Current Social Problems
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Current Social Problems
Discussion 1
Social problems are attributed to be those factors that affect large masses of people both in the short and long run and would often affect the development of society if left or not properly addressed. On the other hand, good healthcare attributes to proper treatment measures are established by a country and often affect the social community. Healthcare is a social problem as various people in the community carry out functions that others depend on for the continued growth and development of a society (Sarti et al., 2020). When a greater part of an economy’s workforce is potentially ill, the general output of labor is reduced, which adversely impacts essential services for the community. For instance, when the farmers in the growing regions of a country are affected by sickness, their productivity will be greatly reduced. The state food supply will be affected, making it a social problem.
Countries have recently faced the healthcare crisis due to the emergence of the Novel Coronavirus and have significantly become a global social problem, as various essential functions have had to be stopped to moderate the spread of the highly infectious disease. The rapid spread of Covid-19 has influenced multiple aspects of the local and global economy, with many industries having to shut down with people losing jobs and employment (Sarti et al., 2020). The healthcare crisis brought about social problems of unemployment and, to some level, insecurity among the citizens. The healthcare expenses are also increasing, with low-income households increasingly becoming unable to cater to the expenses incurred during regular and emergency visits to the hospital facilities. Some often declare bankruptcy demonstrating the status of healthcare being a social problem. Low-income households living in urban areas face heightened difficulties, especially related to healthcare expenses, which projects it as a significant social problem that needs to be addressed if society continues to establish healthy growth and development.
Reference
Sarti, T. D., Lazarini, W. S., Fontenelle, L. F., & Almeida, A. P. S. C. (2020). What is the role of primary health care in the COVID-19 pandemic?
Discussion 2
In mitigating the spread, the Covid-19, CDC (Center for Diseases and Prevention Control) has laid down measures and recommendations that the global community should follow to protect themselves. Firstly, the CDC has encouraged the community to ensure that they wear their masks while in public spaces and practice respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene (Basile et al., 2020). Preventing the disease’s immediate spread has been stressed to be a personal initiative to prevent spread through inhaling compromised air when not wearing a mask. Wearing facemasks and regularly sanitizing the hands has been on the top list of the CDC’s recommendations in mitigating the community spread of Covid-19.
Moreover, the CDC has also provided the list of most vulnerable individuals in the population that need special care and keep a distance from most people. The CDC has established that individuals with increased risks of developing severe illness when infected include older adults who are 65 years and older, patients of any age suffering from other severe medical conditions such as diabetes, chronic lung disease, and other immunocompromising conditions. Employees in the mentioned category are encouraged to work from home if possible and practice strict social distancing when in public places. Other vulnerable populations that need special care include the prisoners: refugees, first responders, and internally displaced individuals.
Finally, the CDC gives recommendations for those determined to be sick to quarantine for 14 days. Those who are sick should be carefully isolated and transported safely to healthcare facilities. The health official should be notified and strictly maintain confidentiality to reduce stigmatization’s adverse impacts (Basile et al., 2020). Moreover, contact-tracing should be done to ensure those who come to contact with an infected person are also quarantined to prevent further spread of Coronavirus. Social amenities have been encouraged to intensify disinfection and cleaning on surfaces frequently touched. They should also modify the layouts to facilitate social distancing to ensure ventilation systems’ functionality to prevent the severity of spread.
Reference
Basile, C., Combe, C., Pizzarelli, F., Covic, A., Davenport, A., Kanbay, M., … & Mitra, S. (2020). Recommendations for the prevention, mitigation, and containment of the emerging SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic in hemodialysis centers. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 35(5), 737-741.
Discussion 3
Previous health disparities have been attributed to systematically and adversely impose economic and social obstacles on minority racial groups’ health. The long-standing social inequalities and systemic health have put the ethnic minority groups at greater risk of contracting Covid-19 and dying. The discriminatory health social determinant has prevented African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics from having equal physical, emotional, and economic health opportunities. For instance, in the United States, African Americans have been attributed to contract Covid-19 at increased rates and are likely to die of it compared to the white population. Research denotes that the infection rates exceed 3-fold compared to the whites, and the mortality rate is 6-fold in counties with Americans who are predominantly African Americans (Tai et al., 2020). Reports in California show that the Hispanics represent most of the Covid-19 deaths attributed to represent 70% and are aged ranging between 18 and 49 years despite representing 43% of the Californian population.
