COVID-19 EXTRA
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2021 STUDENT MEDIA
COVID CORE VALUES
TABLE OF CONTENTS VACCINES AND MASKS || 12
03 || GRANT GOLD Q&A
BY SHELBY MCVEY & LINDSEY GOLDEN
BY BENJAMIN FIGUEROA
JESSICA KING Q&A || 13
04 || COVID-19 IN POLITICS
BY LINDSEY GOLDEN
BY LINDSEY GOLDEN & SIDNEY HINZ
STUDENT ATHLETES || 14
05 || NATALIE PARKS Q&A
BY TOMAS ROMO
BY MACKENZIE FINCH
06 || COVID-19 IN OTHER UNIVERSITIES
ADMINISTRATOR RESPONSE || 15
BY RYAN FAULKNER
BY CADE DRAUGHON
07 || ALMA BARRERA Q&A BY ELLIE PENA
09 || JULIAN LEIBOWITZ Q&A
JOUR 303 STAFF
BY BENJAMIN FIGUEROA
Ryan Faulkner & Shelby McVey Co-Editors-in-Chief
10 || STUDY ABROAD BY KATEN ADAMS
This package was produced by the JOUR 303 class in collaboration with The Battalion. Cover photo by Katen Adams Photo by Ronnie Mata
Cori Eckert, Managing Editor - Design Lindsey Golden, Managing Editor - News Kenzie Finch, Asst. Managing Editor - News Katen Adams, Photo & Graphics Editor Reporters & Contributors Benjamin Figueroa, Cade Draughon, Tomas Romo, Sidney Hinz, Ellie Pena, Peyton Reed
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Coronavirus front line in Texas ER are like-minded, and you just can’t ever really generalize or stereotype people.
Q: What was going through your mind seeing the [A&M]-Alabama football game with almost no one wearing a mask? A: What I can say with big events like this now happening, and ACL happening, I think for people who have gotten their two shots of their vaccine – that is the process — you get your vaccines, you have this immunity and you can now kind of re-enter society, hopefully. And you use caution with masking — you know, you use it in large crowds still — because people can still spread it and carry it, even with these vaccines. I say that caveat for people who are vaccinated. Again, I’m not a doctor. I’m just going off of CDC advice and the recommendations of professionals. But on the flip side, when you’re still just blatantly ignoring vaccines, not wearing a mask and you are going to these big things, it is frustrating to see because those are the kinds of people who are causing this resurgence in Texas. PROVIDED
From left to right, RNs Rachel Lima, Grant Gold, Hallier Brimberry and Gold in PPE, in the Dell Seton Emergency Department in Austin at the start of the pandemic. Texas A&M College of Nursing Class of 2018, Gold said the ‘unknowns’ about COVID-19 in 2020 were the hardest to cope with.
By Benjamin Figueroa Grant Gold is a 2018 graduate of the Texas A&M College of Nursing. After working as an emergency room registered nurse from 2018-2021, he now serves as a clinical specialist at Option Care Health in Austin. Q: What was your initial reaction to the pandemic in March 2020? A: SXSW was happening. I had almost a two-week break off at the end of March, and then all of this stuff unfolded. I came back to work after two weeks off. What am I walking into? There was no information at that point. We didn’t even have COVID[-19] tests readily
available. Nobody knew anything. So I’m walking in and I knew it was going to be uncertain.
Q: What was the single-most difficult thing you experienced as a registered nurse working in the emergency room? A: The unknown. The anxiety of the unknown. Toward the beginning, it was not bad, I would stay up all night the night before my shift. I didn’t sleep well. I just didn’t know what I was going to be walking into. I see … freezer trucks of bodies [in New York], and I’m like, is this going to be Austin? Am I going to have to do this?
Q: Did you seek help to cope?
A: Not professionally. I vented a lot with my co-workers and my friends and my family. I felt that I was pretty good at compartmentalizing things. In the ER, you see a lot of very sad, very traumatic stories. Even to work there before COVID, you had to have pretty good mental protection mechanisms. Working out and yoga was what it was for me.
