Community
Questions Answered About the COVID-19 Vaccine
As a primary care doctor at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, I get a lot of questions about the vaccines. Many people are confused because they are the first of their kind. I also understand our community’s history of being mistreated by the medical profession, and our ongoing health disparities can make it hard to trust the health care system.
My 67-year-old mom recently called to let me know she’d gotten her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. She said it went well, but she was surprised she was the only Black or Brown person she noticed getting the vaccine.
My mom isn’t the only one concerned about this. We know that Black and Brown communities are getting the virus more and are dying at higher rates than white communities, but fewer of us are getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
As a primary care doctor at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, I get a lot of questions about the vaccines. Many people are confused because they are the first of their kind. I also understand our community’s history of being mistreated by the medical profession, and our ongoing health disparities can make it hard to trust the health care system.
Below are some answers to questions that come up often with my patients, family and friends.
The vaccines were developed quickly. Are they safe?
Yes, they are safe. The vaccines were developed quickly because the new mRNA technology we hear so much about was already in the works, and because the federal government provided significant financial and other support to vaccine developers. A safety board approved every study, and the FDA carefully reviewed the data from every phase of every vaccine trial. I looked carefully at the science and the data and based on that — I decided it was safe to get vaccinated.
Does it alter your DNA?
It does not. The COVID-19 vaccine is a new type of vaccine that uses mRNA not DNA. mRNA teaches our cells to make specific proteins that stimulate our immune system to create antibodies to a virus. This keeps us from getting sick. mRNA does not interact with or alter DNA. In fact, cells break down and get rid of mRNA after it does its job.
Does it contain the COVID-19 virus?
No. The COVID-19 vaccine does not contain the virus and will not give you COVID-19.
Were communities of color part of the vaccine clinical trials?
Yes. Vaccine trial participants were from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, 10% African American/Black and 13-20 % Latinx. They also included a significant number of people greater than 55 years old.
What about side effects?
You may have mild to moderate side effects in the first 24 to 36 hours, and that’s normal. It’s a sign your body is building immunity against the virus. Some common side effects are fever, fatigue, headache, chills, muscle and joint pain. An extremely small number of people who have a prior history of allergies to vaccines have had an allergic reaction, which is why you will be monitored for 15 to 30 minutes after getting the vaccine. If you do have vaccine allergies, you should discuss the vaccine with your doctor.
Whether or not you decide to get vaccinated is an important personal decision. I decided to get the vaccine because I believe it’s our best tool to end the pandemic and the suffering it’s caused in our communities.
There have been challenges with getting enough vaccine supply, and Kaiser Permanente, like other health care systems, is working to get more. We’re also working to ensure we’re giving the vaccine equitably, making sure people who are at highest risk of getting infected, or dying from COVID-19, get vaccinated first.
Dr. Nailah Thompson is an internist with The Permanente Medical Group at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccine myths and facts at the CDC website.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024
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Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024
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Activism
Who are the Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Candidates’ Top Campaign Contributors?
Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.
By Zack Haber
Nate Miley, who has served on Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors since 2000, is running for reelection to the District 4 supervisor seat.
Jennifer Esteen, a nurse and activist, is seeking to unseat him and become one of the five members of the powerful board that sets the county’s budget, governs its unincorporated areas, and oversees the sheriff, Alameda Health System, and mental health system.
District 4 includes most of East Oakland’s hills and flatlands beyond Fruitvale, part of Pleasanton and unincorporated areas south of San Leandro like Ashland and Castro Valley.
Voting is open and will remain open until March 5.
In California, campaign donations of $100 or more are public record. The records show that Miley has received about $550,000 in total campaign donations since he won the previous District 4 election in March 2020. Esteen has raised about $255,000 in total campaign donations since she started collecting them last July. All figures are accurate through Feb. 20.
While Miley has raised more money, Esteen has received donations from more sources. Miley received donations of $100 or more from 439 different sources. Esteen received such donations from 507 different sources.
Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.
Nate Miley’s top campaign contributors:
The California Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords and investors in California’s rental housing business, has spent about $129,500 supporting Miley’s election bid through about $59,500 in ads against Esteen, $55,000 in ads supporting Miley, and $15,000 in campaign donations.
The independent expenditure committee Preserve Agriculture in Alameda County has spent about $46,025 supporting Miley through about $27,200 in their own ads, and $18,825 in donations to his campaign. Preserve Agriculture has supported reelection efforts for former Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley, and Sheriff Greg Ahern, a republican. It’s received funding from Chevron, PG&E, and a the California Apartment Association.
Organizations associated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA, have donated about $35,000 in total. Construction and General Laborers Local 304, a local chapter of the union representing which represents over 4,000 workers, donated $20,000.
Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, which represents 70,000 LiUNA members in Arizona, California, Hawaii and New Mexico, donated $15,000.
William ‘Bill’ Crotinger and the East Oakland-based company Argent Materials have donated $26,000. Crotinger is the president and founder of Argent, a concrete and asphalt recycling yard. Argent’s website says it is an eco-friendly company that diverts materials from landfills. In 2018, Argent paid the EPA $27,000 under a settlement for committing Clean Water Act violations.
Michael Morgan of Hayward, owner of We Are Hemp, a marijuana dispensary in Ashland, has donated $21,500.
Alameda County District 1 Supervisor David Haubert has donated $21,250 from his 2024 reelection campaign. He’s running unopposed for the District 1 seat.
SEIU 1021, which represents over 60,000 workers in local governments, non-profit agencies, healthcare programs, and schools in Northern California, has donated $20,000.
UA Local 342, which represents around 4,000 pipe trades industry workers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, donated $20,000.
The union representing the county’s deputy sheriffs, Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Alameda County, has donated $17,000.
Becton Healthcare Resources and its managers have donated $14,625. Becton’s mission statement says it provides “behavioral health management services to organizations and groups that serve the serious and persistent mentally ill population.”
Jennifer Esteen’s top campaign contributors:
Mary Quinn Delaney of Piedmont, founder of Akonadi Foundation, has donated $20,000. Akonadi Foundation gives grants to nonprofit organizations, especially focusing on racial justice organizing,
Bridget Galli of Castro Valley has donated $7,000. Galli is a yoga instructor and a co-owner of Castro Valley Yoga.
Rachel Gelman of Oakland has donated $5,000. Gelman is an activist who has vowed to redistribute her inherited wealth to working class, Indigenous and Black communities.
California Worker Families Party has donated $5,000. The organization’s website describes itself as a “grassroots party for the multiracial working class.”
David Stern of Albany has donated $5,000. Stern is a retired UC Berkeley Professor of Education.
Oakland Rising Committee—a collaborative of racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations—has donated about $3,050.
Fredeke Von Bothmer-Goodyear, an unemployed resident of San Francisco, has donated $2,600.
Robert Britton of Castro Valley has donated $2,500. Britton is retired and worked in the labor movement for decades.
Progressive Era PAC has donated about $2,400. Its mission statement says it “exists to elect governing majorities of leaders in California committed to building a progressive era for people of color.”
East Bay Stonewall Democrats Club has donated $2,250. The club was founded in 1982 to give voice to the East Bay LGBTQIA+ communities.
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