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    Trump administration's vaccine failure leaves workers unprotected

    Joe Maniscalco, DC Report @ Raw Story
    February 10, 2021

    Thanks for your support!

    This article was paid for by reader donations to Raw Story Investigates.

    Why new coronavirus mutations may not spread as fast as you fear
    Why new coronavirus mutations may not spread as fast as you fear - Despite news about a coronavirus mutation found in Britain, virologists say that it might not be as scary as it seems. The bottom line still applies: wear a mask and be socially distanced. - Friso Gentsch/dpa

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

    Joe Maniscalco, DC Report @ Raw Story

    The Trump administration's failure to develop a plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccines along with persistent problems with the rollout are spreading fear among American workers forced to risk exposure to the killer virus.

    "I don't feel safe," Phil Andrews, a Petco dog groomer in Miami, said last week. "I don't feel that the companies have our backs. I don't look forward to going in."

    Nearly 200 cases of the pernicious British variant of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Florida. Other variants, including problematic ones from Brazil and South Africa, are also spreading fast.

    Public health officials worry that pernicious and highly infectious mutations will spread faster than Americans are vaccinated because of the Trump failure to create a plan to get vaccines into people's arms.

    Public health officials worry that pernicious and highly infectious mutations will spread faster than Americans are vaccinated.

    The stress and anxiety of having to interact with customers all day without vaccination or adequate personal protection equipment have made life small for T.J. Daniels, a Petco employee in Colorado.

    "I'm going to work and heading home so I don't have to deal with any more people than the hundreds I have to see at work," he says.

    No Vaccine Soon

    Daniels expects he'll have to wait until summer to be vaccinated.

    COVID-19 sent Daisy Cruz to a Tennessee hospital last July. "I don't wish that on anyone," said the Honduran immigrant, who used to do construction work. "When you are there on the bed, the boss is not telling you how you are going to pay rent. The boss should support us in surviving."

    Cruz and her colleagues at the Workers' Dignity center in Nashville, like millions of other workers across America, say that they have no idea how they will obtain the vaccine or when.

    The Biden administration took steps to expand vaccine distribution and establish a new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to protect workers on the job. Its goal is 1 million vaccinations a day for 100 days, while the Trump administration reached that level only once in its last 40 days. But even at the pace Biden proposes, it would take all year to vaccinate Americans, many of whom have said they will refuse to be inoculated.

    Worker advocacy groups, however, are not content to simply let the process play out. They are determined to keep applying pressure.

    On Feb. 3, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) issued its own eight-point National Agenda for Workplace Safety and Health. The same week, United For Respect (UFR), a national non-profit advocating for the rights of U.S. workers, called for a mass vaccination effort that prioritizes public-facing retail workers.

    Now in its second year, the worldwide coronavirus pandemic has taken the lives of more than 465,000 Americans with another 3,000 dying each day. It's also upended the lives of roughly 27 million other people who survived, but still don't fully understand the lasting implications of being infected.

    Workplace Spreading

    The workplace is a known vector for virus spread, but it's unclear how many American fatalities represent frontline workers. COVID-19 killed more than 2,900 American healthcare workers last year, according to an estimate by the nonprofit Kaiser Health News. The actual figure may be much higher.

    Lack of hygiene for the homeless adds to the dangers faced by many essential workers in hospitals, transit and other front line jobs, an expose in the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit news organization, showed in graphic detail last spring.

    So far, the distribution of vaccines seems not to align with essential worker risks.

    In New York City, where people of color dominate in healthcare and other essential services jobs that come with the greatest risk of infection, white people account for 48-percent of the 300,000 vaccine shots administered thus far. Whites are less than 43% of the city population and their share of jobs at high risk of infection is lower, illustrating the structural racism in fighting the virus.

    Transit Workers' Risks

    Transit workers are among those most at risk. The Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York recently began posting an ongoing memorial throughout the transit system honoring 136 bus operators, conductors, motormen and others the virus has killed so far.

    Some MTA workers have long contended that the agency failed to stress the importance of personal protection equipment during the early days of the pandemic. Others, including Jersey City train operator Hannington Dia, say their union let them down, too.

    "We asked for protection," Dia said at a Tax the Rich rally in January at New York's Zuccotti Park, site of the 2011 Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. "We asked for masks at that point when it got really bad in March. But you know what the union said? They basically parroted management's line.