Q: What did you see happening around the COVID-19 anti-vaccine push as a nurse? A: I’ve definitely heard of it. I know people who are healthcare workers, ER nurses, that I thought were very likeminded. Being in the ER, you thought you were surrounded by people who
Texas A&M Testing Sites: Rudder Plaza Appointment required Monday through Friday, 8-6 Mays Plaza Appointment required Monday through Friday, 8-5 Texas A&M Health Maroon Line Appointment required Tuesdays only, Clinical Building 1, noon to 1 Student Health Services Appointment required Beutel, Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, 10-2 Mobile Testing Van See Brazos Valley Health District for times and locations
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Vaccination trends along political divide 39.9%
52.8%
The Red and Blue gap in COVID-19 vaccination rates has continued to grow since the vaccine was made available. On Sept. 13, counties that voted for former President Donald Trump had vaccination rates lower than counties that voted for Joe Biden. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation Graphic by Ryan Faulkner
Vaccine mistrust higher among conservative students, faculty By Lindsey Golden and Sidney Hinz Historically, most vaccines have not been politicized like the COVID-19 vaccine, said a member of the Lancet Commission on vaccine refusal and acceptance in the United States. Republicans are significantly less likely to get vaccinated than Democrats. Timothy Callaghan, Ph.D., said research for the Lancet Commission includes a published paper that examines the politicized COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. He is a part of the commission and an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in A&M’s School of Public Health.
“Even before the pandemic, levels of trust in science and scientists for the past several years [has been] lower among conservatives than it has been among liberals,” said Callaghan. Political leaders across the country downplaying the severity of the virus is another reason why many conservatives are hesitant to get the vaccine or wear a mask, Callaghan said. “To the extent that some political leaders are downplaying the severity of the virus, it could lead you to being less likely to see the virus as something that serious and something you need to be taking mitigation measures against now,” Callaghan said. “Some of the national conservative media figures ... have placed less emphasis [on criticizing] the conservative side as opposed to the liberal side, and people tend to take their cues from po-
litical elites.” There are five reasons why there has been more hesitancy with the COVID vaccine in comparison to others, Callaghan said. “The first is that this was a very unusual vaccine development process, and in most contexts, the development of a vaccine is something that takes place over a long period of time, sort of in isolation and quite without widespread media attention,” Callaghan said. “COVID-19 was the opposite of that. “Every single thing that happened in the vaccine development process was highlighted. There’s tons of media attention to it. We also saw … a process that can take up to a decade or longer play out over the course of about a year.” The “tugging poll” is another reason for vaccine hesitancy, Callaghan said.
“On the one hand, politicians certainly care about the health of the public, but they also care about the economy,” Callaghan said. “There’s sort of a real tug-and-pull between the two of them at various times. That doubt tends to downplay the vaccine side to play up the need to get the economy back to normal.” Investing and research also played important roles, Callaghan said. “You know we invest large amounts of money in various issues,” Callaghan said. “For example, cancer, heart disease and a variety of other things, the amount of research money being spent on vaccine hesitancy, is a lot less than that.” “And considering how many Americans are dying because of vaccine hesitancy, that’s problematic. In particular, there’s very little research that’s being done to focus on politicized vaccines.” Misinformation — which has caused uproar throughout the pandemic — is the fourth factor Callaghan identified. It’s up to both the government and the private sector to weed out misinformation, Callaghan said, and to make sure when people search for information, what they get is accurate. “We need to do more to stop misinformation,” Callaghan said. “One of the reasons many people are vaccine-hesitant is because they come across [false] information. That leads them to be not trusting the vaccines, for one reason or another. And we argue that policymakers and various professional organizations need to do more to stop misinformation.” Magnifying misinformation on a national level has sparked distrust around both the virus and the vaccine, Callaghan said. “We’ve seen a large number of conservative media outlets amplifying information about COVID-19 [which is] actually misinformation,” Callaghan said. These misinformation sources must be recognized to stop misinformation spread, he said. The pandemic has divided the nation and caused tragedies across the globe. People who take the steps to get vaccinated are not only protecting themselves, Callaghan said, but also those around them. “The fact is if you are vaccinated, you are significantly less likely to be hospitalized and significantly less likely to die,” Callaghan said.
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Trying to lead by example thinking about different administrative decisions — about strategies pertaining to COVID. Students took a stand; there was a COVID protest. I believe it was a very productive protest. Administration got to hear exactly what students were thinking through the COVID feedback form that was sent out by the organizers of the protest. Our student government collaborated and put together a report, so that raw feedback was really important. Also, October is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the student government is going to be launching a campaign called Whoop for Wellness. It will tackle communication and messaging efforts pertaining to COVID — resources that are available on campus — but also opening up more conversations pertaining to mental health. There’s a lot of overlap between the two, and we recognize that living an extremely virtual world has its pros and cons. Online classes affected mental health in a negative way. All these different topics and themes of conversations tie in together.
