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Why one of the most vaccinated places in America couldn’t avoid omicron

In early December, after a two-year hiatus from the stage, Bad Bunny went home to Puerto Rico to give his most dedicated fanbase the concert of their lives. The reggaeton star may have delivered with his <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-live-reviews/bad-bunny-p-fkn-r-concert-live-review-1270509/">“P FKN R” show</a> — a two-day, $10 million spectacle and tribute to Boricua culture at a massive 60,000-person stadium in San Juan. But it also turned out to be a superspreader event.
All concert-goers were required to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination and to wear masks or else risk a $100 fine and removal from the concert. Though their vaccination status was verified at the door, there <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/bad-bunny-concert-puerto-rico-covid-cases-1235015526/">wasn’t much enforcement</a> of the mask mandate, and many attendees took them off once they got to their seats. As a result, an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/02/us/coronavirus-puerto-rico.html">estimated 2,000 attendees</a> tested positive for the virus afterward, contributing to a 4,600 percent jump in cases on the island last month. December 2021 accounted for a third of the total cases recorded in Puerto Rico, and now the island’s <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/puerto-rico-delays-start-classes-amid-covid-19-82094397">positivity rate is 36 percent</a>.
The concert was emblematic of what has gone wrong in Puerto Rico — and in other parts of the US amid the spread of the omicron variant. Many Puerto Ricans feel more protected than they actually are due to the island’s high levels of vaccination, but two shots of vaccine have proved not to be a sufficient defense in the face of omicron, which is more transmissible than past variants. And more people getting infected has meant more people are ending up in the hospital, straining medical infrastructure.
Just a month ago, Puerto Rico appeared to be in a better position than other parts of the US. It has <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_deathsper100k">among the lowest Covid-19 death rates</a> in the US, and for months <a href="https://www.vox.com/22761242/puerto-rico-vaccine-covid-hurricane-maria">led the country in vaccination rates</a>. A unified messaging campaign from the scientific community and government leaders has allowed the island to largely avoid politicization of the virus and the vaccine. And Gov. Pedro Pierluisi has implemented some of the strictest vaccine mandates in the country. Without all of that, the latest wave could have been much more deadly.
But even Puerto Rico wasn’t immune to the highly contagious omicron variant, which has contributed to a <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/omicron-cases-are-exploding-scientists-still-don-t-know-how-bad-wave-will-be">spike in caseloads and hospitalizations</a> across the US. Gatherings during the holiday season, which in Puerto Rico spans from Thanksgiving to mid-January with Three Kings Day celebrations, have exacerbated the problem. And given that many Puerto Ricans are vaccinated — nearly <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-people-fully-percent-total">78 percent</a> as of January 6 — infections on the island have been generally mild, giving people a false sense of security during the latest wave.
“It’s a new variant, it’s Christmastime, and there’s a high vaccination rate, so people feel more free to go out because they’re vaccinated. And it seems like, though, omicron is eluding the vaccine, at least for contagion,” said Maria Levis, CEO of Impactivo, a public health consulting firm in Puerto Rico.
Public health officials project that the spike will last for about another two weeks. In the meantime, the Puerto Rican government has done what other US states and territories have refused to do, reviving restrictions on gatherings, travel, and school openings at the recommendation of scientists and public health officials. However, there is not much it can do about persistent hospital staffing shortages, which continue to threaten not only the welfare of Covid-19 patients, but also others seeking lifesaving care.
At the advice of public health officials, the Puerto Rican government reacted quickly to the onset of omicron by reviving and strengthening restrictions that had previously been in place.
The governor has <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/puerto-rico-delays-start-classes-amid-covid-19-82094397">delayed the start of public schools</a> by two weeks and recommended private schools do the same. He has made booster shots mandatory for employees in the <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/puerto-rico-mandates-covid-19-booster-shots-for-health-and-education-sectors.aspx">health and education sectors</a>, and all schoolchildren age 5 and older must have their first dose by January 10.
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<figcaption>Drivers wait in line at a drive-through testing center operated by the Puerto Rico Health Department at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium parking lot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on December 18, 2021.</figcaption>
<cite>Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images</cite></figure>
Those attending mass events now have to provide not only proof of vaccination, but also a negative Covid-19 test taken within 48 hours of the event. All establishments serving food and drink have to require vaccination or a negative test for entry, and capacity at those places is limited to 50 percent or 250 people maximum. All passengers on flights to Puerto Rico also have to show a negative test. And businesses must close between midnight and 5 am and are not allowed to sell alcohol during those hours.
Major events on the island have consequently been canceled or changed to a virtual event, including the <a href="https://pagesix.com/2021/12/23/miss-world-loses-millions-due-to-covid-19-cancellation/">Miss World pageant</a> and a 10,000-person <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-22/puerto-rico-s-new-year-s-date-with-dick-clark-goes-virtual">New Year’s celebration</a>.
For some Puerto Ricans, those measures don’t go far enough. Some have raised concern about the governor’s decision to delay the start of school rather than what they see as the safer option: <a href="https://www.sjspr.org/school-life/urgent-news">moving back to remote instruction</a>. Others see the governor’s actions as wise. But overall, there is notable fatigue over Covid-19 prevention protocols among young people.
The highest incidence of cases during the recent spike has been among people ages 15 to 39, said Victor Ramos, president of Puerto Rico’s College of Physicians, which is advising the governor on pandemic strategy. The virus has been spreading in their workplaces, their schools and universities, holiday celebrations, and large events — and they have been bringing it home to older, more vulnerable populations.
Two years into the pandemic, it’s difficult to convince those young people to stay home, especially when, due to widespread vaccination, the typical case of Covid-19 in Puerto Rico hasn’t resulted in symptoms more serious than those of a cold. Many also believe that with Covid-19 becoming endemic, it’s only a matter of time before they get the virus, so they might as well get it over with. The trouble with that strategy, however, is they still could spread it to people who are at higher risk for hospitalization.
“The symptoms have been really mild for folks that have gotten it, and that also plays into how serious people think it is,” Levis said. “People are also just tired.”