    "Management said that since the CDC [Centers for Disease Control] said we don't need masks, we're not going to give them to you. We wanted to be secure and we told the union, and the union did nothing but parrot their goddamned lies."

    TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano, however, says the union has been at the forefront of safety throughout the pandemic and that Dia is simply wrong, and his anger is misdirected.

    Union Gets Masks

    "While the MTA mishandled the pandemic in the early stages, TWU Local 100 fought and pushed them on the issues of masks, work rules, cleaning, you name it," Utano told me in an email. "The union even went out and obtained 10s of thousands of masks during a global shortage and started distributing them before the MTA did."

    According to Utano, some 20,000 at-work COVID-19 tests have successfully identified hundreds of asymptomatic workers and more than 5,000 transit workers have been vaccinated.

    TWU Local 100's membership is 46% Black people, 17% Hispanic people and 12% Asian people.

    Black people age 45-54 face a nine-fold higher risk of dying from the virus than the public overall. The awful statistic is "no doubt driven by who had to keep working during the pandemic," said Dr. Mary Bassett, director of the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University. "It's a sad statement on where we are now,"

    "This disparity has not only held for who gets exposed and who gets sick, it has also carried on to who gets vaccinated," Dr. Bassett said.

    Dr. Bassett also noted that President Joe Biden wears an N95 mask under his cloth mask to protect himself from the virus.

    A White House spokesperson confirmed the president's practice as a matter of personal preference.

    "If he thought that made him safer, you can imagine that a person doing deliveries, stocking shelves, interacting with irate customers, might feel a lot safer if they got to do the same thing," Dr. Bassett added.

    A study in The British Medical Journal found grocery store workers in customer-facing roles are five times more likely to test positive than peers who don't come into contact with customers.

    That small study also found that problems with depression among workers who used public transportation or ride shares to commute while "those able to commute on foot, by bike or in their own car were 90% less likely to report depressive symptoms."

    Deadly Distinctions

    Andrews the dog groomer is HIV positive, but at 54, he just misses the age criteria for early access to the vaccine.

    Restaurant workers, first responders, public safety workers, home attendants and people over 65 are among those eligible for a shot in New York City. But obtaining an appointment is virtually impossible due to a reported lack of vaccine. That problem extends across much of America, although some states that voted for Trump seem to have better supplies of vaccine.

    Allegra Brown delivers groceries for Amazon Fresh in New Jersey, a state that has so far confirmed 11 cases across six counties of a more contagious variant of COVID-19. She says workers like her need N95 masks and a vaccine "now — today."

    "Of all the people in New Jersey who have gotten the vaccine so far, only 3% have been Black," she says. "My workplace at Amazon is full of Black and Brown people who are getting COVID and bringing it home to their families all the time. There's no reason for the shortage of vaccines other than structural racism, corporate greed and political gain."

    Those applauding the actions Biden has taken thus far to roll out the vaccine and strengthen workplace safety standards say it's still too early to access effectiveness of Biden's approach.

    Biden "inherited a very chaotic process from the previous administration," Bianca Agustin said. She's research director at United for Respect, a multiracial group seeking to improve working conditions, especially for women and people of color.

    "We need more vaccines immediately, and Biden should be doing whatever it takes to make that happen. I think that he has acted swiftly. So, in the coming weeks we'll see if that produces significantly more vaccine available to the public across states," Agustin said.

    The nation has "completely failed" its workers, according to Rep. Andy Levin, the suburban Detroit Democrat who is vice-chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

    "What matters is workers taking action, workers taking to the streets," Levin told me. "We need a lot of change and we need everybody in the game."

    He wants to "activate people" in his district to "get involved in direct action."

    Change can't come soon enough for workers like Brown, who says her job delivering groceries for Amazon is more dangerous now than it was last summer.

    "This needs to be fixed now," Brown said.

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

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    … then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.

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    … then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.

    Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

    Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com.
    READ COMMENTS - JOIN THE DISCUSSION

    Do you approve of Biden's presidency so far?

    Ted Cruz flayed for mocking AOC for fearing for her life – after she raised $5 million for Texas storm victims

    David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
    February 26, 2021

    U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivered what many are calling "unhinged" remarks at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, Friday.

    During his speech he once again appeared to try to incite an insurrection, attacked President Joe Biden, screamed for over a minute, closed his speech by yelling at the top of his lungs, "Freedom!" and mocked U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) who raised over $5 million for Texas storm victims – Cruz's constituents who literally struggled to stay alive in sub-freezing temperates for days without power or water while he vacationed in Cancun.

