Sunday Reads – Aug. 22, 2021
Outside of Afghanistan, the main word this week has been the same as in previous weeks: Vaccination. Approvals arrived for a booster for those with severe immune system challenges and rumors of a permanent OK for at least one vaccine.
We also find some vestiges of regular life, including an update on the Glynn County Manager drama and some hope in efforts across the country to find solutions to rebuild neighborhoods and help pay down college costs for working students.
Let’s dig in.
Glynn commissioners try again
Glynn County’s commissioners doubled down this week and renominated tax commissioner Jeff Chapman for its county manager. You may remember from coverage last month when the commissioners decided to ignore recommendations of two qualified female candidates from a taxpayer-funded search and tapped Chapman as a finalist for the job. He had not applied and did not meet the advertised job qualifications. A few days later, Chapman bowed out. But again this week, the commission introduced him as their finalist for the position. There’s no word on whether the job specs have changed, but the commission can seal the deal in less than two weeks.
Responsibility, shots, masks, little kids and healthcare angst
Mandates? What mandates? Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp this week issued an executive order that prohibits local governments from imposing mask, vaccine or building-capacity mandates aimed at discouraging the spread of COVID. This would allow conventions and others to bypass local mandates and hinder various other municipal and county restrictions like those in COVID hot spots of Savannah, Glynn, Camden and Liberty counties that mandate masks indoors or in county or city buildings. Kemp said he’s doing it to protect business owners from being punished by local government. He reiterated that it’s a personal responsibility issue: “I trust hardworking Georgians to know what’s best for themselves, their families and their employees.” For businesses, mandates can be tricky, but across the country it’s happening to provide safe space for consumers and employees.
Little kids: As many Coastal Georgia children and college students worked through their first few weeks of classes, medical professionals dealt with a surge of young COVID patients throughout the state. So far in Georgia, it’s up to local school district leadership to decide whether masks are mandatory. But this has been a surge no one wanted to see — children. A lift in numbers of school-age children is to be expected, but the question now is this – how are those 4 or younger exposed to the deadly virus? Is it from siblings, caregivers or parents? The new numbers from Georgia Department of Public Health this week show clear patterns for the youngest among us.
Healthcare angst: The sad facts around sick children are jarring for all of us, but especially for medical professionals. This fourth surge in Georgia is taking a deeper toll on healthcare workers who are not only getting ill from their work but are now frustrated and angry because so much of the death and serious illness they see could be prevented. Andy Miller of Georgia Health News describes the challenges the workers and the hospital systems face as COVID hospitalizations set records, mostly for people who are not vaccinated.
Responsibility: If you or someone you know has wondered out loud about insurance rates and COVID vaccinations, here’s a quick 5-question-and-answer piece from two healthcare insurance economists on the rules and regs guiding pricing.
For your second cup
Inspiring solutions come in various ways and from different places. Today we find it in the Hyde Park neighborhood of St. Louis where Dream Builders 4 Equity has found a way to solve some of the toughest challenges for communities trying to grow wealth and improve their children’s stake in life. The program hires students, teaches them skills by rehabbing and flipping homes in the neighborhood and putting the money into the workers’ college funds.
Enjoy.
Glynn commission renominates Chapman for manager seat
By a 4-3 vote the commissioners voted Thursday to name Jeff Chapman, the county’s tax commissioner, the only candidate for the job that most recently paid $181,000, an $80,000 increase over Chapman’s current position.
Kemp order stops local governments from imposing COVID rules
Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order Thursday prohibiting local governments in Georgia from imposing mask, vaccine or building-capacity mandates aimed at discouraging the spread of COVID-19.
Businesses choose to require vaccines, but proof can be tricky
Some court challenges loom but proponents of vaccine passports say the credentials give vaccinated people more assurance as they resume going out and could spur the reluctant to get vaccinated.
Who has the power to say kids do or don’t have to wear masks in school – the governor or the school district? It’s not clear
Some parents argue that they should be able to decide when and where their children wear masks, whereas others argue collective health and safety concerns take priority over individual choices. State laws have set up conflict with local districts.
As low vaccination rate fuels surge, Georgia hospital workers feel frustration, fatigue
Leaders of Georgia hospital systems say the latest COVID-19 wave has been very difficult for nurses and other clinical staff partly because it emerged at a time of wide availability of vaccines — and therefore was largely avoidable.
Q&A: Health insurance premiums and the unvaccinated
2 economists explain rules governing how health and life insurers can discriminate among customers based on vaccination status and other health-related reasons.
Repair a home, sell a home. Pay for College. Repeat.
Since launching in 2017, Dream Builders 4 Equity has provided 62 young people with over $600,000 in wages, over $40,000 in book sale proceeds, and over $60,000 in equity from the sale of homes.
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