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My journey as a Hispanic bone marrow donor: Reporter’s Notebook

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — “I’m sorry, I think my veins are camera shy,” I joked to the nurse who was having trouble finding the right place on my hand for an IV.

I was surrounded by cameras and wearing nothing but a gown and some unflattering yellow socks that all patients are required to wear at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. The awkwardness of having several people in the hospital room and the discomfort of the bone marrow donation I was about to undergo was all voluntary and for a good reason: to give a stranger a second chance at life.

Three months prior to the procedure, the Be The Match Registry, a list of millions of prospective blood stem cell and bone marrow donors operated by the Minneapolis-based National Marrow Donor Program, informed me via email that I was a potential blood stem cell match for a patient. I had been on the registry for nearly a decade and this was the third time I was a possible match for a patient, but it would be the first time I actually got to donate.

Early on, I decided to approach this experience not just as a donor but also a reporter. I’m an immigration reporter and producer for ABC News, and learning as much as I could about the donation process kept the focus off my nervousness. I learned that as a Mexican male on the registry, I was part of an astonishing minority. Latinos are severely underrepresented when it comes to bone marrow donors. Of the 9 million U.S. registered donors on the Be The Match Registry, only 13% are Latino compared to 57% who identify as white.

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tell a story about how ethnicity could play a crucial role in finding a donor, and I started thinking about who my transplant recipient would be. In order to maintain privacy, donors and recipients are kept anonymous until a year after the procedure when they have the opportunity to meet, if they both agree. To this day, I still don’t know the most basic things about my recipient. I often wonder what their name is and where they’re from. What I do know is that the patient was a young individual battling leukemia and that, as a Mexican male on the registry, I was helping to better the odds for people like them to survive a deadly disease.

Despite being sold on the idea of reporting about this experience, it was actually the death of a good friend that sealed the deal and made me go forward with the process.

I received that email from Be The Match Registry a few days after my friend and colleague, ABC News photojournalist Jim Sicile, passed away from cancer. Reeling from the death of such a lovable and caring person, I wanted to honor his legacy.

“What better way than by helping a stranger?” I asked myself.

Why ethnicity might play a role

Hispanics have a 48% chance of finding a donor on the Be The Match Registry. In other words, less than half of Hispanic patients are likely to find one. That probability is even lower for Asian or Pacific Islanders and Black or African American patients.

At the start of the vetting process, I was sent a buccal swab kit to collect cells from inside my cheek. Scientists analyze the human leukocyte antigens (HLA), which are proteins — or markers — found on the surface of most cells in the body and make up a person’s tissue type. HLA are an important part of the immune system, which uses these markers to recognize the cells that belong in the body and those that do not.

HLA tests is used to match tissues and DNA between the donor and the person receiving a bone marrow or cord blood transplant. Since these markers are inherited, patients have a higher likelihood of finding a donor that shares the same ethnic background. In some cases, donors from different backgrounds can also match.

“Your ancestors for generations and generations have gone through a lot, depending on which area of the world your ancestors are coming from,” Dr. Abeer Madbouly, principal bioinformatics scientist at the Be The Match Registry, told ABC News. “People who survive these conditions have a common agent.”

Stem cells, which are largely found in blood and bone marrow, that soft, spongy tissue in the center of certain bones, produce cells that help the body carry oxygen to organs and tissue, fight infections and stop bleeding. The majority of stem cell donations happen non-surgically through a process that collects the cells from the blood. In other cases, a patient must undergo a medical procedure under general anesthesia that harvests marrow from the hip bones.

Day of donation

I’m admittedly squeamish when it comes to needles — you couldn’t pay me to look at my arm when I’m getting a flu shot. So when I learned that my patient required a bone marrow donation, I became very nervous.

The Be The Match Registry provides a team of caseworkers to ensure that the donor’s needs are met. All expenses incurred as a result of the donation process are covered, including missed days of work. Each donor is also assigned a counselor, and mine helped calm my nerves as the date of the procedure drew near.

On the day of the donation, Dr. Wolfgang Rennert drew a picture of my pelvic bones and explained to me that a small incision would be made on each of my hips so that a thin needle could harvest the marrow.

The last thing I recall before the anesthesia worked its magic is looking around the hospital room. I thanked the doctors for their life-saving work and said a silent prayer for my recipient. It went something along the lines of: “I hope this helps you and you have a long life.”

I woke up about an hour and half later feeling some soreness in my hips. I was tired from the anesthesia but still managed to take a selfie video before falling asleep.

“I just woke up from the procedure,” I said in the video. “I’m very, very groggy but overall feeling pretty good. I’m happy, proud and hopeful for the recipient.”

I spent the night in the hospital. The next day, I interviewed Rennert about why minorities are underrepresented in bone marrow donations.

“The background of it is the sad truth that our health care system is unevenly distributed in its access to health services,” he said, “so that minority populations have less access not only as recipients but also as donors.”

Alfredo’s story

“I have a motorcycle,” Alfredo Diaz said as he tried to tickle me and climb on my shoulders. Before I could inquire further, he darted into his backyard and came riding back on a battery-powered “motorcycle.”

I had known the playful 9-year-old for less than an hour and we already had a secret handshake. Most importantly, we had a common goal for our meeting: to do an interview for ABC News at his home in Chicago and to help find him a bone marrow donor. It had been almost a month since I had donated to a different patient.

