COVID Vaccines and Global Cooperation

When you think about receiving a vaccine, typically it's thought to be a quick and easy process. Not much goes into it from the minute you walk into a clinic, roll up your sleeve, and then leave. But what about everything that happened before the easy part? What about getting the vaccine to you in the first place? Various countries are rushing to manufacture a vaccine for COVID-19. This happens to be a global endeavor for various reasons. Many different parties are currently involved in producing a COVID vaccine, but the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine producer, may be a step ahead of the rest. They have teamed up with Oxford scientists in order to mass produce high quantities of a vaccine before anyone else does. Governments of different countries would have to work out some sort of contracts with this company in order to receive their vaccine, which would only be possible by having global cooperation and integration. Additionally, once the vaccine is manufactured, it needs to be distributed. Difficulties that have been circulating regarding the transportation of a future vaccine include that the vaccine will need to be kept at extremely low temperatures at all times. In order to do this, shipping companies as well as containment facilities in numerous countries will need to be able to facilitate the low temperatures for the vaccine. Other countries are involved in every step of producing and distributing a COVID vaccine, it will not be up to one country alone. Global cooperation and integration will also be prominent because of the high demand of medical supplies needed to support the extremely high number of vaccines that need to be made available. Whether or not a COVID vaccine will be made available to you will depend on the ability of many different countries to work together. 

UK's Miss Black UK Pageant

 Historically, UK holds a Mr. & Mrs. Black UK showcase for Homecoming in which contestants compete as well as receive a scholarship. This is always a really exciting event for the Black community at UK and personally one of my favorite parts of homecoming. There's good music and everyone comes out for a good time. This year, there was only a Miss Black UK pageant and it was held virtually with only three contestants. I attended it virtually which was pretty interesting. The contestants had to prerecord the answers to questions as well as their talent videos, while still dressing up for the zoom call. This was the best way to still hold the pageant while following COVID guidelines, but I don't think the contestants really got a feel for competing in a pageant which I'm sure was unfortunate for them. While the judges voted, the host began a game of Kahoot which was really fun and the winner won a giftcard. Under the circumstances, I think the pageant turned out really nice. However, it was unfortunate that there were no male candidates and that it had to be held virtually due to COVID. It would've been hard to hold in person due to the COVID regulations so instead of completely getting rid of the pageant, I think it was smart to do it virtually even though it wasn't complete. Everyone still came out to support the contestants virtually and support the Black community at UK!

STUNT

STUNT is an all-girl sport that takes elements from all-star/competitive cheerleading and sideline cheerleading and creates a new sport that follows NCAA guidelines. It gives female athletes the opportunity to continue their athletic career at the collegiate level. STUNT consists of tumbling, jumping, and stunting in a 4-quarter format similar to a basketball game. With COVID, club sports have been in a series of waiting games as to when we could practice and what the new regulations would be on campus. For me, as a member of UK STUNT Club, we couldn't practice until the end of August. With these practices, we could only have groups of 10 or less and everyone had to remain 6 feet apart. This was easy given we practice in the gym and if you needed to pull your mask down for a brief minute, no one was close to you so it felt safe. However, we were unable to stunt which really sucked because that's my favorite part. Last week we were notified that we could begin stunting which was really exciting...or so I thought. This was pretty scary because it meant that we would be within less than a foot of each other as well as making physical contact. We have to wear masks, but it gets really hot with all of the working out and physical activity so a lot of girls pull down their masks which makes us all more susceptible to COVID. It's scary to think that if girls on the team still go out and party on Thursdays, and then come to practice Sunday, that they could possible have contracted the virus and given it to the rest of the team. Just a few weeks prior to being able to stunt, we had to quarantine and cancel practice for two weeks due to someone on the team testing positive for COVID. Given that we are all in close contact with each other, I've decided to get tested once a week for my own safety, as well as the rest of the girls. I hope this is something the team also considers doing so we don't have to miss two weeks and quarantine again. 

Chapter Meetings or Awkward Zoom Calls?

 I am in a professional medical fraternity here at UK, Phi Delta Epsilon. Last year, we had meetings on Wednesday evenings as well as alternating medical events where different doctors came in and presented to us or we got to do a hands on activity. With COVID, our meetings have been moved to zoom calls where we must keep our camera on the entire time. Additionally, if there is a medical event, we must still wear business casual attire for the zoom call. For some meetings, members are able to attend in person while wearing a mask but the majority of members just attend on zoom. With so many members, it's hard to tell if people are actually paying attention on the call or just filling space. It can be really distracting when people are moving around on screen, but since the cameras have to be on it's hard to avoid that issue. Sometimes connection is bad or I just zone out whereas before COVID, I was always super interested and present at the meetings and medical events. It was pretty enjoyable, but with COVID it makes meetings somewhat awkward because everyone is just starring into the camera with the same few people engaged. 

