Today on AirTalk, we update you on the latest COVID-19 news and answer your questions. Also on the show, we talk to the president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County about DA George Gascón’s reforms; discuss president Biden's proposed immigration bill; and more.
DOC AMA: COVID-19’s Effect On American Life Expectancy, Identifying Phony N95 Masks & More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Dean Blumberg from UC Davis.
Topics today include:
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines still effective against UK variant, reduced effectiveness against South Africa variant
The challenges of getting long-COVID patients back to work
COVID-19 has already cut U.S. life expectancy by a year. For Black Americans, it's worse
U.S. seizes over 10 million phony N95 masks in COVID-19 probe
Can fans attend the NCAA men's basketball tournament in Indiana?
Long Beach schools to begin K-5 instruction on March 29, Mayor announces
Guest:
Dean Blumberg, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital
As Vaccine Hesitancy Remains Large, We See How SoCal Residents Are Battling Vaccine Reluctance Within Their Own Families
Even though COVID-19 vaccines are reaching the arms of millions of Americans, vaccine skepticism still exists in large swaths of the American population.
Recent headlines have shown vast numbers of firefighters and medical workers unwilling to get a shot. And trust for the vaccine remains low in Black and Latinx communities. Reasons for reluctance go anywhere from fear of aggravating pre-existing conditions and historical distrust of federally distributed treatments to misinformation.
A late January survey by the U.S. Census Bureau indicated that nearly half of unvaccinated Americans are uncertain to get the vaccine mainly due to side effect concerns and patience for more data about the safety of the shot. Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano chronicled vaccine skepticism in his own family in a recent story, writing about how his father’s “stubborn country macho” mentality contributed to his vaccine denialism.
We want to hear from you. Has anyone in your family needed any convincing to get vaccinated? What steps have you tried to get the needle in their arm? Share your experiences with us at (866) 893-5722.
Guests:
Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times columnist covering Southern California; his recent column is “My dad was a COVID-19 skeptic. But he got vaccinated, and so can your ‘pandejos’”; he tweets
Dean Blumberg, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital
Association Of Deputy District Attorneys On LA DA Gascón’s Reforms
Last month, we spoke with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón about his various criminal justice reforms which were meant to address incarceration and racial inequity.
Today, we follow that conversation with Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County.
Plus, we’ll contextualize with our criminal justice correspondent Frank Stoltze.
Guests:
Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County
Frank Stoltze, KPCC/LAist criminal justice correspondent; he tweets
Biden, Congressional Democrats Unveil Immigration Reform Legislation -- What’s In It And How Would Undocumented Immigrants Apply?
President Joe Biden's administration is joining Democrats on Capitol Hill to unveil a major immigration overhaul that would offer an eight-year pathway to citizenship to the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status.
The legislation, to be released in detail Thursday morning, will reflect the broad priorities for immigration reform that Biden laid out on his first day in office, including an increase in visas, funding to process asylum applications and new technology at the southern border. But while the plan offers one of the fastest pathways to citizenship of any proposed measure in recent years, it does so without offering any enhanced border security, which past immigration negotiations have used as a way to win Republican votes. Without enhanced security, it faces tough odds in a closely divided Congress.
The bill would immediately provide green cards to farm workers, those with temporary protected status and young people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children. For others living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021, the plan establishes a five-year path to temporary legal status, if they pass background checks, pay taxes and fulfill other basic requirements. Then, after three years, they can pursue citizenship. The plan also includes $4 billion spread over four years to try to boost economic development and tackle corruption in Latin American countries, to try to address some of the root causes of migration to the U.S.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Molly O’Toole, reporter covering immigration and security at The Los Angeles Times Washington D.C. bureau; she tweets
Alma Rosa Nieto, a practicing immigration attorney based in Los Angeles and vice chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s media advocacy committee; she tweets
JPL’s Rover ‘Perseverance’ To Land On Mars Today
NASA’s most sophisticated rover yet is set to land on Mars at 12:55pm PST this afternoon, beginning a mission that will include a search for life and an exploration of the planet’s geology.
The rover is one of many spacecrafts that have been sent to explore Mars since the 1960s. Although the potential for life on Mars is not unique to the red planet—water has been identified on several planetary moons in our solar system— Mars’ close vicinity to Earth means that it is relatively accessible to us with contemporary technology. The planet’s surface is also far less hostile to exploration than, say, Venus’, which would melt any spacecraft that attempted to land on its world. Perseverance’s mission will center on the exploration of a delta in the Jezero Crater, where an ancient river once flowed and may contain signs of past life. But Perserverance’s mission will not be the last. The rover is primarily designed to set promising samples aside for future missions to return to Earth later this decade.
Today on AirTalk, we’re learning more about the Perseverance mission to Mars. Questions? Comment below or give us a call at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Tariq Malik, astronomy journalist and editor-in-chief of Space.com; he tweets