KHN on the Air This Week
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
‘We’re Coming for You’: For Public Health Officials, a Year of Threats and Menace
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
Local health officials have become the face of government authority as they work to stem the pandemic. That has made them targets for chilling threats from some of the same militia groups that stormed the U.S. Capitol. Santa Cruz leaders are among those whose daily routines now incorporate security patrols, surveillance cameras and, in some cases, firearms.
KHN on the Air This Week
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Public Health Experts Worry About Boom-Bust Cycle of Support
By Michelle R. Smith, The Associated Press and Lauren Weber and Hannah Recht
Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.
Listen: Threats, Pressure Prompt Some California Public Health Officials To Leave Office
California Healthline senior correspondent Anna Maria Barry-Jester joined KQED’s Lily Jamali on “The California Report” and Alison St John on KPBS’ “Midday Edition” to discuss the threats that public health workers are facing as they enact pandemic protections.
California Counties a Hodgepodge of Highs and Lows in Vaccinating Vulnerable Seniors
By Jenny Gold
Like many states, California is seeing huge regional variations in covid vaccination rates for people 65 and older. Remote rural counties are in some cases struggling to give away doses to vulnerable seniors, while metropolitan areas often have more demand than supply.
Can the US Keep Covid Variants in Check? Here’s What It Takes
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
The U.S. has fumbled almost every step of its public health response in its battle against covid-19. Experts say that must change if we’re going to outflank the variants emerging as the virus continues to mutate.
¿Puede Estados Unidos controlar las nuevas mutaciones de covid?
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
Cuando una mutación hace sonar las alarmas de salud pública, normalmente se debe a que se ha combinado con otras mutaciones y, en conjunto, ha cambiado la forma en que se comporta el virus.
California Counties ‘Flying the Plane as We Build It’ in a Plodding Vaccine Rollout
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
In California, the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history is run largely by the same overworked and underfunded local health departments tasked with covid-19 testing and contact tracing. It’s a daunting undertaking as the pandemic continues to surge.
‘Nine Months Into It, the Adrenaline Is Gone and It’s Just Exhausting’
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
A UCSF emergency room physician reflects on California’s response to COVID-19 and on lessons learned — or not — as the coronavirus makes its second devastating surge.
