There Are So Many Public Health Activism Opportunities That It's Hard To Keep Track.
So, we did it for you.
Hi, everyone.
Things are especially hard right now but the good news is there are MANY activism opportunities to improve public health.
First, I want to say all of this should be in addition to whatever anti-war, Pro-Palestine, anti-Genocide actions you might be involved in… and there are many.
Generally, I’ll list the public health activism in order of deadline with the first one being today.
Quick warning though, this article is way too long for email so it will cut off if you are reading this in your email inbox. I probably should have made this multiple articles but it’s way more important these actions have people power behind them… and fast.
OSHA’s deadline is May 20th, 2024… That’s the day I’m emailing this out.
So, we probably shouldn’t waste any time…
OSHA wants public comment on COVID.
Deadline: May 20th, 2024
Basically, OSHA is looking for the public to submit information, challenges, or solutions about how your particular profession handled COVID.
If you wanted greater public safety regarding COVID then this is probably it.
This deadline was already extended because of interest from the public so if you want to participate in this it has to be done May 20th.
(Click here to go to their website and leave a comment)
Here is what they are asking for in their words.
You do have to make an account to participate.
NC mask ban is still moving along.
Deadline: Ongoing, Immediate
But that’s not the only state that needs attention.
There’s been a lot of tricky language about it being “shelved”… not true.
This is an effort to criminalize wearing any mask in North Carolina including for folks who are protecting themselves from airborne pathogens.
This could be a scary start to criminalizing masks that protect you from COVID but luckily, it was stalled because there were “concerns” it might not be ADA complaint.
Spoilers: It’s not.
The bill had already passed the state House but then the Senate made changes out of concerns it might not be ADA compliant.
So, it’s back in the House where they are “expected to reject” those changes, which gums up the works significantly.
This is where we are currently…
In a bit of irony, it would seem NC is a leader in lung transplants and it’s recommended to wear a mask for a considerable amount time after the surgery.
Also, the current CDC director, Mandy Cohen, is from North Carolina.
So, this activism is a little less straight forward… You can contact the CDC, Mandy Cohen’s office directly (no link, so get creative), the Governor of NC (there’s a phone number at the bottom of the page), and if you are a resident of NC then your state representative but I’ve been told you don’t need to be from NC to call.
And that activism really works… here’s one state rep.
I would focus on the state reps because Republicans hold a super majority in both halves of their state house so they can override a veto.
You may think this is not a big deal but before the Pandemic a few states had laws criminalizing masking with a few exceptions… particularly, Virginia comes to mind.
There’s also a petition you can sign specifically against the NC ban.
It’s important to recognize that petitions are not the end of your role in this issue; it’s just one part… so sign the petitions but also make the calls if you can.
But that’s not the only state that needs attention…
New York…
So, on the back of NC fearing that there is an ADA compliance issue, we can almost certainly say that Mayor Adams’ position is a violation of the ADA.
So, here’s his contact info… 212-788-3000
Mayor of the City of New York, City Hall, New York, New York 10007
We should create a more complex plan to use the Federal Agencies to hold him accountable to the ADA but I don’t have that plan… yet.
There is also a petition for a ‘free mask bill’ in NY.
Just a quick reminder, face masks do not inhibit facial recognition and we’ve had gait tracking technology since 2012… So, don’t bite when they say it’s about tracking.
Which also, yuck, such a terrible argument against masking anyway.
California has activism opportunities to push back on their one day isolation period which is already hurting people.
CDPHpress@cdph.ca.gov
CDPHGPInquiries@cdph.ca.gov
cdph.internetadmin@cdph.ca.gov
Tomas.aragon@cdph.ca.gov
PO Box 997377 MS 0500 Sacramento, CA 95899-7377
For General Public Information: (916) 558-1784
CDPH Call Center: 1-833-422-4255
And if you are in Arizona…
Not COVID but relevant; they are trying to ban teaching climate change in state colleges… which just seems like a terrible idea.
Here’s the link to find your Arizona state rep… or someone else’s.
Senate Appropriations Hearing.
Deadline: May 24th; Hearing May 23rd
This could include Long COVID or anything.
There are a number of groups organizing to get people to DC and while I endorse their efforts as activists, the ask they are rallying around is troubling. But that shouldn’t stop us from taking action… actually it should be a rallying cry for GREATER action.
Currently the ask is for one billion a year for 10 years… I wrote an article explaining my position on this a bit ago and you can read it here.
The problem is actually a few things, mostly that the dollar ask is way too small for what needs to be done and the larger problem is its being sold as a “patient led” plan… but this is NOT a patient led plan.