Alfredo suffers from a very rare genetic disorder called IL-10 receptor deficiency, and he is one of just 100 known cases in the United States. The illness causes severe inflammation in his gut and affects his organs, which means Alfredo’s body is unable to absorb nutrients the way healthy ones do. He has spent his life in and out of hospitals. He has an ostomy bag and eats through a feeding tube. Without a bone marrow donor, he is not expected to survive.

“We’ve been struggling since the first week he was born, and I don’t want to lose my son,” Alfredo’s mother, Natalia Torres, told ABC News. “I’ve been asking God to please help us find this matching donor for him.”

Natalia and her husband Reuben have been trying to raise awareness in the Hispanic community about the benefits of donating bone marrow. Of the 9 million U.S. registered donors on the Be The Match Registry, only 13% are Latino compared to 57% who identify as white. By building a wider network of willing donors, patients like Alfredo have a better chance at overcoming their illness.

“Our culture really isn’t educated on donating or being donors,” Alfredo’s father, Reuben Diaz, told ABC News.

My hope for my patient and Alfredo

Donating bone marrow has been the most fulfilling experience of my life. It’s also the most immersive story I’ve ever told.

I may not ever meet the recipient, but my wish for them is the same for Alfredo.

I hope one day you overcome your illness and get to witness the beauty this life has to offer. May you one day find fulfillment in an act of kindness or a silly handshake. Most importantly, may you be able to dream big and unafraid.

Nor’easter’s heavy rain and wind knocks out power to nearly 600,000 customers

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Nearly 600,000 customers are without power in New England Wednesday after a powerful, record-breaking nor’easter lashed the Northeast.

Heavy rain flooded roads from Massachusetts to New York, while water rescues were reported in New Jersey.

Dangerous winds also toppled trees and blocked roads.

Wind gusts climbed to 94 mph on Martha’s Vineyard.

Brant Rock in Marshfield right now. @kellyannwx tells me gusts of up to 44mph so far. The peak winds of this Fall Nor’easter is expected overnight @WCVB #wcvb pic.twitter.com/RBtEMZ6aG3

— Nathalie Pozo (@NathalieWCVB) October 27, 2021

The storm became a “bomb cyclone” when its pressure dropped 24 mb in less than 24 hours. In Nantucket, Massachusetts, the nor’easter set a record for the lowest pressure ever recorded in October.

The heavy rain will be ending in most of the Northeast on Wednesday but the winds will continue to roar up to 60 mph from Long Island to Massachusetts to Maine. On Wednesday morning, winds gusted near 80 mph in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

More power outages are possible Wednesday in New England. By 7 p.m., wind gusts could still reach near 50 mph in Massachusetts.

Inside the rise of AR-15-style rifles in America

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — This report is a part of “Rethinking Gun Violence,” an ABC News series examining the level of gun violence in the U.S. — and what can be done about it.

Alex Schachter, a 14-year-old marching band member gunned down in the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting, would have graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School this year.

“All of Alex’s friends were able to walk across that stage,” his father, Max Schachter, told ABC News. “Since Alex wasn’t there, I did it and collected his posthumous diploma. It’s sad watching all of these kids go off and go to college and do everything that I hoped that Alex would do.”

Alexander, my sweetest little boy. I still can not believe this has happened. How? Why? I miss you every day.

One week from worst Valentine’s Day ever. pic.twitter.com/Se1o9tCPhk

— Max Schachter (@maxschachter) February 7, 2021

The accused Parkland gunman was armed with an AR-15-style rifle when he stormed into Stoneman Douglas in February 2018, killing Alex and 16 others.

The United States has over 20 million AR-15-style rifles legally in circulation, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a national trade association for the firearm industry. That accounts for a small percentage of the roughly 400 million guns in the country — but the popularity of AR-15-style rifles has been growing “exponentially” ever since the federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004, said Mark Oliva, the NSSF’s public affairs director.

Because AR-15-style rifles are so versatile, with the ability to add scopes and change both the length and size of the barrel, they became a desirable weapon for many Americans, especially people who like to hunt, ABC News contributor and former FBI agent Brad Garrett said.

But along with that rise in popularity, the use of these weapons in mass shootings is also climbing, according to Louis Klarevas, a research professor at Teachers College, Columbia University who specializes in gun violence and safety. From Sandy Hook to San Bernardino to Orlando to Las Vegas, “most of the deadly high-profile mass shootings in the past decade were perpetrated with assault weapons, particularly AR-15-style assault rifles,” Klarevas said.

The history

Sometimes referred to as “assault weapons” or “military-style rifles,” this class of firearm can encompass many different kinds of guns — not just the more well-known rifles, such as the AK and AR-15 series weapons. The term “assault weapon” generally encompasses a wide range of models, including the UZI rifle and pistol, the Beretta AR-70, the SKS rifle and more, according to the California Attorney General’s Assault Weapons Identification Guide.

AR-15 style rifles are rifles “modeled on the AR-15 platform and that fire the same caliber cartridges,” Klarevas said, such as the Smith & Wesson M&P15 and the Ruger AR-556.

Along with their use in hunting, for some Americans, AR-15-type weapons also connote patriotism, which can be traced back to the M16 military rifle that became prominent during the Vietnam War, according to Garrett.