Meanwhile, public health officials are warning Puerto Ricans that two doses of the vaccine is not enough. <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/puerto-rico-delays-start-classes-amid-covid-19-82094397">Less than 40 percent</a> of the population has received a booster. But problematically, not everyone is eligible for a booster shot yet, since it hasn’t been six months since their last shot or three months since they got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Although the symptoms of Covid-19 are typically milder for the vaccinated, omicron is more transmissible, even among people who have had two shots. The combination of vaccinated people lowering their guard and the fact that most people in Puerto Rico have not received a booster shot has created an opening for omicron to spread. The result is a growing number of cases, currently at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html">nearly 400 percent more</a> than last winter’s peak, as well as a nearly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/puerto-rico-covid-cases.html">600 percent increase in hospitalizations</a> in the last two weeks at a time when the island’s public health infrastructure is struggling.
Despite being thrown the curveball of omicron, Puerto Rico’s government has responded exactly as public health officials have advised, and they are confident that the new measures will get the pandemic under control again. The same can’t be said of other states and territories in the US, which have largely eschewed a return to pandemic lockdowns.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1641740417_6941_502457" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23153632,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2KfPBKnbaVOpM9zA-xm_xitd9aU=/0x0:5862x3908/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/airTuGeM_xSJT1W8vgqjlWG7UHk=/0x0:5862x3908/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/W1sVzIyzp7aVJAkEdgqMAxjeZRg=/0x0:5862x3908/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L1zU9GSKgl5O0CU-0s7NCNJdEJI=/0x0:5862x3908/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PmW5Z68UrdM8gFqDt0LjP0q8qfc=/0x0:5862x3908/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rMHDPny_QlYMj7tIttak88UbOu8=/0x0:5862x3908/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qnysb9rT9CmXc_hE8FFVBZGLmrs=/0x0:5862x3908/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TvhXIpFsLorgt63a1wIkgXkEj7g=/0x0:5862x3908/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/my-6SBC_1rV0RAngLr6DWGePFW8=/0x0:5862x3908/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Health care workers in masks and gowns stand outside a line of cars and write information from the passengers on clipboards." data-upload-width="5862" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/itVZ-SGfKmi6LcHL5Cm-vI2oKzk=/0x0:5862x3908/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LRpKAg209Wi2bHNDzEif24AFjBk=/0x0:5862x3908/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gtPuOr92yXn_kLnbR9LFA1hpjmk=/0x0:5862x3908/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xOMw6YtTDDe3_2Fpyb-oWRKMHoQ=/0x0:5862x3908/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/toU-_kzIKqAp_F9vLWp77kzhDeQ=/0x0:5862x3908/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fti6uGoI0GUFL0pkV0T-lHUci58=/0x0:5862x3908/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OEUeNjvlycExq5OqX2Cvf6oew3w=/0x0:5862x3908/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NO6aOIX-PipL-fF34urv2OXyHsY=/0x0:5862x3908/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Re4ealz2PL-ZbKcvTjQUSINWLEg=/0x0:5862x3908/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1VmPHgtAooaGXZVL7yo43J-rOTE=/0x0:5862x3908/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5862x3908):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23153632/GettyImages_1237316877.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Workers register people to be tested for Covid-19 at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium parking lot in San Juan on December 18.</figcaption>
<cite>Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images</cite></figure>
Hospital staffing shortages are currently proving to be the biggest strain on health care resources across the US, and Puerto Rico is no exception.
“We have the beds,” Ramos said. “The problem we have is personnel. They are tired, they have to stay home because they are contagious, and some are on vacation because of the holidays.”
That means the quality of the complex and resource-intensive care Covid-19 patients require <a href="https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/OEI-09-21-00140.pdf">might not be as high</a> as it could be. And that non-Covid-19 patients, especially those who already had limited access to physicians, may face delays in care, which could create long-term health issues that will outlast the pandemic.
There was already a <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/2/27/21150176/puerto-rico-health-care-hospital-access-hurricane-maria">mass exodus</a> of doctors from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria hit the island in 2017, in part due to low wages and issues with insurance reimbursement that made it impossible for them to pay their offices and staff. By the following year, the medical specialist workforce had shrunk by 15 percent, meaning that there were only about 9,500 staff to serve the entire population of 3.2 million, as Catherine Kim <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/2/27/21150176/puerto-rico-health-care-hospital-access-hurricane-maria">reported for Vox</a>.
The numbers had recovered somewhat by the time the pandemic emerged. But many medical staff have had to stay home and quarantine when they test positive for Covid-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine-isolation-background.html">changed its recommendation</a> for people to quarantine for five days instead of 10 if fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and other symptoms have improved. Though <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/new-cdc-isolation-quarantine-guidelines-confuses-some-and-raises-questions">controversial</a>, that guidance could allow asymptomatic health care workers to return to work much sooner, helping alleviate staffing shortages and the availability and quality of medical care for all.
But burnout is also an issue. Many health care workers have left direct care of Covid-19 patients in favor of less risky jobs, such as vaccination and lab work, Ramos said.
All of this has meant that the capacity to address not only Covid-19, but also other patients presenting with urgent medical issues nevertheless remains a challenge. According to the federal government, 72 of the island’s 78 municipalities are <a href="https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas">medically underserved</a> and have “<a href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23154035/2015_Puerto_Rico_Primary_Care_Needs_Assessment.pdf">unmet health care needs</a>.”
Aggravating that issue is the fact that many physicians on the island have reduced their on-site services, and patients with Covid-19 risk factors are afraid to access care in person for fear of contracting the virus. That has led to an explosion of need in the mental health sector and rising incidences of chronic diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, Levis said.
“It drives home the imperative that if Covid is endemic and we’re going to be seeing these surges pop up, we need to make sure that we have alternate ways of communicating with patients,” Levis said.
Unless those longstanding challenges in Puerto Rico’s health care system are addressed, in addition to the immediate personnel shortage, any future waves of the pandemic will continue to pose a risk to the health of Covid-19 patients and anyone else seeking care.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22870713/puerto-rico-omicron-covid-vaccine-travel-restrictions">https://www.vox.com/22870713/puerto-rico-omicron-covid-vaccine-travel-restrictions</a>