Q: How was the COVID-19 protest ‘productive?’
Photo by Katen Adams
Natalie Parks said Texas A&M is trying to find a “happy middle” when it comes to weekly COVID-19 testing on campus.
By Mackenzie Finch Natalie Parks, communication senior and 2021-22 student body president at Texas A&M, was asked about her role addressing student concerns about the coronavirus, campus cases and transmission rates, and how the ongoing pandemic intersects with student mental health on campus. Q: What is the role of the student body president addressing these campus concerns? A: My job is to serve as the voice of
the student body here at Texas A&M, whether that be attending events where I get to [talk to] students or creating surveys. A big role is working with administration as a liaison between the student body and the university’s administrators.
Q: What are students’ biggest issues? A: The biggest issue students took a stand on, especially this past month of September, is COVID-19-focused. Using platforms to uplift what students are
A: A lot of positive things came from this protest. The organizers put together that feedback form; it was circulated throughout Twitter and social media. There was probably about 20 pages of feedback that came from that. If we can, even have more tangible pieces such as feedback forms so we can make reports to be given to the administration. It was helpful to have it all in one place to see exactly what students were thinking and what potential changes people wanted implemented.
Q: Do you wear a mask in class as a student leader? A: Yes, ma’am. I have a mask on my desk right now from the class. The class that I am in person for this semester is a small class, about 20 people. Everyone
wears a mask there and the professor always has a box of masks on the desk, which is helpful if we forget to bring one. We are there because we want to learn, but a part of that is protecting each other. Texas A&M University, because we are a public institution, is not allowed by law [by order of Gov. Abbott] to mandate masks or vaccines. A big focus for our student government Whoop for Wellness campaign is taking COVID precautions and the strong encouragement of different processes such as wearing masks and getting a vaccine. Communication from students is what other students end up being more receptive to — putting out the science and the facts we want to, even do a myth busters series on it. We are still in a pandemic, and it really ends up becoming a part of our individual responsibilities as humans, as friends, as Aggies to keep each other safe and to keep each other accountable as well.
Q: In the A&M faculty senate meeting on Oct. 11, faculty senator Adam Kolasinski mentioned A&M is allowed to require weekly COVID-19 testing and students could be exempt from testing if they volunteered information they received the COVID-19 vaccine. This was mentioned as a possibility, but no further comment was made. What are your thoughts? A: While weekly testing is an option, with the amount of support it would get, there would be a substantial push back. Texas A&M is trying to find a happy middle.
Q: What is your plan as student body president after hearing this information? A: I would like to see at the very least monthly testing being implemented. I don’t know at this time [if] we are likely to see a weekly testing, at least for the entire community.
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Aggies stumble, fall in pandemic mitigation Positivity rate at A&M among highest of Texas universities By Ryan Faulkner Approximately 300 Texans die of COVID-19 every day, a number that has remained consistent since the start of the fall semester in August. At Texas A&M, faculty views are not aligned with some administration choices and policies. Other universities, both in Texas and around the nation, have successfully implemented pandemic-curbing measures, leaving some faculty, students and staff to question A&M’s decisions. The contrast in cases and transmission rates at universities following science-based mitigation strategies — including mandatory vaccination, tracing, testing and masks — is stark. Texas has one of the highest positivity rates in the nation, with 22,302 daily cases being confirmed as of Oct. 14, according to information from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. In terms of lack of success, A&M has followed a similar trend, recording a 4.4 percent positivity rate since the fall semester began, according to the university’s coronavirus dashboard. Dr. Julian Leibowitz, a professor of microbial pathogenesis and immunology at A&M, said the moves by Texas’ leadership go against the science, which supports both masks and vaccines, especially in high-contact areas like college campuses. “The university is constrained on what they can do by the governor’s complete-nonsense, non-scientific, politically based response and flies in the face of all the good public health data that’s available,” Leibowitz said.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-38 bans mask mandates among cities, counties and school districts in Texas. This was followed by Executive Order GA-40, banning required vaccination mandates. These actions fall largely inline with the trends seen across Republican-led states that far outpace left-leaning counterparts in terms of number of positive coronavirus cases and deaths. Texas A&M Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives Greg Hartman said A&M acts with the best interests of its students and faculty in mind while determining what practices are safe and healthy. “We pay attention to what the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] is recommending and often say, ‘Follow CDC guidelines,’” Hartman said. Despite Abbott’s mandates, other Texas universities have been able to take effective protective measures for the health students and faculty. Rice University has implemented a mandate requiring both masks and vaccinations on campus. Since the start of the fall semester, Rice has maintained an average positivity rate of 0.30 percent — one-tenth of A&M’s — despite being just 215 miles away and located in Harris county, with a 10.20 percent positivity rate. With just over 4,000 students, Rice has averaged 13 tests per student since the semester began. A&M averages just over one test per student. Timothy Callaghan, Ph.D., said he has seen firsthand the disparities between A&M’s campus and those of other colleges and universities. The lack of mandates in College Station has largely hurt the community’s residents because people are less likely to take a situation serious-