    Cruz name-checked William Wallace, who was portrayed by Mel Gibson in the film "Braveheart." Wallace was a leader in the First War of Scottish Independence, and was put to death for treason. Gibson's character been described as a "nationalist guerrilla leader" in the film, so it's unclear why Cruz would be promoting him, given America faced an attempted coup last month.

    “There is a natural pendulum to politics and the country will come back to sanity and mark my words, 2022 is going to be a fantastic election year, and so is 2024, as we stand together and defend liberty, defend the Constitution, defend the Bill of Rights of every American. In the immortal words of William Wallace, 'Freedom!'" Cruz screamed.

    But before he got to that point, Cruz mocked Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez.

    Republican Tim Miller, who worked with Republicans Voting Against Trump and appears frequently on MSNBC, put it this way:

    First CPAC mention of the domestic terrorist attack on the capitol comes from Ted Cruz.
    He makes fun of AOC for being scared. — Tim Miller (@Timodc) February 26, 2021

    CNN's Jake Tapper weighed in:

    "AOC is telling us she was murdered," Cruz "jokes" to the CPAC crowd
    This was 3 days after saying people shouldn't "be assholes" (a reference to alleged friends sharing texts w reporters about Cruz family going to Cancun during the deadly storm in Texas).... 1/ https://t.co/FFpu1CzCE8 — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 26, 2021

    Democrats "control the White House," and "they control every executive branch, where they control both houses of Congress," Cruz screeched. "Bernie is wearing mittens. AOC is telling us she was 'murdered,'" he says, mocking her for accusing him of almost having her murdered because he helped to incite the insurrection.

    "And the media, desperately, desperately, desperately wants to see a republican Civil War. Liberty is under assault and what are we gonna do? I'll tell you. We will fight. Liberty," he says, once again appearing to push for insurrection.

    Watch:

    Ted Cruz made fun of @AOC for being scared during the Capitol attack that he helped to incite. #CPAC pic.twitter.com/bspJ9Ndjpo
    — Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 26, 2021

    Here's how people are responding:

    NARRATOR: "@AOC raised over $5,000,000 to help the people in @tedcruz's state without power, food, and/or water, the same people Ted Cruz had blithely abandoned to lollygag by the pool at a foreign, luxury resort." #BadStandupRoutines https://t.co/Wyahstsi9U
    — Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) February 26, 2021
    AOC raised $5M for Texas winter storm relief. She is a congresswoman from New York. Cruz left town. He should keep his pie hole closed. https://t.co/keOwfp46UA
    — Lloyd Andrews (@Thunderballs2) February 26, 2021
    @tedcruz Cruz...You find what you said about AOC and Bernie funny?. You a low down, dirty, nasty, foul, and vile. It is people like you who should be put out of office. That is the White Supremacy in you. Dont worry, Democrats will continue to prevail before and after you.
    — Kenneth Stanback (@StanbackKenneth) February 26, 2021
    Honestly, no one listens to Ted Cruz. He has zero integrity, so we just consider the source. AOC has my thanks.
    — Lyn Rising 🌊💙🖤🌊 (@LynStrange) February 26, 2021
    Cruz hides his failure as a human by making fun or insulting others. Bottom line: he left the people of Texas to freeze and AOC raised millions to help them.
    — Esther Fusco (@fusco_esther) February 26, 2021

    Crutch-wielding Texas actor arrested for assaulting police at pro-Trump Capitol riot

    Sky Palma
    February 26, 2021

    An actor from Dallas, Texas, who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and was captured on video holding a crutch as insurrectionists climbed the stairs to the Capitol building, has been arrested according to the Dallas Morning News.

    Luke Russell Coffee, 41, has an online biography that says he worked on two primetime television shows for Warner Brothers and NBC/Universal and started a production company in his hometown in 2010.

    He has been charged with assault of a federal law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon; interference with a law enforcement officer during civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; unlawful entry on restricted grounds; and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, the Morning News reports.

    A college classmate of Coffee's, who also happens to be an FBI agent, helped identify him. Another witnesses told the FBI that they saw video featuring Coffee discussing conspiracy theories.

    Coffee admitted to police that he was at the Capitol on Jan 6. and that he was holding a crutch but denies he used it to assault anyone.

