder. Bahena Rivera, 27, is facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The defense attorneys requested a new trial after Brown informed them before the verdict was announced that an inmate at a local jail came forward to authorities claiming his cellmate told him he and a 50-year-old alleged sex trafficker killed Tibbetts and framed a Hispanic man.

Bahena Rivera’s attorneys filed a motion Tuesday alleging prosecutors failed to disclose a separate investigation was occurring at the time of Tibbetts’ disappearance involving a man, who is now in prison on a gun charge, allegedly operating a sex trafficking “trap house” in New Sharon, Iowa, which is 27 miles from where Tibbetts went missing on July 18, 2018. The man, according to the defense attorneys, had once been the live-in boyfriend of the mother of Xavior Harrelson, who has been missing since May 27.

The defense attorneys also presented Yates with a search warrant executed in 2019 on the suspected sex-traffickers house that they say corroborates what the witness claims his cellmate told him. The witness purportedly claimed his cellmate, who defense attorneys named in their motion and in their arguments in court, told him he saw Tibbetts bound and gagged at the trap house and that he participated in her murder.

A second witness contacted authorities within hours of the first witness claiming the same man told her a similar story, defense attorneys said.

“That evidence is exculpatory and it has not been produced,” defense attorney Jennifer Frese, who is married to Chad Frese, said of the investigations into the sex trafficking trap house and the disappearance of the missing boy.

Brown said he disclosed the information to the defense about the jailed witness coming forward as soon as he learned about it, which he claimed was on the day the defense rested its case. He said he offered to request a halt to the trial while the new evidence was being checked out but Chad Frese declined the offer because, according to Brown, the information was “it was inconsistent to what the defendant said.”

During the trial, Bahena Rivera took the witness stand and testified that he was kidnapped by two masked men who forced him to drive them to where Tibbetts was expected to be jogging. He claimed that when they found Tibbetts, one of the men stabbed her to death, put her body in the trunk of Bahena Rivera’s car and made him drive to a cornfield, where the young woman’s badly decomposed remains were discovered a month after she went missing.

Bahena Rivera admitted on the witness stand that he placed Tibbetts’ body in the cornfield but said he was not involved in her murder. In addition, Bahena Rivera claimed during his testimony that he didn’t tell investigators about the masked men because they threatened to harm his former girlfriend, the mother of his daughter, if he did.

“There is no connection between anything with Xavior Harrelson and Mollie Tibbetts’ disappearance,” Brown said. “Wow is all I can say with regard to their (the defense’s) request to go down that road.”

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