#covid #CovidTests #CovidTesting #PublicHealth

'The government recently shut down the program that would mail four free COVID tests to anyone who requested them, but a lesser-known program for community groups is still running. If you have a plan to distribute tests for free, you can request them by the hundreds. '

https://lifehacker.com/health/how-to-get-free-covid-tests-in-bulk-for-your-community?utm_medium=RSS

This #LongCovidAwarenessDay I’m reflecting on how many people have been let down by governments, public health & medical establishments

How Covid has been downplayed, airborne spread ignored & vaxx and relax strategies pushed for the sake of capitalism

How many have Long Covid because of this?

Those of us who were disabled before the pandemic could see this wave of chronic illness coming - and many of us have been screaming from the top of our lungs the last 5 years.

Begging people not to take their health for granted & to wear a mask and protect themselves.

Warning them that there are no do-overs once you become chronically ill. Unfortunately very few people are listening - and many won’t understand the true devastation of #LongCovid until it directly impacts them. At which point it’ll be too late.

Despite seeing these waves of disability as an inevitable consequence of “let er rip” Covid strategy - one thing I did not see coming was how many people would willingly embrace not only ableism - but full on eugenics.

People in my own life who were previously kind & supportive have become cruel and angry. The masks have been ripped off. They don’t hesitate to tell me that they blame me for the restrictions placed on them in the early days of Covid.

That they will never again allow their freedoms to be infringed on in the name of protecting the vulnerable. One even went as far as to say “you’ve been sick for years - just die already.”

People who say these things don’t understand what disabled ppl understand all too well - your health is not a permanent state.

Everyone will become disabled eventually - some earlier than others. Many who think they’re invulnerable are already vulnerable and don’t even know it

Yet rather than adapting behaviour and pushing for a new normal that makes the world safe for everyone - most temporarily abled people have instead doubled down on hateful eugenics talking points and want us to stay home forever (or worse - die). It needs to stop.

Covid is airborne and we all share the air. “You do you” individualism is quite literally killing people. We need to start caring about the air we share as this will lead to a healthier society for everyone.

Until then we need to mask up. It’s easy, incredibly effective & it might save someone’s life. At the very least you will know you didn’t contribute to another person’s suffering - and you will be drastically reducing your own odds of getting Long Covid. It’s worth it.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/i-dont-know-anyone-with-long-covid

"Instead, experts from within the FDA, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Defense gathered Thursday to go over surveillance data from the US and around the world about flu viruses that are currently circulating.

The FDA is recommending that flu vaccines for the 2025-26 season be trivalent, protecting against two strains of influenza A and one of influenza B."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/health/fda-flu-vaccine-recommendations/index.html

"Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters on Capitol Hill that she was so troubled about Weldon’s vaccines stance that she shared her concerns with the White House, and she was not surprised that his nomination had been pulled."

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/13/dave-weldon-vaccine-skeptic-cdc-00228884

On this Long COVID Awareness Day, my thoughts go out to the millions who have been directly affected, or care for someone who has.

Hope you all have someone to lean on in these particularly difficult times, something that still brings you joy.

Hang in there, we're all in this together!

"Still, 'the majority of use is not necessary to improve or maintain health,' and due to only light regulations, supplement makers may make claims about their benefits without sufficient evidence, Cohen said. 'No supplement needs to get tested or vetted by the FDA before it’s sold.'"

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/dietary-supplements-health-freedom-fans-mehmet-oz-rfk-jr-surgeon-general-maha-industry-conflicts/

https://news.sky.com/story/anti-poison-ulez-scheme-has-lowered-air-pollution-most-in-london-boroughs-that-opposed-it-13323222 “No level of air pollution is safe. It can lead to thousands of premature deaths and a whole host of health issues, from asthma to cancer, heart disease, strokes and dementia.” #london #CleanAir #PublicHealth

In 1 decade, Texas went from having high vaccination rates to low rates

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/experts-vaccines-texas-measles

I've seen a fair amount of posts on the uptick in measles cases in the US this year (linking it to the rise of the anti-vexers in the Court of Tangerine Tyrant), but before we get all smug on this side of the Atlantic, its worth noting that there has also been an increase (for not dissimilar reasons) across some parts of Europe.

