equity

The arrival of vaccines at the end of 2020 brought hope that there would be a light at the end of this long COVID-19 tunnel. Still, this week, cases around the country and the state continue to surge, and the vaccine rollout has been much slower than expected.

On this edition of Your Call, we’re discussing the COVID vaccine as the US death toll surpassed 300,000 yesterday. Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse in Queens, was the first person in the US to receive Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine. This week, almost three million doses in all 50 states will be given to first priority groups, including frontline healthcare workers and those in long-term care facilities.

Melissa Jones is the Executive Director of the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiatives, a coalition of the region's public health departments. The coalition has been meeting regularly to discuss best practices for policy decisions around COVID19. One of which is whether or not counties should keep their parks open for residents to access during the shelter in place order. 

The prospect of artificial intelligence and automation eliminating entire job categories has sparked a debate about a universal basic income.

African Americans are disproportionately incarcerated for marijuana charges. That’s true nationwide, and in Oakland, too.

On the June 6th edition of Your Call, what if everyone were guaranteed a basic income?