Several reasons exist explaining how Covid-19 has disproportionality affected ethnic minorities in the country, with economic and social disadvantages being the significant contributors. Several African American low-income households stay in smaller houses and apartments that make it difficult for individuals’ isolation when sick. Moreover, most of the employed racial minority individuals encompass the greater part of the frontline workers providing services and may not have the chance of teleworking and staying at home (Tai et al., 2020). The increased spread and deaths among the minority communities have been established to reaffirm the links between health and income. The minority groups have been adversely affected by the Coronavirus due to most individuals’ working circumstances, their living conditions, underlying chronic conditions, and healthcare inequalities. The Hispanic communities have also been affected by language barriers, as there is no reliable Spanish information for best living practices. The children from the minority group have been denoted to make the highest number of hospital visits during the pandemic.
Reference
Tai, D. B. G., Shah, A., Doubeni, C. A., Sia, I. G., & Wieland, M. L. (2020). The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Discussion 4
The FDA issued an emergency authorization to Moderna Inc. Company, based in Massachusetts, to release its vaccine for Covid-19 (Jackson et al., 2020). The vaccine was developed in collaboration with NIAID (National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases). This monumental partnership has enabled both the company and NIH to come with a vaccine within a year. The Moderna vaccine also referred to as mRNA-1273, is an RNA messenger (mRNA) that goes against the virus in encoding the profusion spike stabilized protein form of SARS-Cov-2. S-2P is the approach for stabilizing the protein spike formed by a coronavirus developed from the research center. It is the second vaccine to be granted EUA in the United States. Through each face of trial and clinical testing, the Moderna vaccine has proved to be effective and safe for preventing the symptomatic Covid-19. The achievement of the vaccine came after researchers were able to identify the genome that caused Covid-19.
On the other hand, JNJ-78436725 or Ad.26.COV2.S was developed under the Janssen Pharmaceuticals and discovered to be safe and effective in preventing severe and moderate Covid-19 among adults (Jackson et al., 2020). The vaccine is attributed to be administered in single injections and stored for months in the refrigerator. During clinical trials, the vaccine group reported no Covid-19 related deaths. The experimental vaccine was developed by Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical companies in collaboration with NIAID, part of NIH, BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority), among other health departments in the U.S.A. that funded about 55% of the trial processes through agreements of cost-sharing. The vaccine is vector-based and uses a safe virus in delivering the DNA of the spike protein in human cells for the cell to manufacture the protein. The safe virus causes the common cold, but the one used for the vaccine has been modified to prevent its replication that causes disease.
Reference
Jackson, L. A., Anderson, E. J., Rouphael, N. G., Roberts, P. C., Makhene, M., Coler, R. N., & Beigel, J. H. (2020). An mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2—preliminary report. New England Journal of Medicine.
Discussion 5
The control of the mass movements in a country in the form of closure and lockdowns has brought mixed reactions to whether it impacts the reduced spread of coronavirus. However, research denotes that restricting the movement of people increasing the chances of coming into contact with an infected person and being infected (Omar et al., 2020). The duration of the lockdowns causes trouble for most communities, especially individuals and households with low income. Closing businesses and colleges for a shorter period prove to be effective than establishing a long-term lockdown as people can easily practice social distancing. The healthcare workforce can effectively carry out the isolation of the infected individuals. Short term school closures, in the beginning, enhance setting the crowds and school-going individuals ready for changing lifestyles as most would often continue with the normal course of life without paying attention to guidelines and safety regulations.