    Watch video of Coffee at the Capitol below. He appears at around 0:36:


    'Where's Jared Kushner?' New intel report blaming Saudi prince for Khashoggi murder raises questions

    Travis Gettys
    February 26, 2021

    A newly released U.S. intelligence report directly implicates Saudi crown price Muhammad bin Salman for approving a plan to gruesomely murder Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi -- but one name was conspicuously absent.

    The Office of the Director of National Intelligence report said the crown prince viewed the Saudi Arabia-born Khashoggi as a threat to his power and broadly supported his assassination, but many wondered why there was no mention of Jared Kushner -- former president Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law.

    Kushner and the crown prince spoke privately and informally with the crown prince while serving in the White House, and questions swirled around their relationship, which continued in the same fashion even after Khashoggi's grisly murder.

    But the report does not indicate whether Kushner or Trump were aware of the plan to murder the U.S.-based journalist, prompting even further questions.


    Good thing Jared Kushner helped him “weather the storm” on this one https://t.co/ixkG8roAJE
    — Virginia Heffernan (@Virginia Heffernan)1614364966.0



    For two years, we pushed for the truth to be made public:

    The highest levels of the Saudi government, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are responsible for the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

    There must be accountability, and we will continue to press for it. https://t.co/gAdf9apsPU
    — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 26, 2021


    In 2018, Trump downplayed intel pointing to the Saudi crown prince for Khashoggi's murder. Regarding whether MBS knew, Trump said in a statement at the time, “Maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" Today US intel releases a report that MBS approved operation.
    — Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 26, 2021


    A US intelligence report found that MBS approved Jamal Khashoggi's killing in 2018. Around that time, MBS and Jar… https://t.co/Y2JtJffvUM
    — Citizens for Ethics (@Citizens for Ethics)1614363996.0


    Confirms what we suspected all along. Now lock Kushner & his FIL up.
    — Bernie's Mittens Are Speaking (@Peacefulrealit1) February 26, 2021


    So I'm also assuming that Jared Kushner knew about it the whole time.
    — Ellen “got the vax wears the mask" Rosewall (@EllenRosewall) February 26, 2021


    This punk doesn't have Jared Kushner running cover for him anymore.
    — Barton Hall (@brtnhll77) February 26, 2021


    Time to put restrictions and sanctions on Americans doing business with Saudi Arabia.

    Time to shutdown Kushner and Mnuchin business deals
    — Roadrunner (@BeeepBeeep33) February 26, 2021


    So, what did Kushner and Trump get in exchange for protecting him? https://t.co/wR8e5zqjC4
    — Hudson River Croc (@HudsonRiverCroc) February 26, 2021


    Just follow the money. Time to subpoena Kushner's tax returns.
    — Janice (@Boomerbabe3) February 26, 2021


    Just follow the money. Time to subpoena Kushner's tax returns.
    — Janice (@Boomerbabe3) February 26, 2021


    Jared Kushner where are you?
    — IWriteLeft (@iwriteleft) February 26, 2021


    Let's get Kushner in on that “accountability".
    — Mena Ganey 🐇🐇 (@mena_ganey) February 26, 2021



    Let's get Kushner in on that “accountability".
    — Mena Ganey 🐇🐇 (@mena_ganey) February 26, 2021


    Now lets talk about exactly what role Jared Kushner played in this.
    — Bethany (@bethany1014) February 26, 2021


    What did Trump and Kushner know, and when did they know it?
    — Jeff Ralston 🥧🥧🍻😷 (@JeffR914) February 26, 2021


    im waiting for the part of the report that discloses how Trump and Kushner helped cover it up ...
    — Diana U (@sparkly0106) February 26, 2021


    US has released its damning report on Saudi crown prince culpability in murder.

    Do the Saudis hold any embarrassing data about Trump/Kushner?

    What wd be the Saudi royals' highest value use of such data if it existed? They have to be feeling angry and aggrieved right now.
    — David Frum (@davidfrum) February 26, 2021


    Trump used Jared Kushner as his criminal henchman to: 1) Create a cyber backdoors for our enemies, 2) Bilk the U.S. out of a much money and power as possible, 3) Pardon his father's crimes, 4) Cover up crimes in exchange for money and favors, etc. https://t.co/OorAXOM294
    — Marjorie Frazier (@MarjoriesBuzz) February 26, 2021
     
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