ly when not required to do so, said Callaghan, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in A&M’s School of Public Health. “There’s a subset of the American population — both in Texas and across the country — who are not going to be convinced to vaccinate ... just because of encouragement,” Callaghan said. “And for those, individual mandates tend to be more effective, because if you’re going to require someone to get vaccinated to keep their job, they’re far more likely to do it.” The science behind both masks and mandates is clear, as noted by the University of California San Francisco’s COVID-19 website. Wearing a mask can reduce a COVID-positive person’s transmission of droplets up to 500 micrometers while speaking. Vaccines help curb the pandemic by introducing antigens into a person’s body to help trigger an immune response and prevent infection and transmission. Without science and without mandates, Dr. Peter Hotez told Texas A&M Today the greatest vulnerability to local communities is unvaccinated young people in the South. Hotez is dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital. At A&M, Hotez was a 2019-2020 faculty fellow with the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study and is a senior fellow emeritus at the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at the Bush School. In Southern states, Hotez told Texas A&M Today he sees many young people going into the hospital even today and described COVID-19 as “just ripping through the Southern states.”
COVID in Texas Universities
Texas A&M University 4.40% Positivity Rate* Rice University 0.30% Positivity Rate* University of Texas 0.46% Positivity Rate* Baylor University 1.40% Positivity Rate* Southern Methodist University 0.10% Positivity Rate*
*Since August 6, 2021
Graphic by Ryan Faulkner
Data from this graphic was compiled from the COVID-19 dashboard websites from each respective school.
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Alma Barrera: ‘honesty is key’ with patients appointments months in advance, so if they had been exposed or felt under the weather, they had to cancel their appointment.
Q: What is it like to have patients who could potentially be sick? A: That is an interesting point. It is a balance of trusting that if a patient comes in with a cough or other coldlike symptom that they only have a cold. If I notice a patient feeling under the weather, I ask them questions about COVID-19 exposure. But by the time they come to me, they have already answered screening questions concerning the virus online and when they check in for their appointment.
Q: Do you currently feel unsafe as a dentist amidst the pandemic?
dental schools had gone back when we did; only the emergency clinic I am a resident at now was working with extreme-case patients. Dental offices around the city were pretty much closed.
A: With dentistry, it is a weird new normal. We work in the mouth, where the virus is primarily transmitted. Patients are not masked for about 99 percent of the work we do. As vaccinations became available in the state of Texas, I received mine one of the very first days. Dentistry as an industry has a high level of exposure, and I was thankful that it was recognized. Our school did an amazing job organizing vaccinations for students, staff and residents. I felt cared-for and safe in the industry. With our screening process, we can see if patients are vaccinated or not as a part of our initial screening questions. Before the vaccinations, I was certainly scared because of the various unknowns.
Q: What were the COVID-19 procedures for patients coming in?
Q: What do you want students at Texas A&M to know?
PROVIDED
Alma Alexandra Barrera was a third-year dental student when COVID-19 hit. She graduated from dental school in May with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree, and said the dental industry has taken many measures to keep both dentists and patients safe in dental clinics.
By Ellie Pena Medical professionals on the frontlines continue to battle the coronavirus while also helping people feel better and stay healthy. Dentists, especially, rely on patient honesty in screening tests to stay safe. Alma Alexandra Barrera, DDS, is a graduate of the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry and completing her dental residency in San Antonio. She is Texas A&M Class of 2017 Biomedical Science. Q: What are some of the changes you’ve experienced in the dental industry in light of COVID-19? A: We have always been masked up, which is the nice thing, because I was already used to it, but the protective
equipment we wear changed a little. We wear two face masks to protect against water and aerosol particles that fly around from various tools. We wear face shields, gloves, a gown to protect my clothes and my zoom goggles. A lot of what I wear stayed the same, but minor things were added for my overall safety, so that is of course the first direct change I have seen.