“It didn’t hurt that Sylvester Stallone uses an assault-type weapon in ‘Rambo,'” the 1982 film about a Vietnam veteran, Garrett said.

But in 1989, an AK-47 was used to kill five children at a Stockton, California, elementary school, leading California to become the first state to enact an assault weapons ban, Klarevas said. That was followed by two other high-profile mass shootings with semiautomatic pistols — one in San Francisco and one on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train — in 1993.

Those shootings were the impetus for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, signed into effect by President Bill Clinton in 1994, stopping the manufacture, sale, transfer and possession of these types of firearms.

The federal law led to a decrease in gun massacre incidents where six or more victims are killed, Klarevas wrote in a report he issued last year as an expert witness in a federal court case challenging California’s ban on assault weapons. When compared to data from 1984 to 1994, the U.S. saw a 43% drop in gun massacre deaths and a 26% decline in gun massacre deaths involving assault weapons in 1994 to 2004, according to his report.

The federal ban was not renewed by Congress and expired in 2004. Gun massacre incidents involving these weapons then skyrocketed from 2004 to 2014, jumping 167% compared to the 10 years the federal law was in effect, Klarevas’ report said, and active shooter incidents with different guns overall have been steadily climbing over the last two decades, according to FBI data, which does not break down murders by exact model of gun used.

While there’s no federal assault weapons ban now, Washington, D.C., and seven states — California, New Jersey, Hawaii, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York — have banned the possession of certain kinds of these firearms, and the rules vary state to state. According to Klarevas’ report, “In the past 30 years, accounting for population, states with assault weapons bans in place experienced 54% fewer gun massacres involving the use of assault weapons and 67% fewer deaths resulting from such attacks perpetrated with assault weapons.”

The pros and cons

In many rural and suburban areas, fully and semi-automatic rifles hold a practical value, such as for defending property, and a familial value, to pass down weapons to future generations, Garrett said.

AR-15-type rifles are also beloved as sporting rifles because they are accurate, versatile, light and easy to disassemble, Garrett said. They’re also simple to shoot — Garrett said anyone could be trained in a few hours.

Oliva and his wife, both Marine Corps veterans, shoot AR-15s recreationally.

“The way it’s designed, it is easily adaptable. It can fit my frame,” Oliva said, and with adjustments, “It can also fit my wife, and she can shoot that rifle just as easily.”

Oliva stressed that AR-15-style rifles are semi-automatic — and the automatic rifle he used in Iraq and Afghanistan “is not the same rifle that I have in my gun safe today.”

The rifle he carried in war was automatic and could fire three rounds without any other action, Oliva said, while the gun in his safe is semi-automatic and requires pulling the trigger every time you want to fire.

But according to Garrett, automatic and semi-automatic rifles can easily fall into the hands of those who want to commit murder.

Sometimes after a high-profile mass shooting, states will tighten up gun laws, such as by requiring background checks, reducing the sale of certain weapons or banning the sale of high-capacity magazines. But those looking to buy these items can often find another way, Garrett said.

In most states you must be 21 years old to buy a handgun from a federally licensed firearms dealer, but only need to be 18 to buy a rifle, he pointed out. That’s because, historically, rifles have been used by people in rural areas to hunt or defend property, Garrett said. But with the prevalence of private and black market sales, “none of these laws apply in reality,” he said.

Some guns are modified by bump stocks, which are used to make the weapons fire like machine guns. The perpetrator of the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, used a bump stock, leading them to be banned federally in 2019.

Since 9/11, the 10 deadliest acts of intentional violence in the U.S. have all been gun massacres, according to Klarevas. Of those 10 acts, the seven most recent — including Parkland — involved what he defined as an assault weapon. The other three shootings, carried out with handguns, were the oldest, one taking place in 2007 and two others happening in 2009.

In the 1980s, less than 20% of gun massacres involved assault weapons, while in the 2010s, that number went up to 35%, Klarevas said. In the last three years, those weapons made up 67% of gun massacres, according to his report.

The push and pull over bans

When Alex was killed in Parkland, “it left a huge hole in my family that could never be replaced,” his aunt, Gail Schwartz, told ABC News. Alex would have turned 18 in July.

Schwartz, along with other family members and survivors of the Parkland and Orlando mass shootings, launched Ban Assault Weapons NOW (BAWN), a grassroots initiative aiming to ban assault weapons in Florida through legislative and electoral efforts.

BAWN first looked to bring a constitutional amendment banning assault weapons before Florida voters, and collected signatures and donations across the state, she said.

“But when we took the amendment to the Florida Supreme Court — because we need to get their approval before appearing on the ballot — the … justices rejected the amendment,” Schwartz said.

Florida’s Supreme Court rejected the proposed constitutional amendment in June 2020 on grounds that the wording was misleading, The Miami Herald reported. The ballot measure summary, which was limited to 75 words, said assault weapons lawfully possessed before the new rule would be exempt; the ballot measure’s full text said the weapons could not be transferred, the Herald reported. The majority of the justices, however, said “the summary exempts the weapon itself. So, under that theory, the weapon, if it’s registered, could be transferred to someone else,” and since the justices’ “interpretation of the summary conflicts with the full text of the amendment,” they deemed that “the measure itself is misleading,” the Herald reported.

