Skip to Content

COVID-19

Published:
Link to theadvocate.com Lafayette mask mandate likely dead on arrival 

Would be co-sponsor Nanette Cook formally withdrew her support for an ordinance imposing a local mask mandate Tuesday. Unable to see a practical means of enforcement, she also cited mixed messages from unidentified “medical professionals” among her reasons for backing out. 

Some 2,000 calls flooded the council office for and against the proposed ordinance, which The Current first reported last week. Misinformation about the what the local law would do has swarmed social media. 

Glenn Lazard, who is in and out of treatment for leukemia, is pressing forward. But with Cook’s support, the ordinance won’t have a veto-proof voting block to carry it. 

“I still have plans to go forward with it,” City Council member Glenn Lazard told the Advocate. “It’s the right thing to do and I’m still hopeful I will receive the necessary support to pass it

News + Notes
Published:

Lafayette City Council members make second push for local mask mandate

Still failing to see enforcement of the governor’s mask mandate, City Council members are taking a second shot at passing a local one in an emergency meeting. The same council members previously backed off an effort to push forward on an emergency mask ordinance in July after Mayor-President Josh Guillory assured them the state order would be sufficiently enforced.

Read More
Published:
Link to lailluminator.com Is there equitable access to vaccines? We don’t know. 

The pandemic surfaced deep disparities in access to healthcare, with early data showing a disproportionate impact on the Black community. So far, Louisiana isn’t collecting sufficient data to know whether those disparities are playing out in who gets vaccinated. It’s not just about the logistics of where doses go, either. Health officials speculate that generational distrust of government health programs among Black Americans, seeded by medical experiments conducted by public health agencies, may ward them away. Health equity has become a point of emphasis in public policy — both Louisiana and Lafayette Consolidated Government, for instance, created health equity task forces.

But right now, we don’t have a clear picture of the issue with respect to the vaccine program.

Published:
Link to lailluminator.com Louisiana pharmacies overwhelmed as COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expands

The state started distributing the vaccines to commercial pharmacies for the first time this week — a process several pharmacists described on Monday as chaotic and overwhelming. 

In all, only a fraction of the state’s pharmacies will receive any vaccine supply this week at all. 

  • Vaccines need to be used within six hours of opening a vial
  • There are 485,000 people over 70 and 10,500 doses available this week
  • 107 pharmacies now carry the vaccine out thousands in the state
1 … 4 5 6 7 8 … 21