mask blocs
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Long COVID advocacy is more than lobbying Congress: Here are some ways to get involved
People with infection associated chronic conditions (IACCs) use a broad range of strategies to fight for awareness and better care.
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As the American West faces increasing air pollution, protecting the right to mask is vital
Utah’s proposed ban became an important case study demonstrating the overlapping concerns between airborne pathogens and environmental air pollution. It highlighted the necessity of building coalitions between environmental, health and disability, and civil liberties groups in resisting mask bans as climate change is on track to worsen a variety of environmental public health threats, not…
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COVID-19 advocates are distributing masks to protect Californians from wildfire smoke
As the skies of Los Angeles filled with smoke this week from multiple raging wildfires, many residents quickly recognized failures in local and state governments’ ability to protect them from hazardous air pollution. Community members from local COVID-19 advocacy and mutual aid groups stepped in to fill this gap, providing stockpiled respirators and information about…
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A brief, oral history of mask blocs: Part 3
U.S. government officials began introducing mask ban proposals and legislation during the summer and fall of 2024, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has killed at least 40,000 Americans this year. Mask blocs in impacted regions were sometimes the only groups poised or willing to respond. In this final piece of a three-part series, mask…
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A brief, oral history of mask blocs: Part 2
Established mask blocs — mutual aid groups distributing high-quality respirator masks for free — often support newer blocs with educational materials or mask stock to get started. In part two of our three-part series, organizers describe how they created resources for other blocs to get started, including a collaborative, in-depth zine co-authored by bloc members…
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A brief, oral history of mask blocs: Part 1
Mask blocs are grassroots mutual aid groups that distribute high-quality masks, such as N95s, for free in response to public health failures during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Many were created and are led by disabled people, many of whom had little or no prior organizing experience. Many include organizers who have Long COVID. Most of…
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How mask blocs are keeping communities safe with neglected government stockpiles
To supply plentiful, free masks to anyone who requests them, mask bloc members track down large quantities of quality masks being sold cheaply or offered for free. In this way, Covid-19 safety groups and mask blocs essentially function as narrow supply chains in specific regions, with bloc members focusing on distribution as well as acquisition.…
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Social media users ask, “Where is Mandy?” as CDC director stays out of spotlight during Covid surge
Despite what might be the second biggest surge of the entire pandemic, CDC director Mandy Cohen has been absent from her official CDC social media accounts. Similarly, the CDC has yet to issue any press releases or public service announcements specifically about the JN.1 surge, which may be infecting over one million Americans each day…
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