When BAWN lobbied the Florida legislature in 2020, 52 co-sponsors signed on, accounting for 90% of the state’s Democratic legislators, she said. But no Republicans — who hold the majority in Florida’s legislature — would co-sponsor the bills, Schwartz said.

Those numbers mostly match up with how members of political parties feel about a potential ban. When split by party, 27% of Republicans support an assault weapons ban and 70% oppose, while 88% of Democrats support the idea and 11% oppose it, according to an April poll from Quinnipiac University, a nationally recognized public opinion polling center.

Overall, 52% of Americans support and 43% oppose a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons, according to the poll.

Oliva is among those against a ban.

“It’s truly heartbreaking to hear the stories” of mass shootings, Oliva said, but he added that AR-15s tend to take the blame “for the evil that the individual has committed instead of holding those individuals responsible.”

“I don’t want to take away the ability for those who choose to defend themselves with a firearm of their choosing from that choice,” Oliva said. “I think when we start to look at bans on entire classes of firearms, what you’re doing is taking a tool away from those who would choose to defend themselves.”

Dads form ‘Dad’s on Duty’ squad to help stop violence at their kids’ high school

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(SHREVEPORT, La.) — When a series of fights at a Louisiana high school resulted in nearly two dozen students getting arrested, suspended or expelled in a span of 72 hours, a group of dads stepped up to help.

The five dads, all parents of students at Southwood High School in Shreveport, met on a Sunday night to brainstorm how they could help lessen the violence at their children’s school.

“After about three hours, we came up with the idea to have us be a presence on the campus,” said Michael LaFitte Jr., who hosted the meeting at his office, told “Good Morning America.” “We thought we could be a collective unit to be able to show them that there are strong men who are on the campus.”

The dads named their group “Dad’s on Duty USA.”

For the past six weeks, they have traded shifts so members of the group are always present on the Southwood High campus.

Wearing “Dad’s on Duty” T-shirts, the dads welcome students to school, share jokes with them and offer a helping hand and listening ear, according to LaFitte, whose daughter is a junior at the high school.

“Although we’re titled ‘dad’s on duty,’ we also serve as uncle’s on duty, we serve as men of the community on duty,” he said. “Because there are some folks who don’t have a father or don’t have such a great relationship with their father, and it’s our goal to let them see what the right relationship with a male figure is supposed to look like.”

The five dads who originally started the effort, as first reported by CBS News, have more than quadrupled in number, according to LaFitte, who works with an independent security company to vet the fathers who participate.

Working in shifts, there are six to 10 dads on campus at Southwood High every day, throughout the school day. They not only have a presence on the school campus, but also at extracurricular activities like football games and a recent homecoming dance.

“Some days we have long, long days, but we will be at school no matter what,” said Zachary Johnson, who has four children at Southwood High and, like the other dads involved, also works a full-time job. “When your heart is into whatever you’re doing, you make it work.”

David Telsee III said his son, a 15-year-old sophomore, was at first not sure about the idea of seeing his dad on campus every day, but now has “warmed up to it.”

“At first, mine was like, ‘What are you doing dad?'” said Teslee, who spends around three to four hours each day on campus, split between the morning and the afternoon. “He’s starting to warm up to it now, but at first he couldn’t believe it.”

The dads’ efforts have paid off, according to Kim H. Pendleton, Ph.D., the principal of Southwood High, a public school with around 1,500 students.

Pendleton said the school faced serious gang violence at the beginning of the school year, but that has tapered off since the start of the “Dad’s on Duty” effort.

“After the fights, there was a heavy police presence at the school and the kids told me they did not like that,” said Pendleton. “The dads are from the community.”

“They care and they’re committed to being present,” she said. “The kids see them as they’re walking in in the morning. They greet the kids. They tell corny jokes. When I do my rounds to classrooms, they walk with me. They’re making sure that kids are leaving school safely. People are able to talk to them.”

With the success of their effort, the dads said they are working to expand “Dad’s on Duty” to other schools in their school district and then hope to make the effort national.

“We just want people to know that it’s possible,” said Johnson. “We went with it hoping it would make an impact on the school, and now that we see that it’s working, we want to take it to other schools.”

“We’d like this to be the same as the PTA, something that is in every school in every county,” added LaFitte.

Pendleton said the dads have helped her fulfill her mission to make sure every student on campus feels seen and heard.

“My biggest charge to kids is to find one adult that you can interact with and you can trust and you can share information with and we can help you,” said Pendleton. “I want them to find one person on campus who knows who they are, and the dads help with that.”

To her, it’s a great demonstration that it takes a team “to make sure that a school works and works well.”

As booster shots roll out nationwide, scientists stress original vaccines are still working

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Amid a nationwide campaign to promote COVID-19 booster shots, vaccine scientists and public health experts say vaccines are still holding up remarkably well for most people — depending on how effectiveness is measured.

In fact, many scientists now worry that the recent booster shot authorization could give the false impression that existing vaccines are no longer offering protection.

“They all work well,” said Dr. Paul Goepfert, an infectious disease physician and director of the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic. “They aren’t perfect by any means. But if your bar is prevention of hospitalizations in the United States, they still work incredibly well.”

A vaccine’s effectiveness can be measured in several different ways. One is their ability to protect people from mild infections. When first authorized, Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines proved 95% and 94% effective using this threshold, and Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccine proved 75% effective.

