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Vol. 32, Issue 38 BROOKLYN EDITION September 17-23, 2021
COVID
STRIKES
HARD
Vaccine hesitancy frustrates
CARICOM leaders
By Bert Wilkinson
There was little prior notice
of a virtual emergency meeting
of Caribbean Community leaders
on Monday of this week to
discuss the worsening COVID-19
pandemic situation in the bloc
and from all appearances the
leaders are about to press the
panic button as a relates to the
refusal of hundreds of thousands
to be vaccinated as well as the
low rate of immunization in several
member states among other
key issues.
In nearly every CARICOM
state, governments are under
pressure to persuade large population
blocs, in some cases the
younger social media savvy types
in particular, to take the jab even
as statistics show that more than
95 percent of all the deaths at
hospitals and at homes are linked
to people who did not bother to
be vaccinated.
Just this week, Trinidad-born
international entertainment
superstar Nicki Minaj was linked
to a simmering global quarrel
about a relative being rendered
matrimonially useless because of
complications from the vaccine.
Her tweet sparked quick reaction
from people like Dr. Anthony
Fauci and British Prime Minister,
Boris Johnson among others.
“My cousin in Trinidad won’t
get the vaccine because his friend
got it and became impotent. His
testicles became swollen. His
friend was weeks away from getting
married, now the girl called
off the wedding. So just pray on
it and make sure you’re comfortable
with your decision, not bullied,”
she wrote.
The tweet came out around
the same time regional leaders
issued their statement on Monday’s
meeting expressing “dismay
at the rate of vaccination in
the community and the significant
incidence of vaccine hesitancy.
As of Sept. 3, according
to the Caribbean Public Health
Agency (CARPHA), vaccine coverage
in the community ranged
from 58.7 percent in Bermuda to
0.1 percent in Haiti. The heads of
government noted that no country
was close to herd immunity
and that the increased incidence
New York Governor Kathy Hochul attends the Prabal Gurung spring/summer 2022 fashion
show at 20 Battery Place during New York Fashion Week on Wednesday, Sept. 8,
2021. Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Governor Hochul unveils universal mask
requirements amid rise of Delta variant
By Nelson A. King
Gov. Kathy Hochul on
Wednesday unveiled a series of
universal mask requirements
designed to protect New Yorkers
against the highly contagious
Delta variant and the
recent surge in COVID-19
infections statewide.
The requirement applies
to New York State Office of
Children and Family Services
— licensed and — registered
child care centers, homebased
group family and family
child care programs, afterschool
child care programs
and enrolled legally exempt
group programs during operational
hours.
Hochul said implementing
the mask regulation in child
care programs will provide
consistency between child care
program children and school
children, many of whom often
share the same buildings.
New masking requirements
will also apply to congregate
programs and facilities
licensed, registered, operated,
certified or approved by the
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