Q: What was it like being a dental student at the start of the pandemic? A: Honestly, it was scary at first. The clinic was working at 50 percent or so, and the fourth-year dental students were paired up for physical distancing, so we did a lot on our own. No other
A: If we had to run a handpiece for a filling, cleaning or anything in the mouth that was essentially touching, you needed a negative test. Originally, patients had to be tested within three days prior to their appointment, then it got changed to a week in about October of last year. It was hard because patients would have to schedule
A: I think overall I would want everyone to remember the frontline workers like doctors, nurses, dentists, physician assistants, etc. I think of the janitorial staff that work to keep our facilities and schools clean. It is important to be appreciative of everyone that is working to keep you safe. And finally, I would say to trust in science.
END THE STIGMA TEXAS A&M ATHLETICS' COMMITMENT TO PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT OUR COUNSELING AND SPORT PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES TEAM. THANK YOU DR. PITTSINGER, DR. CRAIG AND DR. AKPAN FOR YOUR DEDICATION TO OUR STUDENT-ATHLETES! FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT 12THMAN.COM
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Following science ‘only way out,’ says Leibowitz Q: How do booster shots work? A: It rejuvenates all of your memory cells, and it wakes them all up. They make a lot of antibodies, and that gives you probably more antibodies than you had from your second immunization, and it gives you another group of cells to become long-life plasma cells.
Q: Will there be a need for booster shots in the future? A: There will be new variants and ultimately, if not in the spring, in a year or two years, we will need to have a slightly different messenger RNA vaccine. The good thing about these vaccines is: you change the sequence and you fix it. You’ll have to do limited testing to show that it’s efficacious against the variants that you’re targeting, but it will be a much smaller clinical trial … so it may conclude faster.
A: By most standards … the J&J and Astrazeneca vaccines are very good vaccines, actually. It’s just that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines — they’re extraordinarily good.
Q: What needs to be done to end the pandemic? A: The only way out of this pandemic — into a more normal situation — is getting people vaccinated and for people to wear face masks until the rate of transmission is down substantially.
Q: Is vaccine shortage an issue at this point in vaccine distribution? A: In this country, at least right now, there is enough vaccine to go around. The problem has been getting people to take it. If the rate of vaccine uptake was better, there would be way fewer cases and less evolution of variants that happen worldwide.
Q: How do the Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines compare to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in terms of efficacy? PROVIDED
Ending the pandemic will require higher vaccination rates and use of face masks until transmission rates are substantially lower, said Julian Leibowitz, M.D., Ph.D. (right).
By Benjamin Figueroa Julian Leibowitz is both an M.D. and Ph.D. who has been studying coronaviruses since 1977. As the director of the MD/ PhD program for the Texas A&M College of Medicine, Leibowitz is also a member of a University X-Grant team recently awarded funds to develop an mRNA vaccine platform. Q: What is the complication rate of vaccines? A: The vaccine complication rate is really low. For serious complications, it’s about as low for most vaccines that are licensed, so I think it’s been a great success, and I don’t understand … why people are hesitant.
Q: Is it a good idea to get monoclonal antibody treatment after a positive COVID-19 test as a vaccine alternative? A: No. It’s not okay. That person will be infectious before they’re sick and
they get diagnosed. It may be two to five days on average when they have symptoms. They can infect other people. They may visit their parents, their grandparents, a good friend and that friend may have an underlying condition and get seriously ill. So no, that’s not a good first strategy. It’s a good second strategy, but it’s not as good as getting the vaccine.
Q: What risks do healthy, college-age students face if they decide to not get vaccinated? A: Even though students in that age group are still at a reasonably lower risk of getting serious disease and needing to be hospitalized, 10-30 percent of them may have various symptoms of long COVID. I think, for a college student, that is a bad idea and one that most of you students would like to avoid.
COVID-19 in Brazos County Oct. 1-19, 2020 versus 2021
2020
2021
Reported Cases: 781
Reported Cases: 1,003
Death Count: 3
Death Count: 16
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Pandemic snubs study abroad
PROVIDED
Faculty-led programs traveled to Italy between 2017 - 2021. Texas A&M students Catherine Schultz (left) and Russell Linnemeier (right) visited historic and iconic sites throughout the country. With travel restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas A&M Education Abroad refunded students over $4.2 million due to cancellations.
