Welcome to Community Resources: Minnesota - a new podcast that I’m giving a try. Today is February 26th, 2022. My name is Jerome Evans, I host the TV Show Bottomless Coffee with Jerome and another podcast called Bottomless Coffee Podcast. Those two projects are based around conversation. But for this podcast - Community Resources Minnesota - I want to focus on sharing information about the community resources that we have at our disposal! 

Today I’m sharing information that was sent to me from The Minnesota Department of Health and from the CDC. 

For this episode we’re going to start with Announcements and then talk through Vaccine Events that are taking place around Minnesota and then finish up with CDC Updates.

Links to all of the info as well as additional resources are at BottomlessCoffeeShow.com/Community

Announcements

1 - Accidental Poisoning

Don’t let your kids ingest the COVID tests. You know how kids LOVE to explore things with their mouths. Keep your tests in a cool, dry place that is out of reach of your kids. And I know that some people are on here thinking that that should go without saying but - let’s be real - we’ve all got a lot going on right now and sometimes we need things pointed out to us. So - watch your kids and keep those tests out of reach.

2 - Deaf Blind Workshop put on by the Minnesota Commision of the Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing. 

Feb 28th 6 pm – 7:30 pm - https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MNCDHH/bulletins/308f1c0

Have you ever noticed a person with hearing and vision loss in the community and wondered how to interact properly with them? One size does NOT fit all. People who are Deaf or Blind are from all walks of life and communicate in various ways. Join the Deaf Blind Workshop to find out more information.

3 - The Department of Human Services and YMCA are partnering on a Family Assisters program. I remember talking about this one last week! The Family Assisters connect families to community resources. The program erves refugees, asylees, & certain other humanitarian-protected immigrants. Please contact them to determine eligibility. The Family Assisters connect families to community resources like: Employment, ESL courses, Housing Energy assistance, Language access, Navigation, Letter-reading, Health care, Application assistance for public programs, Immigration services, and more.

4 - Public Engagement and Equity Update – Kids Deserve a Shot campaign ends on Feb 28th see attached Word document for more information. 

The Kids Deserve a Shot program provides a $200 VISA gift card to kids that get fully vaccinated in the months of January and February.

Vaccine Clinics

1. Rosewood Community Center COVID-19 gift cards, kids 5 and up Healing, Meditation and Music event Feb 26 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.  13885 South Robert Trail Rosemount MN HAVEN Int’l
2. HACER Aurora Charter School COVID-19  Vaccine Event Feb 26 11 a.m. 2 p.m. 213 East 26th Minneapolis MN 55404 See Flyer English and Spanish
3. ACER Vaccine clinic Feb 27th 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. 1535 Como Ave St Paul MN All ages 5+  $50 gift cards
4. COPAL The Center Clinic Vaccine event Feb 27th 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Dodge Center 14 W. Main St   English, Spanish – see flyer
5. COPAL Community Vaccination event Feb 28th 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. Pfizer Folwell Community School English, Spanish See flyer 
6. HACER Academia Cesar Chavez COVID-19 Vaccine event Pfizer March 1 and March 22 2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.  English and Spanish – see flyers
7. IANA family vaccine clinics February, March and April dates on Fridays.  See flyer for dates, locations and times in Bloomington, Minneapolis, and St Paul
8. Briva Health vaccine clinic every Saturday 9 am – 5pm   Minneapolis MN call 1-833-567-6662 for appointment English and Somali

CDC News

1 - Summary of recent changes to relating to COVID-19 Vaccine (last updated February 22, 2022):

• Added considerations for an 8-week interval between the first and second doses of a primary mRNA vaccine schedule

Key points

• COVID-19 vaccines currently approved or authorized by FDA are effective in preventing serious outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including severe disease, hospitalization, and death.
• COVID-19 primary series vaccination is recommended for everyone ages 5 years and older in the United States for the prevention of COVID-19.
• A 3-dose primary mRNA COVID-19 vaccine series is recommended for people ages 5 years and older who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, followed by a booster dose in those ages 12 years and older.
• In most situations, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines are preferred over the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine for primary and booster vaccination.
• A booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine is recommended for everyone ages 12 years and older. Timing of a booster dose varies based on COVID-19 vaccine product and immunocompetence.
• Efforts to increase the number of people in the United States who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines remain critical to preventing illness, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.
• These clinical considerations provide additional information to healthcare professionals and public health officials on use of COVID-19 vaccines.

2 - Information relating to Adolescent Mental Health

What is already known about this topic?

• The proportion of pediatric emergency department (ED) visits for mental health conditions (MHCs) increased during 2020.

What is added by this report?

• Weekly ED visits among adolescent females (aged 12–17 years) increased for two mental health conditions (eating and tic disorders) during 2020, four (depression, eating, tic, and obsessive-compulsive disorders) during 2021, and five (anxiety; trauma and stressor-related; eating; tic; and obsessive-compulsive disorders) and overall MHC visits during January 2022, compared with 2019. The proportion of ED visits with eating disorders doubled among adolescent females; those for tic disorders approximately tripled during the pandemic.

What are the implications for public health practice?

• Early identification and expanded evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies are critical to improving pediatric mental health, especially among adolescent females, who might have increased need.