The lockdowns have been attributed to providing more time for the state and the healthcare agencies to establish procedures and research that would further mitigate the implications caused by Covid-19. Short term lockdowns are effective as both the citizens and the state are included to continue with other survival activities. WHO attributes that the lockdowns offer the various government the opportunity of building their capacities detecting, testing, caring, tracing, and isolate affected individuals. It gives society a chance to dive response and follow personal safety regulations to reduce the spread of coronavirus (Omar et al., 2020). The closure of businesses serves to give the enterprises time to establish activities that are allowed by the situation and improve on their spaces to facilitate social distance once activities are resumed. Lockdowns aid in delivering the message of the pandemic’s severity and spread awareness on ways of practicing personal safety, therefore controlling the spread of the virus.
Reference
Omar, A. R. C., Ishak, S., & Jusoh, M. A. (2020). The impact of Covid-19 Movement Control Order on SMEs’ businesses and survival strategies. Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 16(2).
Discussion 6
The covid-19 death toll has increased worldwide with time due to the increased community spread of the disease. The states that have recently recorded the highest mortality rates due to Covid-19 are Connecticut and South Dakota that have recorded approximately 198 and 201 respectively per 100,000 people (Woolf et al., 2021). The states’ communities have been established to exhibit limiting responses to the emerging pandemic and have adversely affected public health. Increased death rates have continued to be established worldwide in the face of discovered vaccines yet to reach a wider scale of people globally. High death rates have been explained to be significantly pronounced by infected individuals who had underlying chronic conditions in South Dakota. Research study has evidenced how the United States, in general, has poorly managed the pandemic and the spread of the disease from the onset until presently.
Studies maintain that most Covid-19 deaths recorded in South Dakota and Connecticut could be pointed out to poor public infrastructure for health. Most of the hospitals were not prepared material-wise and medical personnel to respond to the increased insurgence of infected individuals. Furthermore, research maintains that most of the local communities in Connecticut had a decentralized and inconsistent response to the growing pandemic (Woolf et al., 2021). Inconsistencies in the response mechanisms facilitated the rapid spread of coronavirus and eventually led to the recorded increased death toll given that the health infrastructure was weak. Moreover, the states are attributed to have failed to recognize the severity of the spread and hastened the reopening of various entities such as businesses and schools, which further aided in the rapid spread of coronavirus. Increased death tolls arise from the inability of healthcare infrastructure to respond effectively to the pandemic. States should try finding effective ways of ensuring that the community adheres to the safety regulations.
Reference
Woolf, S. H., Chapman, D. A., & Lee, J. H. (2021). COVID-19 as the Leading Cause of Death in the United States. JAMA, 325(2), 123-124.
Discussion 7
The situations brought about by the pandemic has greatly affected people around me and the community in general. Before the pandemic, many activities would happen in the community fields, with those lacking easily. The movement of individuals within family members has been limited and has affected our extended relationships significantly. My uncle had a restaurant, and he has been forced to shut it down as he underwent losses during the closure, and he could not manage to keep with rent charges given that he was starting the business. Research denotes that pandemic has brought about several implications with the economy being significantly influenced (Mayfield-Johnson et al., 2020). Going virtual for classes and other essential services had changed the social environment. Some limited the extent to which one could freely integrate with others and make friends in public spaces as was before. Staying indoors for long hours has not been easy, especially for neighbors in small apartments with many members at the same time.
The streets have increasingly hosted individuals with masks and have even encouraged safety to some extent. Physical and health safety have both become a primary concern for my family. My neighborhood has exhibited individuals who mostly fall in the category that CDC determined them to be vulnerable populations and has seen them undergoing life transitions in terms of leaving their jobs indefinitely as the risk of being infected was high compared to continue working. Not being able to have friends over and relatives have further diminished familial relationships, connections, and relations important to social human beings. I feel that the pandemic has limited our freedom of movement and greatly infringed on our ability to freely and happily speak to people without the necessity of practicing precaution. Multiple shops also closed down, and we have to move longer distances to buy foodstuffs and other essential products.
Reference
Mayfield-Johnson, S., Smith, D. O., Crosby, S. A., Haywood, C. G., Castillo, J., Bryant-Williams, D., & Wennerstrom, A. (2020). Insights on COVID-19 from community health worker state leaders. The Journal of ambulatory care management, 43(4), 268-277.