It’s based on the plan put up by Merkley, Kaine, and Duckworth last year.
It’s a government led plan that they are trying to repackage as patient led.
Now that all being said, this is appropriations and is NOT the bill that they are promoting so there is no limitation on the ability to ask for more.
So, do that… Deadline is May 24th, 2024.
And we should be pushing for appropriations to extend the Bridge program for COVID vaccines. I have more info on the cuts there later in the article…
I cannot make it more clear that you should never build your argument from where you think you are going to land… The concept is called “arguing from the middle” and it is always a failed proposition.
If you start with only what you need then you will inevitably lose things you need during negotiations. But if you include what you want too then you might still get some of what you want but are almost guaranteed all of what you need…
Never walk into a negotiation with sacrifices already decided.
If you are interested in going to DC there is a group distributing stipends.
But it doesn’t stop there…
We should also follow up with members of the HELP committee to have more hearings to tackle persistent virus and how we can treat it.
Here’s the list of HELP members and a few contacts.
Amy Proal needs to be part of that conversation, maybe the whole conversation.
We also need Government funding to advance research in MRI technology, so we can have full body scanners that measure down to 1nm, but can be made without the difficult to harvest rare materials that often includes slave labor.
That’s as close to a viral load test as we are going to get and it will measure everything else too at the same time but we need significant advances in technology to manufacture these on the scale we need and that will almost certainly require government funding.
HICPAC
Deadline: TBD; Hearing June 6th & 7th
Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee
This is happening on June 6th and 7th… and this is specifically about altering the recommendations for respirator use in hospitals.
In their last meeting they had a number of very shady things go down... So, it’s clear that the folks pushing the agenda in this committee have nefarious intentions.
And I’ve not being hyperbolic; there is significant corporate capture happening with this committee since their decision affects spending at hospitals.
When we last dealt with this it took the full force of EVERY group who works on COVID safety to pressure the CDC not to accept the recommendation that they forced through…
And we were successful but it’s still going back to the same people.
So, they could just rinse and repeat until the public gets tired.
Last time they only allowed a SINGLE day for public comment and while this next meeting is less than a month away, not only is the public comment page not available but we are having trouble finding a docket number to search for it at all.
We actually contacted the CDC and they are giving us the run around over the both the docket number and the regulations.gov page for public comments.
Keep your eyes on this one, because it’ll come out of nowhere.
Here’s the link to the meeting page.
Airborne Reporting Plan For Hospitals.
Deadline: June 10th
Medicare and Medicaid Programs
A lot of folks might not know this but our flu data every year is based on estimates because hospitals are not required to report any flu data.
We actually did a presentation on Influenza at the last VRBPAC meeting that shows a lot of interesting data on this subject.
Now that the COVID monitoring bills have expired it’s no longer mandatory to report COVID data so we are flying blind.
Hopefully, that is about to change and the final day to comment is June 10th.
This would happen through Medicare and Medicaid where they would require hospitals to track and report all pathogens that spread through the air.
This would be based on the new WHO recommendations.
Your link is here…
And I cannot stress how important this is because we are starting a new wave.
It wasn’t expected for a few months but it’s starting now.
Per the above chart from May 17th, that new COVID wave is being driven by the FLiRT variants and its descendants which is the topic of conversation for the upcoming VRBPAC and ACIP.
There’s already evidence that the FLiRT variants spread more easily which would explain a new wave at an unexpected time and it’s not just America, other countries are seeing an uptick in hospitalizations as well.
But what is a FLiRT variant?
FLiRT is a nickname for variants with the spike protein mutations S:F456L + S:R346T, with the amino acids phenylalanine (F) and leucine (L) switching at position 456 and arginine (R) switching to threonine (T) at position 346.
So, the F becomes an L and the R becomes a T… hence FLiRT…
We had a similar situation with FLiP variants a few month ago.
It’s a much smaller shift than how we think of variants normally but just as dangerous.
FLiRTs are known as KP.2 and KP.1.1 as well as many others.
Which brings us to VRBPAC and ACIP where they will choose variants for vaccines that will be distributed later this year.
And that’s already a bit of a mess.
VRBPAC
Deadline: Passed; Event June 5th
Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee
This is on the heels of them postponing the meeting for greater surveillance.
Unfortunately Public Comment has closed already… But I did try to get it extended.
I expect this meeting to focus on the antigenic difference between the JN.1 and the FLiRT variants that are rapidly evolving which can seem very concerning until you realize how small these shifts are compared to the normal variant shifts we talk about.
