HEALTH
Activists Rally for Greater Vaccine Access
Times Square demonstration targets World Health Organization
BY DONNA ACETO
Activists fl ocked to Times
Square on November 30
to call for greater access
to COVID-19 vaccines
around the world — especially as
the new variant brings heightened
attention to the pandemic.
Citizens Trade Campaign/New
York Trade Justice Campaign,
Health GAP, Housing Works,
Metro New York Health Care for
All, Public Citizen’s Global Trade
Watch, Right to Health Action,
and Rise and Resist were among
the organizations involved in the
Times Square demonstration,
which coincided with what was
supposed to be the World Trade
Organization’s (WTO) 12th annual
Ministerial meeting in Geneva
— but the conference wound up
getting postponed due to travel restrictions
brought on by the Omicron
variant.
Activists intended to put pressure
on the WTO to make vaccines
more widely available. The
WTO was slated to discuss India
and South Africa’s proposal
to waive intellectual property
rights tied to COVID shots and
treatments. The WTO has not
yet scheduled a new date for the
conference.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director
general of the WTO, has raised
alarms about the imbalance of
vaccine distribution around the
world.
“The level of inequity is quite
high,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told
CNBC on December 2. “I am very
concerned that if we continue with
the inequity that will have a dampening
effect on the recovery in
those countries.”
DONNA ACETO
Dr. Oni Blackstock, a health advocate who formerly served as the assistant commissioner for the
Bureau of HIV for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, delivers remarks.
POLITICS
NYC’s Man in Demand: Mayor-Elect Eric Adams
BY SKYE OSTREICHER
New Yorkers 50-plus
helped build our city
and make it the great
place that it is: and city
leaders must be dedicated to addressing
the challenges this population
experiences.
Visit PoliticsNY.com to watch a
video and learn how Mayor-elect
Adams plans to raise the issue of
ageism and make sure his administration
confronts it head on. As a
leader in Age Friendly policies, how
will Mayor-elect Adams broaden
this work throughout NYC?
Beth Finkel, State Director
of AARP New York, shared with
Mayor-elect Adams, “one of our
thoughts is actually renaming
NYC’s Dept of the Aging – not a
very forward-thinking name – and
I’m thinking it’d be right up your
alley to come up with a stronger,
better name.”
To which Adams replied, “we’re
looking for Seniors to come up with
the best name for it… We are open.
The name should be more active
than the Department of Aging. I
say it’s the Department of Living.
Whatever name our seniors come
up with, we’re gonna put it out to
you.”
Adams is known for making
Brooklyn the fi rst age-friendly
borough, and now will be able to
orchestrate an age-friendly NYC.
Part of this plan will offer restaurant,
theater and transportation
discounts for seniors, he shared.
Adams will be rolling out his 100-
day plan and at the heart of it is
how NYC becomes more inclusive,
especially of its seniors. AARP New
York will also be delivering a plan to
the new administration with some
ideas from its membership.
This interview is sponsored by
AARP New York, which represents
750,000 members in New York
City.
December 16 - December 29, 2 24 021 | GayCityNews.com
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