A Black Neighborhood in Alabama Has Yet to Get a Single Vaccine bloombergquint.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bloombergquint.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
What about Coosa County?
The central Alabama county, home to less than 11,000 residents, has no hospital. Its county health department closed its doors in 2016, shuffling residents to county departments to the north and east for services.
Hutcherson, fresh to Coosa County’s emergency management director position after years at the state EMA, wondered what his residents were supposed to do.
“We were being forgotten,” Hutcherson said. “They needed someone to remind them: ‘Look, we re here, too.’ So much emphasis was put on getting vaccinations to health departments, and we don t have one.”
Rural residents have for years fallen through the cracks of Alabama’s health care and economic infrastructure. But a raging pandemic has exposed those cracks as fault lines, revealing disproportionately fatal outcomes and higher rates of disease in rural communities isolated and with limited access to health care.
By Mary Ashley Canevaro
UAB News
Each year in February, the United States honors Black History Month to celebrate the achievements of Black/African American individuals, recognizing the central role of the Black/African American community in America’s history and highlighting the importance of racial justice, diversity and inclusion, and equity.
“One of the principles of Black History Month is that it is a key part of America’s identity,” said Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., FACS, dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine. “One of our struggles in this country is painting America as monochromatic or monolithic; that’s not who we were at our best, and it’s clearly not who we’re going to be in our future. Black History Month is a uniquely different time of reflection because of how African Americans got here. That struggle has continually defined our story and identity, and is a part of who we are as we move forward.”
Low-wage Birmingham workers struggling in pandemic, study shows
Updated Feb 25, 2021;
Posted Feb 25, 2021
A sign outside Frida s Mexican restaurant in Northport, Ala., informing patrons masks are required to enter under Alabama state government mandate due to coronavirus. A survey found that 37% of low wage workers had to disregard PPE requirements to work. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)
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The COVID-19 pandemic, stressing Alabama’s economy as well as its healthcare system, has made many low wage workers choose between their health and their livelihoods.
The survey comes just days after a similar report from Alabama Arise suggesting Alabama lawmakers expand Medicaid and guarantee paid sick leave, citing some of the problems exacerbated by the coronavirus.
COVID pandemic shows Alabama should expand Medicaid, study says
Updated Feb 23, 2021;
Posted Feb 23, 2021
Hundreds of people sat for hours Wednesday outside Alabama State University s Oliver-Dunn Acadome in Montgomery in hopes of resolving issues that have caused them to be denied unemployment benefits. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com)
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A new report from an Alabama public policy organization says the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed barriers to opportunity for the state’s workers, and recommends ways to reverse the damage.
Alabama Arise on Monday put out a report, “The State of Working Alabama 2021,” which suggests lawmakers expand Medicaid and guarantee paid sick leave, as well as improve the state’s unemployment insurance system, among other recommendations.