“No vaccine entirely prevents disease,” said Dr. Anna Durbin, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Even protecting from mild infections is “a high bar for a vaccine,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an FDA advisory panel member and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

And even if a vaccine achieves that high bar, t quickly starts waning. Antibodies, which protect against infection, surge after vaccination — but then rapidly fade. Other parts of the immune system, like T cells and B cells, remain more stable over time, protecting against severe disease and death.

Scientists and public health experts say what really matters is a vaccine’s ability to prevent severe illness and hospitalization. And on that metric, all three vaccines performed well from the start — each more than 90% effective — and have remained relatively stable, even through the emergence of a new delta variant

“It’s the unusual vaccine that protects you against mild illness,” Offit said. “It’s OK to get infected. It really is. You just don’t want to get seriously infected.”

A comprehensive study from New York state offers a glimpse of this phenomenon, finding that all three vaccines remained roughly 86% effective when it came to reducing the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 from May to August.

But over the same time frame, all three lost some ability to protect against breakthrough infection. Though vaccine efficacy started from a high point, from May to August, efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine declined by 25% to 14% depending on age, the Moderna vaccine declined 18% to 9% and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine declined 19% to 11%.

When it comes to booster shots, experts agree there are some people who clearly need them — chiefly, people with weakened immune systems and the elderly, who also mount a less robust immune response.

Today, more than 13 million people in the United States have already received a booster shot. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are authorized six months after the first shot for those 65 and older, and those at high risk of developing COVID-19. Johnson & Johnson boosters, meanwhile, are authorized for anyone at least two months after the first shot. After the Pfizer booster shots were authorized, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said it was a “walk, don’t run” situation, during a conversation with The Atlantic.

“There is no doubt that if you were to get a booster every two months or so, you may prevent all symptoms,” Durbin said. “But there’s a cost to that.”

It’s expensive, for one. And there are concerns that frequent boosting could dull the immune system’s ability to fight future variants, because the boosters could focus the immune response on the COVID-19 strain used to make the current vaccines.

Widely publicized concerns about breakthrough infections may have “focused the conversation prematurely on the need for boosters,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.

“Concerns about waning immunity and breakthrough cases have likely been overblown,” Brownstein said.

And boosters for the vaccinated — while offering a temporary shield against mild infection — are unlikely to dramatically turn the tide of the pandemic.

“Boosting is not going to be what’s going to be the issue for us as a country,” said Goepfert. “It’s finding the people who are still unvaccinated.”

Airlines turn to facial recognition technology ahead of holiday rush

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The travel industry is gearing up for what could be its busiest season since the coronavirus pandemic began, and at least one U.S. airline is aiming to make things quicker and easier — one face at a time.

Delta Air Lines is just days away from launching a first-of-its-kind pilot program that will implement facial recognition technology at two of America’s largest airports — in Atlanta and Detroit.

The Atlanta-based company partnered with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to create a completely touchless experience, from bag drop to security to boarding.

“So is this the future of flying?” asked ABC News transportation correspondent Gio Benitez.

“This is the future in so many ways,” replied Ranjan Goswami, Delta’s senior vice president of customer experience. “Basically, we want to make the airport experience as effortless as possible. What does that mean? Getting out of lines, not having to stop discombobulated.”

To participate in the voluntary pilot program, passengers must have TSA pre-check and be a member of Delta’s loyalty program.

When participating passengers arrive at the airport’s bag drop, TSA checkpoint or boarding gate, they will just need to lower their face mask to utilize the new technology. Their face will be recognized within seconds, and there will be no need to pull out a boarding pass or record locator.

Delta has previously used similar facial recognition technology for passengers to board some international flights.

And it’s not just Delta.

American Airlines started testing its own biometric screening for boarding in March, and that system is still being tested in Dallas.

“A lot of people may be wondering: ‘Wait a minute, what’s going to happen to my photo?'” Benitez asked. “‘Is Delta going to keep my information?'”

“It’s a very valid concern,” Goswami said. “First, we are not storing any photographic imagery at all. All we do is take your photo. And because you’ve uploaded your passport number as part of your Delta profile… we take that passport number and that picture. We just check it against the customs database from your passport photo.”

With Delta expecting more than 5.5 million travelers over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, the pilot program will come at the perfect time.

“It’s actually a good congruence of circumstances that we have this technology ready,” said Byron Merritt, Delta’s vice president of experience design. “We’re going to be able to bring it to life before the holidays and hopefully make a better experience for our customers as they come back.”

How schools plan to keep students safe from COVID as cold weather arrives

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As colder temperatures begin to settle in for many parts of the nation, schools are set to lose critical tools to keep students and staff safe from coronavirus spread, such as extended outdoor time and open windows.

Despite this disadvantage, medical experts and physicians say elementary and middle school administrators can still limit the spread of the virus during the next couple of months as the vaccine rollout begins for younger age groups.

“Hopefully this year will not lead to the surge we saw last winter,” Dr. Anne Liu, clinical associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Stanford Health, told ABC News.

Liu and other experts said the best thing schools can do is to maintain masking indoors, consistent testing, proper hand-washing practices and social distancing where applicable.

While not all schools will have up-to-date ventilation systems, masking indoors will ensure that the virus doesn’t spread among students, she said. Testing will also help keep any potential cases and outbreaks from spreading, according to medical experts.

