Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
Formal caregivers are paid care providers providing care in one’s home or in a care setting . There are about 5.3 million caregivers and as COVID 19 infection rates surge again with the highly transmissible Omicron variant, caregivers are facing difficulties in accessing vaccines, boosters, and tests for them and for those they care for. EMS briefing on Jan 13 spoke to experts and caregivers.
Dr. Donna Benton, Director, USC, Family Caregiver Support Center pointed out at the meeting that front-line personnel are a very important pillar of the fight against the epidemic, and California should give more support, especially priority access to home rapid screening agents and quicker results, etc. Benton mentioned that many medical staff is under a lot of psychological pressure. . Even though many places in the United States are now open, many medical staff still choose to be alone and isolate themselves, and try their best to protect our families. She also mentioned that some medical systems have changed to online consultation in response to the pandemic, but there are still many people who are unable to access the Internet for some reason, or some people do not know how to operate online. She encouraged all to get vaccinated and boosted.
African-American youth in California, Kennedy King, believes that the vaccination rate of young people is low, so she recently wrote a rap song at a church competition to encourage everyone to get vaccinated, and won the first prize. She shared her experience and pointed out that music is the fastest way to convey messages to young people, and she believes that as long as they listen to it, they will increase their willingness to get vaccinated.