Above is a picture from a chapter meeting, where you can see the slideshow behind one of the executive board members in the cell highlighted green. For this meeting, I was waiting for a Zumba class to begin, while another member was sitting at their desk and another on their couch. People have been in cars or other events while virtually attending the meeting. The flexibility is nice just because people can be wherever they need to be, but sometimes I wonder if that effects whether or not members are paying attention. For medical events, I usually just wear a business casual shirt and sweatpants since I'm just at home and they can't see my lower body. COVID has made it difficult to have social events with the fraternity as well because of group capacity. Last year, we went to Fright Night in a big group, but this fall the social event is bowling with a prearranged sign up sheet to ensure that there aren't too many people. It's hard to be involved with the fraternity due to the changes with COVID. Even though I've adapted well, I really hope next semester we are able to have more in person meetings and medical events. 

COVID and Education

 COVID-19 has completely changed school culture for K-12 students as well as college students. Majority of schools have moved to online learning as that seemed to be the safest option in order to continue education. I think that online learning has provided a equal opportunity for those who struggle to get to school or are unable to be present in classes. However, I think it also has provided an obstacle for students who's only escape was going to school. There are pros and cons to online learning which vary person to person. In my opinion, there should definitely be a hardship clause for students impacted by COVID to an extent that they may fail coursework. This is because COVID can not only harm students physical health, but the circumstances involving COVID can also be detrimental to mental health of students.  There has been a higher rate of depression and anxiety for college students in particular since the start of the pandemic. Those who suffer physically from COVID can easily get behind as recovery is different for each person while those troubled by mental health can have a hard time completing daily tasks including school work. Although other countries have face to face classes, there's still a lot of regulation that goes into being face to face. Class sizes have to adjust to maintain social distancing measures, temperatures and COVID screening surveys must be taken daily, and masks must be worn at all times. This also adds stress on students because it's a new routine just to go to class. I don't necessarily believe that this will make me or others less competitive in the job market on account of COVID. This is because people all over have been affected differently. I think it's more about how you finish, not all the twists and turns it took to get there.

Personally, I've struggled a lot trying to adjust to the online learning form and it's taken a toll on my own mental health. I think a program like this would be hard to implement fairly because people could take advantage of it which would take away from those who truly need to use the clause. Online learning during COVID has been extremely challenging for me, as I already struggled with mental health before the pandemic began. Being at home, challenged to teach myself material for 7 classes, while not being able to enjoy normal social outings that take away some of the burden of hard school weeks has been mentally challenging. There's been days where I don't even want to get out of bed even if it's just to grab my laptop off of my desk and complete work from bed. There's zero motivation and even if I'm determined to be productive, I find myself just unable to obtain focus. I have hopes that spring semester will be better, but with online learning, who knows how it will affect people then.

UK Core Issue: How Do We Distribute Covid Vaccines?

Distributing vaccines is not an easy process, there's a lot that goes into it. If I had to distribute a COVID vaccine to all the residents of Fayette County, Kentucky, I would begin with looking at the health disparities of the county. Since there is only enough vaccine for a third of the population, it's important to determine who is at higher risks for COVID. I'd vaccinate those with respiratory issues first, then the elderly, and then children. I would make sure the vaccine gets to those who need it the most by looking at data regarding health for the citizens. Specifically, I would analyze the data for those with respiratory problems and categorize them by severity. I also would ensure that the vaccine would be able to be distributed in many different clinics so that people wouldn't have to travel far to receive the vaccine. 

Along with all of that, I would have to consider various contextual factors. These include personal, social, cultural, economic, and political factors that vary between each citizen. Although someones circumstances could be completely different than someone else's, these factors have big impacts across the Fayette County population. I must consider all of them in order to break down the information on residents to ensure that the vaccine is getting to those who truly need it first. One of the most important contextual factors to be considered is the price of the vaccine vs. the income of the residents. One of the questions that would have to be addressed is if the price if the vaccine is not covered by insurance, will these people who need it the most be able to afford it? Another important contextual factor would be personal and cultural beliefs. Just because someone really needs a vaccine, doesn't mean they would want to receive it. In a case like that, it would be important to determine who receives the vaccine in their place. All in all, determining how to distribute a COVID vaccine would be a lengthy and thorough process with many things to account for in the final decision. 

COVID-19 and Pop Culture

 In the United States, pop culture has been heavily influenced by COVID-19. Due to quarantine, people have been more driven than ever before to revert to social media or streaming services for entertainment. People feel connected to their social life by keeping up with what's happening on social media, or they feel like they're in touch with a cultural output by binge watching the latest show everyone is talking about. In the US, movie release dates were postponed, while streaming services found a way for people to pay for these movies in the comfort of their own home. Streaming services have worked to reach the masses by having ads on social media flaunting what they have going on. When looking into social media, it's clear to see how popular culture has been influenced by COVID-19. Tweets and memes circulate the media so often that people all over the United States can connect on one topic from their own bed. They can stay current on what's "relevant" while talking about the new trend on Tik Tok. Ads for movies, such as Mulan, circulated on all social media platforms before they were released on streaming services, but before COVID trailers were just shown on television or at the movie theaters.

Pop culture has also been affected by COVID-19 in other countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand. The K-pop group Green Day was scheduled for a tour across various Asian countries before canceling due to the COVID outbreak. They announced that they would reschedule dates once things were more clear regarding what will happen with COVID-19. Fans have been holding on to their tickets while actively following the group on their social media platforms. Influencers have made quite the impact on pop culture due to the eagerness for entertainment in a world where social media is so prevalent. As things progress and change, pop culture will continue to be influenced by COVID.