Page 8 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2021 Doctors and community activists call on Baker to prioritize COVID-19 vaccine access for black and immigrant frontline communities M ore than 250 medical professionals and community activists are urging Governor Charlie Baker, Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel to end the neglect of Black and immigrant communities during the COVID-19 vaccine response. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.” As Black and Latino residents have been left unable to protect themselves at work or at home, the “arrival of effective vaccines should prompt our state to use this tool to prioritize their protection as Rhode Island is doing,” said Dr. Regina LaRocque, an adult infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School. Black and Latino residents have suffered three times the age-adjusted death rate from COVID-19 of white residents. “The devastating death toll of these communities in the spring did not prompt improvements in state policies for workplace safety and housing security, and they are again suffering disproportionately in the second wave,” said Dr. Julia Koehler, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School. “The now documented arrival of the hyper-infectious virus variant in Massachusetts means we will have accelerated infection rates wherever the spread of the virus is not being effectively prevented by current distancing, ventilation and workplace safety measures, in addition to universal mask wearing,” said LaRocque. “Workplace safety measures have been lacking,” said Yessenia Alfaro, the community engagement director at La Colaborativa (formerly the Chelsea Collaborative). As a result, specific frontline workplaces were found to be significantly associated with increased COVID-19 rates in more than one Massachusetts study. While most violations likely are not reported for fear of retaliation, the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards still logged violations reported at more than 1,000 companies and gathering places between May and December, concentrated in hotspots that are Latino and Black cities and neighborhoods. Residential crowding in response to rising rents was a serious problem in Eastern Massachusetts before the pandemic. Now, once a worker becomes infected at work, the likelihood of the worker infecting others is, of course, drastically higher in an apartment with 15 residents rather than five residents. “Illegal evictions throughout this past summer forced Chelsea residents to crowd together even more,” said La Colaborativa CEO Gladys Vega. “Allowing Massachusetts’ eviction moratorium to expire has likely accelerated COVID-19 transmission in immigrant and Black communities. Many residents of immigrant communities avoid medical care for fear of ICE. No measures were taken to reassure them. “We found so many sick Chelsea residents in our food line,” said La Colaborativa COO Dinanyili Paulino. “We now want to help offer our community members the vaccines. We need to use all the tools in our toolkit to block transmission where it is occurring most intensely,” said LaRocque. “So many doctors, medical students, dentists and nurses are ready to volunteer in vaccination teams immediately.” Governor Baker signs “Laura’s Law” G overnor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito recently participated in a ceremonial signing of S.2931, An Act to ensure safe patient access to emergency care. The Act was named in memory of Laura Beth Levis, who in 2016 died of an asthma attack outside of an area hospital when she was unable to locate an accessible entrance to the emergency room. Baker and Polito were joined by Levis’ husband, Peter DeMarco, members of her family and State Senator Pat Jehlen. “I signed ‘Laura’s Law’ to safeguard against future tragedies occurring just steps away from hospital emergency departments,” said Baker. “In the wake of her tragic passing, Laura’s husband, Pete, undertook an exhaustive effort to honor her legacy and protect others from similar fates. After months of collaboration and hard work with legislators, including Senator Jehlen and Representative [Christine] Barber, I am proud to sign Laura’s Law and celebrate her memory in a meaningful way.” The new law would implement minimum criteria and standards that ensure safe, timely and accessible patient access to the entrances of Massachusetts hospital emergency departments. These regulations will require that entries must be clearly marked, easily accessible and properly monitored by security when appropriate. Additionally, the Department of Public Health will convene a working group on patient access to hospital emergency rooms or departments to report on and make recommendations to inform these policies.
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