Dr. Allison Bartlett, associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Chicago Medicine, told ABC News that schools have already gotten into the habit of implementing these measures and, most importantly, kids have become accustomed to wearing masks.

“We now have months of experience in the real world in school settings in terms of COVID transmission and how effectively masking in schools works,” she said.

Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, noted that mass rapid testing has also helped schools stop the spread and will be essential to keeping schools open during the winter.

“This allows kids that may have had an exposure to test and stay in school as long as they have daily negative test results,” Brownstein said.

Bartlett and other medical experts who have been studying pediatric coronavirus cases said the best tool against coronavirus spread in schools during the winter will be the approval of COVID-19 vaccines for younger students.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted Tuesday to allow the Pfizer mRNA vaccine to be used for 5-to 11-year-olds. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are slated to vote on approving the vaccine for that age group as early as next week.

The Pfizer vaccine has been available to anyone over 12 since the spring after it was given an emergency use authorization. The FDA fully approved the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and older in August.

Liu, who reviewed the data Pfizer sent to the FDA last week on 5- to 11-year-olds, said the clinical trials have shown the vaccine to be very effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths among that age group, so as more kids receive their doses, the safer classrooms will be in the winter.

Although it will take about five weeks for a student to be fully vaccinated from both doses, including the two-week period to build immunity after their second dose, Liu said that young students will be in a better place the minute they start their vaccination process.

“One shot alone provided strong protection based on that data,” she said.

Bartlett, who has three sons, two of whom are under 12, said that if the vaccines are approved in November, it would ensure that students have that protection preceding the holidays when they are likely to be celebrating indoors with large groups of people.

Coming back from winter break, schools will be able to mitigate any loss of outdoor space and or decreased ventilation if more of their students are vaccinated, Bartlett said. And the vaccinations could help ease class interruptions in another way, she said.

“We’ll hopefully be able to manage vaccinated children in a way that they could probably stay in school if exposed to someone with COVID and not have that disruption in their learning,” she said.

Bartlett warned that it will take a while before schools can start rolling back masking requirements because that will depend on vaccination rates among students.

“As eager as I am to get kids out of masks, I’m really in the mind to go slow,” Bartlett said. “Kids are doing an amazing job dealing with wearing masks and getting our kids able to get vaccinated will be a big motivator to get the pandemic under control.”

Bartlett added that parents must also be aware of the overall COVID-19 transmission rates within their community during the winter, because it will impact the number of cases in schools.

“I think it all could be enough, but the major contributor among kids in schools is what goes on outside the schools in the community,” she said. “If we don’t do a good job in controlling transmissions for adults it will bleed into the schools.”

What to know about Jessica Rosenworcel, who was nominated to become first woman to lead FCC

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Jessica Rosenworcel is in line to make history as the first woman to head the Federal Communications Commission, after President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday his intent to officially nominate her as a commissioner and designate her as chair of the agency tasked with regulating telecommunications technology.

Rosenworcel has served as acting chair of the FCC since January, but would need to be confirmed by the Senate to assume her new role as chair in an official capacity. She has been a commissioner since 2012.

Her nomination could also mean the end to Trump-era clampdowns on net neutrality, as Rosenworcel has been a fierce advocate for an internet that is “open and available for all.”

“The internet should be open and available for all. That’s what net neutrality is about,” Rosenworcel said in an October 2020 statement. “It’s why people from across this country rose up to voice their frustration and anger with the Federal Communications Commission when it decided to ignore their wishes and roll back net neutrality.”

She added that she views the rollbacks to net neutrality as a way to “make it easier for broadband companies to block websites, slow speeds, and dictate what we can do and where we can go online.”

During her brief stint as acting chair, Rosenworcel has focused on closing the digital divide at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an abrupt dependence on internet access for millions of Americans in order to go to school or do their jobs.

Rosenworcel’s policy approach and the historic nature of her nomination has also been lauded for representing the needs of women in a sector where they remain underrepresented in leadership positions.

“Every issue is a gender issue, even broadband access,” Rosenworcel wrote in a July op-ed she co-authored with Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama.

The op-ed cited how 31% of women have worried about paying their broadband bill during the pandemic, and delved into the issues working mothers especially faced when schools shuttered for in-person learning. The piece promoted the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which aims to support students who need internet access at home in order to participate in virtual schooling during the health crisis.

The White House also recognized her inclusive approach to telecommunications policy, especially for low-income communities, in a statement Tuesday.

“During her time at the agency, she has worked to promote greater opportunity, accessibility, and affordability in our communications services in order to ensure that all Americans get a fair shot at 21st century success,” a statement from the White House announcing her nomination Tuesday said. “From fighting to protect an open internet, to ensuring broadband access for students caught in the Homework Gap through the FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund, to making sure that households struggling to afford internet service stay connected through the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, she has been a champion for connectivity for all.”

She has also led a fight against illegal robocalls, the statement added, and worked to enhance consumer protections.

Rosenworcel previously worked as a senior communications counsel for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and before that practiced communications law after graduating from the New York University School of Law.

The mother of two is originally from Hartford, Connecticut, but currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband.

In addition to announcing Rosenworcel’s nomination, the Biden administration said Tuesday that it plans to nominate fellow net neutrality advocate Gigi Sohn as an FCC commissioner. If both the new nominees are confirmed, it would give the FCC a Democratic majority. If their confirmations are delayed until Rosenworcel’s term expires at the end of the year, Republicans would hold a majority on the commission — setting up a potential political showdown over their confirmations.