vox Why one of the most vaccinated places in America couldn’t avoid omicron

In early December, after a two-year hiatus from the stage, Bad Bunny went home to Puerto Rico to give his most dedicated fanbase the concert...

Biden Touts Vaccines for Children, Yet 0.00%-0.02% of Child Coronavirus Cases Fatal

President Joe Biden is continuing to push mass vaccination for children, despite the fact that 0.00-0.02 percent of child coronavirus cases result in death.
“The FDA has now authorized booster shots for children ages 12 to 15. Vaccinating our children is the best way to protect them from the Omicron variant,” Biden proclaimed on Friday:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true" readability="5.53125">
The FDA has now authorized booster shots for children ages 12 to 15. Vaccinating our children is the best way to protect them from the Omicron variant.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1479522725416816641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
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</figure>
Biden’s administration has, for weeks, continued to push parents to get their children vaccinated for the Chinese coronavirus. The Biden administration has even collaborated with Sesame Street as part of a greater effort to get vaccines on the radar of young children. Last year, Sesame Street characters participated in a CNN town hall meeting about the vaccines, and Biden took it upon himself to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/11/08/joe-biden-praises-big-bird-for-getting-coronavirus-vaccine/" target="_blank">praise</a> Big Bird on social media for getting the shot:
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter">
<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="5.3776978417266">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true" readability="4.9640287769784">
Good on ya, <a href="https://twitter.com/BigBird?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BigBird</a>. Getting vaccinated is the best way to keep your whole neighborhood safe.
— President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1457525774530097152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
</figure>
However, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), last <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/" target="_blank">updated</a>December 30, 2021, the coronavirus mortality rate among children remains extremely low. 
<a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/01/08/biden-touts-vaccines-for-children-yet-0-00-0-02-of-child-coronavirus-cases-fatal/">Read more</a>
<div class="EhmdaiDV"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/new-years-super-special?ims=cuzeh&utm_campaign=heronewyear&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=heronewyear" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/InfowarsNewyearsSpecial-hero-385.jpg" /></a></div>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/biden-touts-vaccines-for-children-yet-0-00-0-02-of-child-coronavirus-cases-fatal">https://www.infowars.com/posts/biden-touts-vaccines-for-children-yet-0-00-0-02-of-child-coronavirus-cases-fatal</a>

news Biden Touts Vaccines for Children, Yet 0.00%-0.02% of Child Coronavirus Cases Fatal

President Joe Biden is continuing to push mass vaccination for children, despite the fact that 0.00-0.02 percent of child coronavirus cases ...

Want to know how to save nature? Ask Indigenous scientists.

