Weekly Update: February 13 – 19, 2023 – Salud a nuestro alcance

Did you know that OSHA’s website is available in 16 languages, including Haitian Creole and Spanish? More language access means more workers can have access to tools that enable them to exercise their workplace rights to health and safety.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will meet on February 24th to make recommendations to the CDC about the future of the COVID-19 vaccine. If you are interested in signing on to a CDM-led coalition comment advocating for vaccine access for immigrant and migrant essential workers, email Lucy Thames at lucy@cdmigrante.org by COB on Thursday, February 16. You can also submit your own comment here or register here to provide a three-minute oral comment to ACIP during the meeting on February 24th – the deadline for comments and oral testimony registration is Friday, February 17th.
We are honored to share that CDM was just awarded the Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons during a cabinet-level meeting of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF). This award belongs to everyone who has contributed to CDM, but above all, to migrant workers who, despite the barriers, decide to speak out against abuse and fight for justice.

Do you know a college or graduate school student looking for an occupational health internship? The Occupational Health Internship Program is a full time, paid summer internship that assigns students to unions or other worker organizations so that students can learn about the realities of hazardous jobs. The deadline to apply is this Friday, February 17, so spread the word today!

CDM has been participating in a coalition that will shape Delaware’s next State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP). At the last coalition meeting in February, the coalition collected feedback on vital conditions, including work, transportation, and housing. If you were not able to attend the meeting but would like to provide feedback, complete this form. As you think about what feedback you might provide, consider the challenges community members faced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
View data on influenza in Delaware here.

Many SNAP recipients will soon notice a decrease in their benefits, as the federal Emergency Allotments that provided additional benefits to those experiencing financial hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic will end this month, February 2023. You can share the Maryland Department of Human Services’ bilingual (English & Spanish) post to help spread the word to those who may be directly impacted by the change.
View data on influenza in Maryland here.

People in Virginia who receive SNAP benefits may notice a decrease after February 16, as the pandemic-related emergency allotments will be ending. Our PPP partner, Legal Aid Justice Center, shared this calculator to help people who use SNAP to estimate their reduction in benefits.
View data on influenza in Virginia here.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services recently hosted a cafecito that focused on mental health, aging, and related impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
View data on influenza in North Carolina here.

New data reveals that over 2,000 people in South Carolina died of drug overdoses in 2021, a 25% increase from the previous year that parallels national increases in overdoses during the pandemic. Find a community distributor of Naloxone, a medication that can prevent overdose death, here.
View data on influenza in South Carolina here.

This Saturday, We Love Buford Highway is hosting a Feeding Families event, an initiative that was launched to address food insecurity during the pandemic and now feeds 500 families per event. You can support Saturday’s event by volunteering to assist with surveys.
View data on influenza in Georgia here.

Data Sources:

The New York Times. (2020). Coronavirus (Covid-19) Data in the United States. Retrieved [2/14/2023], from https://github.com/nytimes/covid-19-data.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). COVID Data Tracker: COVID-19 Integrated County View. Retrieved [2/14/2023], from https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view.