TikTok, Snap, YouTube execs grilled on impact on young users: Key takeaways

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A Senate panel on Tuesday grilled executives from YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat on what the social media companies are doing to ensure young users’ safety in the wake of revelations about Facebook’s practices and allegations the platforms need to do more to prevent potentially harmful effects on kids.

“They have deepened America’s concern and outrage and have led to increasing calls for accountability, and there will be accountability,” Senate Commerce subcommittee Chair Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in his opening remarks regarding the newly exposed details on the inner workings of social media giants.

“We’re hearing the same stories of harm” caused by YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat, Blumenthal said, calling this, “for Big Tech, a Big Tobacco moment.”

“This time is different,” he said.

The subcommittee is seeking information from executives at TikTok, Snap Inc. and YouTube on how critics say algorithms can magnify harm to children, with the goal of passing legislation aimed to protect kids.

“You’re parents,” said Ranking Member Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., to the witnesses in her opening statement. “What would you do to protect your child?”

Tuesday’s hearing comes as the subcommittee expands its scope after hearing from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen earlier this month. She alleged that executives blatant disregarded concerns when they learned their platforms could have harmful effects on foreign democracies and the mental health of children.

The hearing also marked the first time TikTok and Snapchat have testified before lawmakers, while Facebook has been called to more than 30 congressional hearings through the years and YouTube executives have already appeared in front this Congress earlier in the year.

The social media executives on Tuesday vigorously defended how their platforms protect children from inappropriate content.

Here are some key takeaways:

Tech companies blasted for alleged lack of transparency

Different from a normally polarized Washington, senators on both sides of the aisle came together to drill the social media executives on transparency and focused on whether they’d allow access to independent researchers to study their algorithms, which some allege have exposed kids to harmful behavior and fueled eating disorders in young girls.

All three platforms said they have studied the potential negative impacts on children’s mental health.

Blumenthal asked, “If an academic researcher comes to you on child psychology and wants to determine whether one of your products causes teen mental health issues or addiction, they get access to raw data from you without interference?”

Jennifer Stout, vice president for global public policy of Snapchat parent Snap Inc., said her company’s algorithms “operate very differently” from those of the other platforms under scrutiny, but ultimately signaled a willingness to support outside researchers, as did TikTok’s executive.

“Yes, senator, we believe transparency for the average is incredibly important. We’re one of the first companies to publish publicly, a deep dive in how our algorithm works,” said Michael Beckerman, a TikTok vice president and head of public policy for the Americas.

Leslie Miller, vice president for government affairs and public policy of YouTube’s owner Google, skirted the question and said that outside research “would depend on the details” — an answer that frustrated Blumenthal.

“I’m going to cite the difference between your response between Mister Beckerman’s and Ms. Stout’s, which indicates certainly a strong hesitancy if not resistance,” Blumenthal said to Miller.

Overall, the executives defended what senators deemed was a lack of transparency.

Stout said in her closing statement that the protection of children is the “highest priority,” and Miller also said at YouTube there “no more important thing than the safety of kids online.”

But Tiktok appeared to be most willing for congressional oversight with Beckerman saying squarely in his closing statement, “We support stronger privacy rules to be put in place.”

Push for privacy legislation

While millions of young users log into the platforms every day, the bipartisan panel of senators appeared to agree that not enough is being done to protect them from harmful content.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., used the moment to push the companies to say whether they support his proposed privacy laws banning the use of targeted ads on kids and other potentially harmful features.

One piece of legislation he’s introduced, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, would prohibit internet companies from collecting personal information from anyone under the age of 13 without parental consent.

“Do you support it or not?” he asked the Snap executive.

“I think, senator, we’d love to talk to you a bit more about this,” Stout said.

“This is just what drives us crazy,” a heated Markey responded. “We want to talk, we want to talk, we want to talk. This bill’s been out there for years, and you still don’t have a view on it?”

“We like your approach,” Beckerman, from TikTok, said. “However, I think a piece that should be included is a better way to verify age across the Internet across apps rather than the system that is in place now. And I think with that improvement, it would be something that we’d be happy to support.”

Miller said wouldn’t commit on the record but said executives at YouTube have had “constructive” conversations internally.

He also pressed them on the Kids Internet Design and Safety Act, or KIDS Act, another piece of legislation he’s introduced to stop online practices such as manipulative marketing, noting the impact of social media influencers on children.

“They’re inherently manipulative to young kids who often cannot tell that they’re really paid advertisements that their heroes pushing that the hero is getting a monetary kickback,” Markey said. “Should we make it illegal?”

Miller said they would “need to stare at the details of such a bill” to which Markey, again, noted,” It’s been around for a while.”

The TikTok executive said they agree that there should be additional transparency and additional privacy laws, which Snap mirrored, but added the caveat, “We would be happy to look at them.”

After Miller said YouTube executives “support the goals of comprehensive privacy legislation,” when Blumenthal raised the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies, or EARN IT, Act, which has bipartisan Senate support, he said back, “This is the topic that we’ve seen again and again and again, and again. ‘We support the goals, but that’s meaningless unless you support the legislation.”

