Student vaccine mandates continue to be a debate in post-COVID-19 discussions
By ONME News
In the almost 40-minute episode 2 of the “Brewing Within” series (partially funded by NABJ Black Press Grant) ONME News publisher, Julia Dudley Najieb, narrates and navigates through the student vaccine mandate that was happening/did happen (or is still happening?) Of course, this issue continues to be a debate to this date; but Dudley Najieb navigates through the legalese and political stances.
Thereafter, Dudley Najieb features key expert, Dr. Naomi Bardach, who was part of a team that was behind the scene of the impact of COVID-19 on California schools, and figuring out how to reopen them as soon as possible. Dr. Bardach also talks about her personal experience with her son who suffered depression and anxiety during the shutdown in California.
These video excerpts come from UCTV 70-min. program, “Is There an Off-Ramp for That? K-12 Schools and COVID-19”, where Dr. Bardach discussed the impact the pandemic had on children, educators and families and the measures schools employed to keep students and teachers safe while continuing to educate children. She explained what the research found and best practices for moving forward.
Dr. Naomi Bardach is a Professor of Pediatrics and Policy in the Department of Pediatrics and the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California San Francisco. She is Vice Chair of Health Services Research in the Department of Pediatrics. Her research program is focused on improving the quality of inpatient and outpatient pediatric care, with a foundation in implementation and dissemination science. She is co-investigator on two of the AHRQ-funded U18 Pediatric Quality Measurement Program (PQMP) grants to support development and testing of pediatric quality measures.
In the next chapter, Dudley Najieb explores the pre-post stats of students of color suffering depression, anxiety and other traumatic mental health issues: The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention surveyed more than 7,000 high school students before the pandemic and found that 55.1% suffered emotional abuse, 44.2% reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 9% attempted suicide.
Medical experts from an Ethnic Media Services briefing reveal and explain the data and real-life experience concerning the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of children, parents and the like. Each of them expand on the data concerning ethnic students, and the daily discrimination these students were going through prior to the pandemic.
Medical experts explain the dire aftermath students of color are still facing today
Angela Vásquez, MSW, is the Policy Director for Mental Health at The Children’s Partnership. Angela received her Masters Degree with Honors in Social Work in Community Organizing, Planning, and Administration from the University of Southern California after graduating cum laude from Claremont McKenna College with a BA in Psychology. She also serves on the Board of Trustees at Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena.
Vasquez talks about what young people are experiencing before and after the pandemic and the key factors. She said this was a crisis building before the pandemic. She shares the data of these findings.
Dr. Ilan Shapiro a pediatrician and the current Chief Medical Affairs Officer of AltaMed in Los Angeles. He joined AltaMed in 2016 as the Medical Director of Health Education and Wellness. Most recently, Dr. Shapiro has been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic as a leading source of education and information and a trusted media resource on both national and international news outlets, including CNN, NBC, MSNBC, Telemundo, and Univision.
Dr. Shapiro talks about the physical stress and ailments that translated to COVID-19 related incidents during the pandemic. He shares the story of a child patient.
Dr. Sydney McKinney, Ph.D, is the Executive Director of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She previously worked at HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services and the Vera Institute of Justice. She graduated from New York University with a PhD in Sociology and a MA in Law and Society, and from Columbia University in the City of New York with a MPH in Sociomedical Sciences.
Dr. talks about the dire stress that Black girls went through pre and are going through post pandemic, which is a considerable amount of violence and racial discrimination. There goal is to prevent Black girls from going into the juvenile criminal justice system.
Dr. Myo Thwin Myint is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Pediatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine. He is interested in medical education, LGBTQ health, and advocacy. He serves on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Training and Education Committee and co-leads the AACAP Alliance for Learning and Innovation (AALI). His clinical work includes working with sexual and gender minorities, and supervising fellows, residents, and medical students in various clinical settings.
Dr. Mint declared we are in a crisis regarding our children’s mental health needs, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.He discusses options to outreach to children in the community and getting more professionals into the field of child psychology.