Last year this is where we started the final push for greater Novavax approval and I hope to use what little time I have to speak to further codify the Novavax timing that we got approved last year… What we got is good but doesn’t go far enough.
I hope to make it so that any person can get two shots of Novavax whenever there is an update to compensate for any potential jumps in mutation.
Though, technically, this will not be a clear approval for all people the way you might think… It would allow for folks to get two shots whenever there is an update, which essentially accomplishes the same thing as a new primary series but in a slightly different context.
That would open things up for everyone without forcing the government to admit that folks might want to treat Novavax as its own series of shots.
In addition to that, hopefully we get an update on Pediatric Novavax.
It’s misleading to even say there even is a pediatric version because that’s not entirely true.
It’s the same shot for every person regardless of age, so it’s more about access than it is approval… but technically it needs approval.
There was a phase 3 trial done in India that had good results a while back but I’m not sure if that data will be good enough for the American FDA.
Since comments are already closed, I just wanted to put this on everyone’s radar.
There’s nothing for you to do here unless we decide to contact the committee members directly right before the meeting.
ACIP
Deadline: TBD; Event June 26th- 28th
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
ACIP basically goes through all the recommendations made at VRBPAC and uses that data to create an actual plan for the vaccine recommendations.
This is really important but it’ll be hard to make a clear determination on what should be done until VRBPAC is finished.
And I cannot make it more clear that pressure on these groups works but you might have to take unconventional means.
Here’s a clip from our show earlier this week, where we discussed our efforts at ACIP last year that we intercut with a clip from the meeting.
It makes a very special point.
If you want info on ACIP you can find it here.
Public Comment is not open yet but you will find it here.
If you’d like more info on our show, you can follow our TwiX account here.
It’s Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:30-7:00 PM PAC.
Novavax Update
If you are reading all this info on the FDA/CDC hearings or the advance of the FLiRT variants and are concerned about how it might affect Novavax who has a longer process to create their vaccines, they already released a statement.
Novavax is able to do this because it both targets the spike’s conserved epitopes that are found in the full S2, which mRNA does not do, AND its adjuvant shrinks distance between existing antibodies after multiple exposures.
Both effects help recipients to create a response to a wider swath of variants…
That also means that should the dominant variant stray significantly from the target of the vaccines, then simply a second vaccine would be the solution.
Hence the push at VRBPAC and ACIP for two shots on updates.
Most of the folks who are already one or two in would already be close enough simply from an additional XBB shot but an update would be better.
Also, because of this, Novavax does not suffer from the same immune memory/imprinting issues we see in mRNA or infection based immunity… which is nice.
These last two are just general ongoing situations…
The Bridge Program is ending.
This allowed people with no insurance to access free COVID vaccines.
We are going to need folks to advocate in a big way to their federal reps.
If you don’t know who your reps are then start here.
This should probably be a part of Appropriations hearing.
Here’s the official statement.
A reduction in federal spending on public health is perfect for our next issue.
H5N1 is now Bovine Influenza A in cows.
And the good news doesn’t stop there…
We have our first confirmed case study on H5N1 in humans that crossed from dairy cattle and it’s not great.
While it has not mutated to infect our lungs yet, it does have the ability to infect our eyes and it appears to be hemorrhagic.
This is a problem because H5N1 was confirmed neurotropic a few years back.
Keep in mind at the publishing of that 2009 study, of the 433 cases, 61% were fatal.
Now this spread is being called Bovine Influenza A or at least that’s what they are calling H5N1 that’s mutated to infect cows, which makes sense considering H5N1 is Avian influenza type A…
And it’s spreading fast.
It’s important to understand that H5N1 infecting humans is not a new thing, it was first detected in humans in 1997 in Hong Kong.
Though no one has died from this version yet, that we know of, the CDC has been monitoring a number of people for symptoms.
This is really a bottomless pit of hell already…
We only started testing cows before they cross state lines in late April.
The CDC has no legal authority to mandate protective measures…
H5N1 is already showing up in the food supply.
The CDC updated their recommendations for preparing food that might be infected with H5N1.
And conservatives are requesting infected milk to “build immunity.”
I really should have made this its own article but if you are going to call your representatives about all those other things then you should definitely be contacting your reps about this because … it just seems like something bad is about to happen.
We’d be better off avoiding it then finding out if I’m right.
I’d prefer not to be.
That’s it for now, if we missed anything or things need to be added… leave a comment.
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So, if you are grateful for being made aware of this information then please consider making a donation… that’s probably closer to what folks are actually experiencing.
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