Victor Manuel Hernandez believes he wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for a banana tree. As a 14-year-old resistance fighter during the civil war in 1970s El Salvador, he hid beneath the tree’s lush, green fronds when the military attacked his encampment. He’d been shot and a bomb fell directly overhead. But as he recalls, the bomb landed in the leaves of the banana tree, which he believes prevented it from igniting — shielding him from death.
After the attack ended, he mustered the strength to break off a branch from the tree, which he used as a crutch to walk into neighboring Guatemala to find help. “Nature not only protected me,” he recounts in <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/fresh-banana-leaves-healing-indigenous-landscapes-through-indigenous-science/9781623176051?gclid=CjwKCAiA5t-OBhByEiwAhR-hm-aHwwGfMM5gZ-zC23Tqa_9e8EgPLR8WAv54gKQ1FEWJo-LIlWh5nxoC-R4QAvD_BwE">Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science</a>, a new book written by his daughter Jessica Hernandez, a Maya Ch’orti and Binnizá-Zapotec Indigenous environmental scientist. “It saved my life.”
“Nature protects us as long as we protect nature,” writes Hernandez, who is now a 31-year-old postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Washington. “Ancestral knowledge has been sustained in our communities,” she added in an interview. “It’s a valid form of knowledge that isn’t necessarily validated through the Western ways, like publications and books.” This kind of knowledge forms the basis of Indigenous science, Hernandez says, that is crucial to caring for the Earth.
Indigenous peoples and local communities <a href="https://www.vox.com/22518592/indigenous-people-conserve-nature-icca">steward far more of the planet</a> than protected areas like national parks, and around <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/can-indigenous-land-stewardship-protect-biodiversity-">80 percent</a> of the diversity of species known to be living on Earth are found on lands owned or managed by these groups. That’s despite centuries of genocide, racism, and what Hernandez and other academics and activists refer to as settler colonialism — the intentional displacement and erasure of Indigenous peoples by outsiders.
“Conservation continues to teach scientists that scientific knowledge is more valuable than Indigenous knowledge,” Hernandez writes. This attitude ignores a staggering variety of insights in Indigenous communities, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/08/knowledge-of-medicinal-plants-at-risk-as-languages-die-out">from medicinal knowledge</a> of plants and animals in the Amazon to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20211128-can-indigenous-knowledge-save-the-reef">coral reef conservation in Australia</a> to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22586851/indigenous-native-firefighters-western-wildfires-climate-change">prescribed burning practices</a> in the West.
I recently spoke with Hernandez about the potential for Indigenous science to shift how we think about — and carry out — conservation, and the work that Western conservationists need to do to address inequalities and discrimination in the field. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
<h4>Sarah Sax</h4>
When did you first realize the way you perceive your relationship with the environment was different from the dominant Western view?
<h4>Jessica Hernandez</h4>
As early as elementary school. When I would sit down with my parents, they would tell me stories about plants as though they were our relatives. We’re taught [in school] about the plant cycle, the water cycle, all these life cycles that never integrate humans into the picture. Look at the life cycle of a fish and you see the eggs all the way to an adult fish, but never the interconnections with humans. The way Western science is taught, even in K through 12, is that we’re still separated from nature and nature is its own thing.
<h4>Sarah Sax</h4>
As you point out early in the book, many Indigenous languages don’t have a word for conservation, and instead use words like “healing” or “caring.” How do those differences play out in practice?
<h4>Jessica Hernandez</h4>
When we look at conservation, we’re always trying to save one thing. We’re trying to save a tree, and then we’re missing the whole forest.
In reality, conservation should be more holistic. Often the reason why we have endangered species, and continue to see ecosystem loss, is that there’s so many driving factors that are destroying those landscapes. Conservation should start focusing on seeing the bigger picture, which is healing.
<h4>Sarah Sax</h4>
You talk about the difficulties of trying to incorporate Indigenous science in academia. What are some of the tensions that exist in having more Indigenous scholarship included in Western conservation science?
<h4>Jessica Hernandez</h4>
When you’re the first Indigenous person in certain areas [of study], you have to experience those things to start breaking those glass ceilings that are preventing Indigenous science from being integrated.