Focus on potential real-world harm on kids

With the momentum of the findings from the Facebook hearing, the panel argued that social media platforms have been allowed to promote and glorify dangerous content, and it especially harms the nation’s most vulnerable: children.

While executives defended their platforms and listed actions that they’ve taken internally, senators on the committee highlighted several examples of inappropriate content slipping past those safeguards and getting in front of children.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said his staff opened an account saying it was for a teenage girl, and when they opened the “Discover” page with its default settings, found concerning videos.

“They were immediately bombarded with content that I can most politely describe as wildly inappropriate for a child, including recommendations for among other things an invite to play an online sexualized video game, tips on why you shouldn’t go to bars alone,” he said, waving his hands with concern.

The Snap executive said guidelines prevent sexual content to 18 and above, “so I’m unclear as to why that content would’ve shown up for an account that was for a 14-year-old.”

Senators reminded the witnesses that Snapchat’s speed filter allowed users to add their speeds and it took eight years for the company to remove the filter following catastrophic car crashes associated with the app.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., pressed Snapchat over the use of illegal drugs being used on its platform in an argument for greater liability on tech companies, citing the case of Devin Norring, who authorities said died in Minnesota after taking Percocet laced with Fentanyl from a drug dealer on Snapchat.

“They can get on your platform and just find a way to buy it, and that is the problem,” she said. “Are you going to get drugs off Snapchat?”

Stout said it was a “top priority” and that it’s happening on other platforms, too.

“I think there are other ways to do this too as creating liability when this happened, so maybe that’ll make you work even faster, so we don’t lose another kid,” Klobuchar replied.

Citing a recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal which found that Tik Tok algorithm can put young users into content glorifying eating disorders, drug violence, Klobuchar asked blankly, “Have you stopped that?”

Beckerman said it’s something they’ve taken action on are “constantly working on” and repeated their support for the Children and Media Research Advancement Act or CAMRA Act.

Blumenthal pressed TikTok on its effects on teens, saying his staff created TikTok accounts intended for dance videos and within a week those accounts were flooded with content of suicidal ideation, self-injury, sex and eating disorders.

Beckerman suggested some of those challenged are overblown by the press and said that’s “not the typical TikTok experience.”

“We found pass-out videos,” Blumenthal said, pausing for dramatic effect. “We found them, so I have a lot of trouble crediting your response on that score.”

“This is stuff occurring in the real world,” he added later.

COVID-19 live updates: Immunocompromised people may need fourth dose, CDC says

October 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 4.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 738,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 67.2% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 27, 3:41 am
Australia to lift ban on citizens leaving the country

After more than 18 months, Australia announced Wednesday that it will lift a ban on its own people from leaving the country without permission.

Starting Nov. 1, citizens and permanent residents of Australia who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer require an exemption to travel abroad. Australia has imposed some of the world’s strictest border rules amid the pandemic, which Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said has kept the country “free from widespread COVID transmission.”

“The easing of these restrictions is possible thanks to our impressive national vaccination rates, and I thank all those who have done the right thing and rolled up their sleeve,” Andrews said in a statement Wednesday.

While Australian citizens and permanent residents are currently the “first priority,” Andrews said, more travel restrictions — including for some foreigners — will be relaxed as the national vaccination rate “continues to climb.” As of Wednesday, nearly 75% of people aged 16 and over in the country are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data posted by the Australian Department of Health.

“I look forward to further easing restrictions over coming weeks and months as more and more Australians become fully vaccinated,” Andrews said. “Before the end of the year, we anticipate welcoming fully vaccinated skilled workers and international students.”

Oct 26, 8:53 pm
Immunocompromised may need 4th dose: CDC

Immunocompromised people may need a fourth dose of the vaccine, according to newly issued guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Those patients may end up needing an additional shot six months after their third dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, the CDC said. The fourth dose can be of any of the three available vaccines, according to the agency.

This is in line with what the CDC has said before regarding immunocompromised adults. A third shot is considered necessary to establish vaccination for those patients and a boost would need to come six months later, according to the agency.

Oct 26, 4:26 pm
FDA panel greenlights vaccines for kids

An advisory panel at the Food and Drug Administration voted Tuesday in support of the Pfizer vaccine for kids 5 ages 11.

Seventeen people voted “yes” and one person abstained.

Next, the FDA will make a decision. Then, the matter heads to the CDC’s independent advisory panel to deliberate and vote next week, and after that, the CDC director is expected to make the final signoff.

The earliest shots could be in arms is the first week of November.

Oct 26, 2:37 pm
Biden administration to ship vaccines for children as soon as FDA approves them

The Biden administration will begin shipping vaccine doses for kids ages 5 to 11 as soon as the Food and Drug Administration gives the green light in coming days, White House officials told governors on a private phone call Tuesday.

Doing so will allow children to begin receiving shots as soon as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off, which is expected around Nov. 4.

Jeff Zients, the White House coordinator on the federal response to COVID-19, said one big concern is the shorter shelf life for pediatric doses. In trying to make the vaccine easier for pediatricians to handle, the doses for kids 5 to 11 can be kept for only 10 weeks, compared with six to nine months for adult doses.

“We don’t want to have wastage, so we encourage you to build flexibility into your distribution systems you can move around within your state or territory,” he told the governors. Audio of the call was obtained by ABC News. “Just order what you need. We have plenty of supply. We can always get you doses on short notice.”

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