Anti-vexers are wrecking lives across the world & we need a better defence of public health provision(s).

#PublicHealth #measles

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/13/wake-up-call-measles-cases-doubled-europe-last-year-who-unicef

"The cuts in those two divisions mean there will be far fewer staff members to finish the 12,000 pending federal investigations into allegations of civil rights violations at schools — roughly half of which involve disability issues — and fewer employees to review and distribute government-funded research into effective ways to educate children with autism or severe intellectual disabilities."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/education-department-layoffs-students-disabilities-rcna196114

COVID's legacy: Public health's diminished power

COVID-19 put public health officials on the front lines against a once-in-a-lifetime threat. It's left them with less power and resources to respond to future emergencies.

#COVID #publichealth
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/10/covid-19-legacy-public-health-reduced-power

"He asked three local churches if he could set up a mobile testing site on their property. They all refused...His team did create a drive-up testing site at a county events building next to the city park, and not far from the Masonic lodge. But he said that it gets very few visitors—about two or three a day. As a result, no one really knows the outbreak’s total size."

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/03/texas-measles-outbreak-death-family/681985/

Bro #WashingtonDC is fucked (on a lot of levels but specifically), WE NEED CONDOMS: if you work in #HarmReduction and have a source you're willing to pass along (the city stopped fulfilling our orders), or a bunch of condoms you can't move sitting around on pallets and taking up storage space, hmu I would be *thrilled* to talk with you wherever you are in the US!!
#SaferSex #HIVPrevention #PublicHealth

I'm proud to share a research article our research team recently published. It examines health insurance and non-medical challenges Vietnamese Americans faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disaggregating data unmasks disparities within different populations. We wouldn't see this if we included this group within the broader Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander umbrella.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/189

German spy agency believed CoVid-19 likely started in a laboratory in Wuhan.

The widely accepted theory is that Covid-19 emerged in bats and then jumped to humans, most likely through another animal, or "intermediary host."

As time worn on, scientists have not found a virus in either bats or another animal that matches the genetic make-up of Covid-19, leading some to doubt the theory.

#Pandemic #CoVid19 #Asian #Health #Virus #PublicHealth #SARSCov2

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7vypq31z7o

Today in Labor History March 13, 1979: The Marxist New Jewel movement, led by Maurice Bishop, overthrew the prime minister of Grenada. Bishop led the People’s Revolutionary Government of Grenada until 1983, when he was overthrown and executed in a coup supported by the U.S. Bishop supported anti-racist struggles around the world and the fight to end Apartheid. Under his leadership, Granada gave women equal pay to men and provided paid maternity leave. They also banned sexual discrimination and introduced free public health and literacy programs that brought the national illiteracy rate from 35% down to 5%. In 1983, the U.S. invaded Granada. 19 U.S. soldiers and 45 Grenadian soldiers died in the fighting that ensued. The invasion effectively ended the so-called “Vietnam Syndrome,” where U.S. leaders feared that overt regime change, with U.S. boots on the ground, would spark large antiwar protests, like those that rocked the nation in the 1960s and early 70s. The Grenada invasion paved the way for much more aggressive interventions like Panama, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria.

Want to Live Longer, Healthier, and Happier? Then Cultivate Your Social Connections

During the Covid pandemic, countries with strong community ties had fewer deaths from COVID-19.

Chronic loneliness weakens our immune system.

Quality social connections are a fundamental human need

https://www.wired.com/story/want-to-live-longer-healthier-and-happier-cultivate-your-social-connections-wired-health-kasley-killam/

#social #connectedness #isolation #publichealth #mentalhealth #health #relationships @sociology @psychology

I wrote a guest article for Healthy Debate that looks at why we need mandatory masks in healthcare, why surgical masks aren’t enough, and how the mounting threats to public health are putting lives at risk.

If you’re a healthcare worker, mask up.

Show us you take your oath to “do no harm” seriously

https://healthydebate.ca/2025/03/topic/wear-mask-plea-health-care-workers/