The history that is written about us is not necessarily from a positive lens. It’s from the anthropological lens. Anthropology can provide a positive lens, but anthropology back in the day was more like, “We’re studying these people who are uncivilized, who are kind of savages.” It carries that stereotype of the “ecological noble savage,” where Indigenous peoples are these mythical creatures in tune with nature — not necessarily people who hold knowledge or who can also adapt to their environments like we’re doing today.
<h4>Sarah Sax</h4>
You devote a chapter to the idea of “eco-colonialism” and how that’s created this sustained, negative impact on our environment. What does this term mean, and how does it connect to the ways in which Indigenous science has continued to be devalued?
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1641740435_8140_370947" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23146945,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7Fy3uydvgnOfTggHk98Tycps0fI=/0x0:3267x2216/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AngWddS60O-qqQvIdueeSlqdFYc=/0x0:3267x2216/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qAELDEqzSCJs1AnCdQVbjD_MeSM=/0x0:3267x2216/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/o5ueTXxJnLkSfK6nFDLETGcDnzk=/0x0:3267x2216/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/C1mB-65Gg66YBdLf1DG8i3IMmME=/0x0:3267x2216/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/h3Fyhfe-32FA1rTdo_Ze-mCi9Ck=/0x0:3267x2216/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yUKns9DPeXxAWMRjPzZVANHOjg8=/0x0:3267x2216/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RzDBX0AGzfZTbUT0Sg6vO6Mz1JQ=/0x0:3267x2216/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/K3x0qUmbBF8F5u3IH2ra2rZrWmM=/0x0:3267x2216/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="A group of people stands with rifles beside a dirt road where there are signs that read “Road closed,” “This is Indian land,” and “Indian power.”" data-upload-width="3267" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CpbVIC_950iQ421IQHco9Hk0Sz8=/0x0:3267x2216/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yBWEikN-XvDx7sjLt4JYw38_loA=/0x0:3267x2216/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WdyBJLKNtBHPyTFF2prb56h787w=/0x0:3267x2216/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QnX4Cc0itfLvmflqNAYLMe4gNM0=/0x0:3267x2216/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nDQXBgl5uCBChAxTFUqpPkOeAWM=/0x0:3267x2216/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/G7n_3BetmHY3-ms8NH95h-3SimQ=/0x0:3267x2216/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tZOc6SN6DhthGsW0qEJgL8mqBDA=/0x0:3267x2216/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6r_9-PbBXzYlaKVoiJYC4TviEBM=/0x0:3267x2216/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6wnCbfEPzAH51PiwyVJe0-9DRLM=/0x0:3267x2216/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9bCNHKsE-7Ujm7LPXZoRB5TGtAI=/0x0:3267x2216/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3267x2216):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23146945/615308942.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>During the 1960s and 1970s, Native Americans joined in the political activism inspired by the African American civil rights movement. This protest was over violations of tribal fishing rights along the Columbia River, in Washington state.</figcaption>
<cite>Corbis via Getty Images</cite></figure>
<h4>Jessica Hernandez</h4>
We’re always focusing on the impacts settler colonialism has had on Indigenous peoples, but not necessarily on the impacts it also has had on our animal or plant species.
Look at the state of Washington and salmon. We know that tribes had to fight for their right to fish. [In a 1970s court case, United States v. Washington, Judge George Boldt <a href="https://guides.lib.uw.edu/law/indian-tribal/us-v-wash">ruled</a> that tribes were entitled to half of harvestable salmon under 19th-century treaties. The decision sparked a <a href="https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/pnw-fish-wars/backlash">backlash</a> from non-Native fishers.] Eco-colonialism is forgetting to include that Indigenous science, or traditional ecological knowledge, that the Washington state tribes have to protect the salmon, and continuing to focus on the Western conservation lens that ignores the bigger picture.
What is actually impacting salmon from the holistic lens? [Western conservation scientists] are focusing on urbanization, which is one of the factors that impacts salmon, but we’re not focusing on how to mitigate those impacts. They are focusing on culverts [tunnels that drain water from one side of a road to the other and can be difficult for salmon to navigate], but we’re not necessarily focusing on things like ocean acidification and other toxins that are being released into the oceans.
The salmon is like a spiritual relative to the coastal tribes. It is a cultural keystone species as opposed to what recreational fishing teaches us: We catch fish to consume it, but we don’t really have that special connection or that <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40316132">ceremony</a> to catch the fish. So in a way, eco-colonialism also kind of pits Indigenous fishermen against recreational fishermen.
<h4>Sarah Sax</h4>
How do you start to make room for taking Indigenous knowledge seriously and acting upon it, within the constraints that do exist in conservation science today?
