Coronavirus

After Rapper Launches Anti-Mask, Anti-Vaccine Rant, Black Doctors Speak Out

In a culture that worships celebrities and amplifies their words and actions, the coronavirus pandemic has presented an opportunity for some to apply and others to confuse.

Published

2 years ago

September 2, 2021

Christy Price

Busta Rhymes/Courtesy of Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

In a culture that worships celebrities and amplifies their words and actions, the coronavirus pandemic has presented an opportunity for some to apply and others to confuse.

Even after over 635,000 have died in the U.S. as a result of the coronavirus, some celebrities have continued to loudly protest against the advice of doctors and other medical professionals.

Over 4.5 million around the world have died as a result of the pandemic.

This week, anti-mask and anti-vaxxer celebrity Eric Clapton wrote a song entitled “This Has Got to Stop” to express his dissatisfaction regarding government mandates on masks. “I’m used to being free,” Clapton sings in his new track.

A week before Clapton’s song dropped, rapper Busta Rhymes, whose real name is Trevor Smith, had something to say on COVID on Aug. 24.

“It’s called the God-given right of freedom, right? No human being is supposed to tell you that you can’t even breathe freely. F*** your mask… some of y’all might feel differently, but f*** your mask,” he said.

His comments went viral and so did the reaction against them. On Roland Martin Unfiltered, the daily digital broadcast hosted by Martin, three Black doctors were featured to comment on what the rapper said and anti-vaxxer efforts in general.

“A throat doctor later discovered that there were polyps in his throat, restricting 90% of his breathing and he had to have emergency surgery.”

You’d think Busta Rhymes would be more concerned about a virus that attacks your respiratory system given his history. Dumb ass,” wrote Reecie Colbert from her popular Twitter account @BlackWomenViews.

“Confirmed: Busta Rhymes is better when he’s rapping too fast for us to really understand what he’s saying,” wrote Brandon Kyle Scott on Twitter. Then came the medical professionals.

“It angers me, and it vexes my soul when I hear entertainers and other people who have mass followings say ignorant things such as Busta Rhymes. I was telling my students today about wearing a mask and getting vaccinated,” said Dr. Kristy McDowell on Roland Martin Unfiltered on August 24.

“If you don’t get the vaccine, you are gambling with your life,” she added.

Dr. Joseph Graves, Jr. said, “It’s one thing to do stupid things that put your own life at risk… It’s an entirely other thing when you take a public platform, and you use your celebrity to get up there to tell other people that it’s OK in the middle of the deadliest pandemic since 1918. Those people who die because they listened to a video.”

Kellen Squire, a Virginia emergency room nurse, wrote on Aug. 29, “It’s not any easier watching unvaccinated people die. I see people sardonically joke, play stupid games, etc. But they almost all understand the magnitude of their f***up… albeit way too late. The look in their eyes. There’s no peace — it’s just panic until the end.”

Despite misinformation, political discord and political policy changes, 51 percent of the American population is vaccinated.

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BayCityNews

FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

Published

2 months ago

March 22, 2023

Oakland Post

As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.

Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.

FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.

Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.

“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.

COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Bay Area

COVID-19 Response Grant Program

The City of Union City will be issuing another round of its COVID-19 Response Grant Program. The program has distributed approximately $620,000 in grant funds and forgivable loans to the community to respond to the impacts of COVID-19 and will distribute another $322,000 through this latest round of funding. The City will utilize federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and CARES Act funds.

Published

2 months ago

March 21, 2023

Oakland Post

The City will be holding two informational/technical assistance meetings to support residents and businesses with their applications and respond to any questions. These meetings will be streamed via Zoom. See below for meeting information and Zoom meeting links.

Grants are available through the City’s Road to Recovery Small Business Assistance Program and the Residential Rental Assistance Program. The City began accepting applications on March 6, 2023, at 9 a.m. and will begin reviewing applications (up to 50 applications for each grant opportunity) submitted on or before March 30, 2023, at 5 p.m. The program information and the online application are available on the City’s website:

https://www.unioncity.org/548/COVID-19-Response-Grant-Program

Tuesday, March 14, 2023: 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

https://unioncity-org.zoom.us/j/89061570160

Wednesday, March 15, 2023: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

https://unioncity-org.zoom.us/j/81868680531

Bay Area

State to End Indoor Mask Requirement in Health Care Facilities, Vaccine Requirement for Health Care Workers

California will draw down several COVID-19-related guidelines next month as the state shifts out of its emergency response to the pandemic, state health officials said Friday. Starting April 3, the state will no longer require the use of a mask in indoor areas that are deemed a high risk of transmission, including health care and long-term care facilities, homeless shelters and jails and prisons

Published

3 months ago

March 14, 2023

Oakland Post

The state will also end its COVID vaccination requirement for health care workers and rescind health orders that required hospitals to accept patients from overcrowded facilities and that required the collection of an email address or phone number from a COVID vaccine recipient.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

California will draw down several COVID-19-related guidelines next month as the state shifts out of its emergency response to the pandemic, state health officials said Friday.

Starting April 3, the state will no longer require the use of a mask in indoor areas that are deemed a high risk of transmission, including health care and long-term care facilities, homeless shelters and jails and prisons.

“We stand before Californians today with a humble message of thanks for taking the hard steps to help manage COVID-19, and with an ongoing commitment to be prepared for what comes next,” California Department of Public Health Director and state Public Health Officer Dr. Tomas Aragon said in a statement.

In addition to the changes on April 2, the state will update its isolation guidance on March 13 for those who test positive for COVID, allowing them to leave isolation after five days if their condition is improving and if they have not had a fever in at least 24 hours.

People who isolate after testing positive will no longer have to test negative for COVID before leaving isolation, according to the CDPH. The change is consistent with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The changes are part of the state’s drawdown of its emergency response infrastructure in recent weeks.

State-operated COVID testing and vaccination clinics have shuttered as those services shift to primary health care providers and retail pharmacies.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom also rescinded California’s COVID-19 state of emergency, which allowed local governments and the state to more efficiently coordinate public health programs and disperse emergency funding.

State public health officials continue to urge California residents to complete their initial COVID vaccination series if they have yet to do so and, if eligible, receive a booster vaccine dose to reduce the chance of becoming seriously ill or dying due to the virus.

As of March 2, 88.2 million COVID vaccine doses have been administered statewide. Roughly 73 percent of state residents have completed their initial vaccination series.

“Our communities did a lot of the hard work by getting vaccinated and boosted, staying home and testing when sick, requesting treatments when positive, and masking to slow the spread,” Aragon said. “With these critical actions, and a lot of patience and persistence, we have now reached a point where we can update some of the COVID-19 guidance to continue to balance prevention and adapting to living with COVID-19.”

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EliWalsh2132p03/03/23

CONTACT: CDPH media CDPHpress@cdph.ca.gov

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: An image related to this story can be obtained from the following Bay City News Service web link: https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20221209-VACCINATION-01.JPG

Caption: The CVS Drugstore on Mountain Blvd. in Oakland, Calif on Dec 8, 2022 offers vaccination and COVID test kits to customers. (Anna Moseidjord/Bay City News)

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