Detroit

City of Detroit incentivizes to get more vaccinated

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Courtesy: City of Detroit Good Neighbor Program expansion, “Get $50 to save a life.” “Save a Life – Make $50” is Detroit’s most recent expansion of the Good Neighbor Program to get more citizens vaccinated against COVID-19. 

On May 3, 2021, Detroit piloted the expansion of the Good Neighbor Program, called “Save a Life,” which offers $50 prepaid cards to those who register and drive Detroiters to get the first dose of the vaccination. 

In January, Good Neighbor started as a program to support senior citizens in which volunteers transported seniors to their vaccine appointment, getting an opportunity to get their own vaccination despite the age requirement. 

As the eligibility for the vaccination expanded to everyone 16 and older, the city noticed a decline in the city’s rate of vaccinations. 

“What if anybody who cared about someone enough to help them make the appointment, took them in, could get the same $50,” Mayor Mike Duggan said during a press conference on April 28:

Before the city announced the expansion, it offered rides to vaccination sites for $2 to Detroiters, while the city covered the actual cost of $35 to $50 for the trips. The Good Neighbor driver doesn’t have to be a Detroit resident. The driver is allowed to return for the second dose appointment for an additional payment of $50. Each trip can have up to three patients with appointments, which makes the neighbor eligible for $50 per person, each visit. 

“Any Good Neighbor who earns $600 or more in prepaid cards for reimbursement will be required to complete a W9 form and file 1099 with their 2021 tax returns,” said Duggan. 

Eligible Locations

The Good Neighbor Program is only eligible by appointment only at the following locations:

TCF drive-thru from 8 AM – 5 PM

Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers from 9 AM – 7 PM

Straight Gate Church, 10100 Grand River from 9 AM – 7 PM

Community Saturday sites (9 AM – 1 PM – Good Neighbor begins May 8th)

Galilee Baptist Church

Grace Community Church

Kemeny Recreation Center

New Providence Baptist Church

Greater Emmanuel Church

The program is not valid for walk-up vaccination centers.

Article

Michigan State opens student-only vaccine site

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The Michigan State Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education has had a drive-through vaccination clinic for a few months now, but the university created a student-only site. Students can now receive the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the MSU Pavilion. Students can sign up for an appointment on the Ingham County Health Department website. Appointments are regularly added. MSU Deputy Spokesperson Dan Olsen said appointments are booked all through next week.

COVID-19

Mask wearing protects against more than just COVID-19

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Flu season is nearing its end, but was it ever really here? Sparrow Doctor Paul Entler noticed that this year’s flu season has been significantly less aggressive. “We had one case in the hospital,” he said. “Being vigilant about washing your hands and those masks, I think really prevented portals of entry of viruses that normally would be there.” Safety protocols that have been enforced over the last year have been productive in fighting against the flu and other illness, not just COVID-19.

News

Okemos High AD pleased with return to sports

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With Michigan High School Sports approaching a month into the winter season, Colin Jankowski breaks down how Meridian Township Schools are tackling the return to sports during the COVID-19 pandemic. Update: Jankowski learned after the filing of this story that the boys’ basketball team at Okemos High School has an outbreak of COVID-19. Critics of the return to sports in Michigan voiced concerns that social distancing procedures wouldn’t be followed, whereas supporters felt athletes and spectators could handle it. “I think we’ve done just about as good of a job as you can,” Okemos High School Athletic Director Brian Fuller said about Okemos’ handling of COVID-19 safety protocols. Monday marked three weeks since the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the state of Michigan gave the all-clear to resume high school sports in Michigan while the state continues to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Black Lives Matter

MSU journalism students produce 360-degree films

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An in-person immersive journalism class pivots to online learning with the support of MSU’s Digital Scholarship Lab

During the 2020 fall semester, Michigan State University’s first in-person immersive journalism class was forced to move online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, students found resource ways to create meaningful mini-documentaries for the 360-degree theater located in the MSU Library Digital Scholarship Lab. The lab’s director Terence O’Neil, and the transformative technology coordinator, Paul Cooper, Jr., devised a scheduling system and safety protocols that allowed students to work in-person there. Students were given access to the lab’s powerful computers, software and support staff and could also preview their work in the nearby 360-degree theater. One example of the films produced in this way is, “Dream Today,” by Rachel Hitchcock.

News

Students and healthcare workers afflicted w/ COVID-19 share mental health tips

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Throughout the country, health professionals and college students reveal ways they are combating the effects of COVID-19 on their mental health. 

According to the CDC, younger adults, racial/ethnic minorities, essential workers, and unpaid adult caregivers reported worse mental health, increased substance use, and elevated suicidal ideation. 

CDC suggests some healthy ways to cope with stress. By Molly Gundry

As illustrated in the infographic, the CDC suggests coping strategies with stress and mental health during the pandemic, such as connecting with others and taking time to unwind. Healthcare workers and students across the country, who have previously had the virus, point to ways that helped them cope during the quarantine. 

Health care workers

Debra Aplis, 53, a nurse at a Texas memory care facility, experienced some rough symptoms but ultimately recovered well from the virus. 

Aplis said throughout this pandemic, she experienced depression, mood changes and anxiety. 

However, Aplis found new ways to distract her from the global pandemic and the effect on her mental health. Aplis said she began music therapy, reading and watching music videos on YouTube. After recovering from COVID-19, Aplis donated her plasma for use by those battling COVID-19. 

College students

A Vanderbilt University freshman, Anastasia Franchak, 19, said she spent her entire quarantine in her room. 

Franchak is from Johns Creek, Georgia, outside of Atlanta.