<h4>Jessica Hernandez</h4>
Grappling with true history is a way that Western conservationists can start dismantling those layers. For instance, the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sierra-club-grapples-founder-john-muirs-racism-180975404/">Sierra Club is beginning to reckon</a> with the history on which it was founded. There’s a lot of anti-Blackness and racism embedded in it. [“For all the harms the Sierra Club has caused, and continues to cause, to Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color, I am deeply sorry,” Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/michael-brune/2020/07/john-muir-early-history-sierra-club">wrote in a 2020 blog post</a> outlining the group’s racist roots.]
As Western conservationists start to understand the true history, which is sometimes uncomfortable because we’re part of a system that has this really harmful, violent history — especially against people of color and, in this case, Indigenous peoples — then we can start understanding what actions we can take.
<h4>Sarah Sax</h4>
Your book reminds me of Braiding Sweetgrass by Indigenous botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, in that your own lived experience — and that of your community — is very present. Why is it important to include that when talking about Indigenous sciences and conservation?
<h4>Jessica Hernandez</h4>
When we look at how to do conservation or how to heal our environments, we tend to forget that Indigenous peoples have been adapting to all these changes. Our communities adapted to colonization. We are adapting to climate change because climate is already impacting our communities.
One of the things I wanted to include was the lived experiences from Indigenous peoples from different settler borders. Settler colonialism in the United States is different from the settler colonialism that’s embedded in Mexico or in Central America. We tend to forget that a lot of Indigenous peoples, even within the United States, are internally displaced from their reservations or to the cities. They also have to adapt their relationship with their environments.
I wanted to also share that banana trees are not native species to our lands [in the Americas]. I have been taught by elders that <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22796160/invasive-species-climate-change-range-shifting">invasive species</a> are displaced relatives in the sense that they have been displaced from their ancestral lands. But they’re still relatives because they still have a spirit.
<h4>Sarah Sax</h4>
How do you see Indigenous science fitting into bigger initiatives to heal the planet?
<h4>Jessica Hernandez</h4>
One of the things that I’m noticing is that the Biden-Harris administration is trying to incorporate traditional ecological knowledge within environmental policies. [In November 2021, President Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/15/fact-sheet-building-a-new-era-of-nation-to-nation-engagement/">issued a memorandum</a> that recognized Indigenous science and formed an interagency working group that aims to build on it.] Obviously, a presidential memorandum doesn’t have that much legal power. So hopefully that builds a discourse where it can be passed into bills through the Senate or through the House, and go through that judicial process so that it has more weight.
I’m also seeing more Native Americans or Indigenous people in this administration, like <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/15/22309327/deb-haaland-interior-senate-vote-confirmed">Deb Haaland</a> as Secretary of Interior. And then we have the <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/53.11/indigenous-affairs-national-park-service-how-tribal-leaders-want-chuck-sams-to-lead-the-park-service">first Indigenous director of national parks</a> [Charles “Chuck” Sams III, a Umatilla leader].
One of the ways that we can start addressing the invalidation of Indigenous science is to integrate it in the curriculum. I was able to teach an introduction to climate science this past quarter and I also integrated Indigenous science. So students were not necessarily just learning Western science; they were also learning Indigenous science.
We talked about the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/24/native-american-women-missing-murdered-media">missing and murdered Indigenous women epidemic</a> that’s happening and how that’s <a href="https://ndncollective.org/memo-the-climate-and-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-relatives-crises/">connected to our environment</a>. We read case studies showing that when Indigenous women are <a href="https://climate-xchange.org/2020/07/21/to-solve-the-climate-crisis-women-must-own-more-of-the-worlds-land/">given a piece of land</a>, their whole community thrives more than when a man is given the land.
It’s like peeling those layers from the onion to get to the root cause. We are actually healing our landscapes, and healing ourselves as people.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22849782/nature-conservation-indigenous-science-jessica-hernandez">https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22849782/nature-conservation-indigenous-science-jessica-hernandez</a>

vox Want to know how to save nature? Ask Indigenous scientists.

Victor Manuel Hernandez believes he wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for a banana tree. As a 14-year-old resistance fighter during the ...

Rand Paul: ‘Is Fauci Advising Justice Sotomayor?’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) asked if Dr. Anthony Fauci is “advising” Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor after she touted falsehoods during oral arguments on Friday at the Supreme Court as justices weighed President Joe Biden’s coercive vaccine mandates.
“We have over 100,000 children, which we’ve never had before, in serious condition, many on ventilators” from the coronavirus, Sotomayor <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/health/2022/01/07/fact-check-sotomayor-claims-100000-children-in-serious-condition-on-ventilators/">asserted</a> on Friday, raising eyebrows.
After the remarks surfaced, Sen. Paul, a prominent critic of Anthony Fauci, tweeted: “Sotomayor: ‘over 100,000 children…in serious condition, many on ventilators’ Is Fauci advising Justice Sotomayor? Will YouTube censor her?”
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"></figure>
The liberal justice’s assertion is demonstrably false, as there are currently about 4,000 children in the hospital due to the coronavirus — far below the 100,000 figure <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/health/2022/01/07/fact-check-sotomayor-claims-100000-children-in-serious-condition-on-ventilators/">declared</a> by the justice during oral arguments at the Supreme Court.
<a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/01/08/rand-paul-is-fauci-advising-justice-sotomayor/">Read more</a>
<div class="Zvrkzrus"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/new-years-super-special?ims=cuzeh&utm_campaign=heronewyear&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=heronewyear" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/InfowarsNewyearsSpecial-hero-385.jpg" /></a></div>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/rand-paul-is-fauci-advising-justice-sotomayor">https://www.infowars.com/posts/rand-paul-is-fauci-advising-justice-sotomayor</a>

news Rand Paul: ‘Is Fauci Advising Justice Sotomayor?’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) asked if Dr. Anthony Fauci is “advising” Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor after she touted falsehoods during oral...

Canadian military officer calls for a probe into a ground zero ‘Covid’ outbreak at Wuhan forces games TWO MONTHS before world was alerted to the ‘mysterious new illness’

A Canadian military officer who fears he was at the ‘Ground Zero’ of Covid two months before China officially acknowledged the virus has demanded an investigation into the suspicious outbreak of illness there.
The long-serving officer, who cannot be named as he is still in the forces, was among the scores of athletes who fell sick with a debilitating illness after attending the World Military Games in Wuhan in October 2019.
He said foreign competitors found the city of 11 million people ‘like a ghost town’, and so many cases of a mysterious virus afflicted the Canadian team that a quarantine section was set up on their military flight back home.
The officer, who is still suffering from the effects of his illness despite previous high levels of fitness, said a military-appointed doctor later said he almost certainly caught Covid.
His revelations fuel concerns the Chinese government covered up the outbreak – with devastating consequences. The Beijing regime says the first confirmed case was December 8, three weeks before the World Health Organisation was tipped off by sources in Taiwan.
Several European athletes attending the Games, which attracted more than 9,000 competitors from 100 countries, have said they developed Covid-like symptoms in Wuhan. Reports also suggested Iranian participants died soon after returning home.
‘I’m 100 per cent convinced the virus was present in Wuhan when we were there,’ said the Canadian officer. ‘The burden of proof is on the scientific community and intelligence experts to prove – not for athletes.
<div class="4Xbl2sHk"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/new-years-super-special?ims=cuzeh&utm_campaign=heronewyear&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=heronewyear" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/InfowarsNewyearsSpecial-hero-385.jpg" /></a></div>
‘I accept I am not a scientist and it might not be Covid, but why does everyone seem so reluctant to investigate properly?
‘It feels like we were present at Ground Zero of this pandemic that has had such impact on everyone’s life, with millions of deaths and economies shut down, so why not carry out due diligence. Are the facts just too big to handle?’
The claims circulating around the team about the virus being present during the Games were rapidly denied by the top doctor in Canada’s armed forces. Yet one well-connected Canadian source told me their intelligence experts suspect the pandemic might go back to a lab incident in Wuhan, which is home to several research centres studying bat coronaviruses.
<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10382127/Canadian-military-officer-calls-probe-ground-zero-Covid-outbreak-Wuhan-games.html">Read more</a>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/canadian-military-officer-calls-for-a-probe-into-a-ground-zero-covid-outbreak-at-wuhan-forces-games-two-months-before-world-was-alerted-to-the-mysterious-new-illness">https://www.infowars.com/posts/canadian-military-officer-calls-for-a-probe-into-a-ground-zero-covid-outbreak-at-wuhan-forces-games-two-months-before-world-was-alerted-to-the-mysterious-new-illness</a>

news Canadian military officer calls for a probe into a ground zero ‘Covid’ outbreak at Wuhan forces games TWO MONTHS before world was alerted to the ‘mysterious new illness’

A Canadian military officer who fears he was at the ‘Ground Zero’ of Covid two months before China officially acknowledged the virus has dem...

France: Protest grows bigger after president vows to ‘piss off’ the unvaxxed

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At least 100,000 people took to the streets of France in protest against Covid-19 restrictions and mandates, after President Macron promised to make the lives of the unvaccinated increasingly hard until they accept the jab.
The huge crowds on Saturday were roughly four times larger than back on December 18, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220108-anti-vax-protesters-in-france-tell-macron-we-ll-piss-you-off" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to police estimates. The protesters opposed, among other things, a nearly implemented government plan to make proof of vaccination against Covid-19 mandatory to use public transport, eat at restaurants, and attend events.
France’s National Assembly passed a bill this week which, if approved by the Senate, would introduce so-called ‘vaccine passes’ to replace the existing ‘health passes’. Under the current rules, a negative PCR or antigen test gives access to a pass that is valid for 24 hours. A vaccine pass, however, would only be issued to those who have been fully vaccinated. People who were infected with Covid-19 would have to receive a booster shot three to four months after contracting the virus in order to get a vaccine pass, Health Minister Olivier Veran said. In the meantime, they could use their recovery certificates.
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Alex Jones breaks down the clips of world leaders blaming their own medical tyranny lockdowns on the healthy people who refuse to bow to their authority.
The crowd in Paris alone numbered at least 18,000, according to official estimates, with protesters heard chanting “We’ll piss you off!” in reference to Macron’s controversial comments.
Ten protesters were arrested and three police officers were reportedly injured in scuffles in the capital. At least another two dozen people were reportedly detained at numerous protests across other French cities.
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During an interview with Le Parisien on Tuesday, Macron said, “I am not about pissing off the French people. But as for the non-vaccinated, I really want to piss them off.”
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Macron revealed that continuing to “piss off” unvaccinated French people “to the end” is his “strategy,” and boasted that only a “small minority” was resisting government restrictions.
“How do we reduce that minority? We reduce it – sorry for the expression – by pissing them off even more,” the French president said, explaining that the plan includes “putting pressure on the unvaccinated by limiting, as much as possible, their access to activities in social life.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/france-protest-grows-bigger-after-president-vows-to-piss-off-the-unvaxxed">https://www.infowars.com/posts/france-protest-grows-bigger-after-president-vows-to-piss-off-the-unvaxxed</a>

news France: Protest grows bigger after president vows to ‘piss off’ the unvaxxed

At least 100,000 people took to the streets of France in protest against Covid-19 restrictions and mandates, after President Macron promise...