Education Abroad hopes to return following pandemic shutdown By Katen Adams Despite many program cancellations affected by the ongoing pandemic, six Texas A&M programs have allowed some Aggies to study abroad in the past 19 months. Since the lockdown in March 2020, study abroad has been less fortunate. Holly Hudson, director of Texas A&M Education Abroad, said the program has sent four faculty-led programs that departed early fall 2021, and two field trips led by faculty departing in November. The College of Architecture sent facul-
ty-led programs to Germany, Italy and Spain, and the Biomedical Sciences program traveled to Costa Rica, Hudson said. In November, the Psychology England, Ireland, Scotland Educational field trip is planned to run, as is the Germany International Studies field trip. Programs began bringing students home from abroad late February 2020, Hudson said. There are over 100 faculty-led programs and 5,648 average students traveled annually, but throughout the last year, the majority of them were canceled, Hudson said. “We returned probably 700 students from abroad,” Hudson said. “It impacted probably well over 2,500 students in terms of cancellations.” Hudson said. Hudson said Education Abroad managed
to facilitate a total of 790 experiences — 127 virtual and 663 in-person — during the 2021 academic year, mostly for students required to study abroad for their degree program. “We want students to travel, but only if it’s safe,” Hudson said. “We want to make sure we are not being unethical … that we are making good ethical decisions and not being a burden on our host country.” Financially, a total of over $4.2 million was refunded to students, according to the Education Abroad report. This academic year, the Education Abroad Office hopes to be at 55 percent of the normal number, with around 2,700 students traveling, Hudson said. The lack of enrollment was the main factor in canceling the spring COMM to Italy
program, Cara Wallis, program coordinator said. Wallis said many changes went into the program, such as housing two students per room instead of three, and a focus on coachand bus-related travel instead of trains, which raised costs due to pandemic safety. Vaccination requirements in Italy were not implemented until after the program was scheduled to run, Wallis said, and the students who had already signed up were notified. “The last time we were able to do the program, we were not able to do the whole program because it was spring 2020,” Wallis said. “We were optimistic that spring 2022 we would be able to do it.”
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Vaccine, mask hesitancy fuel fires at A&M Social media, content algorithm affect health communication By Shelby McVey and Lindsey Golden Filter bubbles are making some people hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to two researchers who study health messaging. In a state with more than 29 million people, only approximately 15 million Texans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. A number of factors, such as social norms of peers and a lack of transparency in the vaccine roll-out process, are stopping the other 14 million Texans from getting any form of the vaccine, said Lu Tang, Ph.D. and associate professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Communication. Social media and its algorithm of depositing information to users is a main contributor to who receives wanted, or unwanted, information, Tang added. This filter bubble is where social media platforms identify the content their users are interacting with, and produce more of it, explained Tang. If an unvaccinated person were to watch an anti-vaccination video on YouTube, the platform’s algorithm will identify it and keep pushing for similar information to be shown, Tang said. In turn, this strongly contributes to vaccine hesitancy. “I feel like what kind of media you consume on a day-to-day basis will affect how you think of COVID[-19] vaccines, whether it’s useful, whether vaccines are going to make you magnetic,” Tang said. “Media is very, very powerful. I feel like in this pandemic, the media has more effect on how we handle
[COVID-19] than the medical community or the government.” Social media’s push of information based on a curated algorithm helps directly relate to a psychological way of processing information called cognitive dissonance theory, Tang said. “Basically, it says that if I already have a piece of information that I think is true, it can be like I believe in vaccines or I don’t believe in vaccines, if we already have this piece of information in our heads, that is called a cognition,” Tang said. “And then, once it’s there and if we receive a new piece of information that is inconsistent with our existing cognition — we experience cognitive dissonance.” Rooted ideological reasoning is what Tang credits as also contributing to anti-vaccination campaigns. This means, labeling the government as untrustworthy makes increasing the vaccination rate more difficult. Factors such as having reliable forms of transportation and insurance mean these individuals do not have to rely as heavily on the government, Tang said. This contributes to their mistrust of government entity regulation, such as the COVID-19 vaccine. “If this thing is against people’s deeply rooted values, then I feel it’s very difficult to persuade them, and that’s why the United States has [one of the] lowest vaccination rates,” Tang said. Motivations are what drive people to wear a mask or not, said Richard Street, Ph.D. and professor in A&M’s health communication department. “If you have family members that are getting really sick and dying, that makes it a very different situation for some people,” Street said.
Photo by Katen Adams
Lu Tang, Ph.D. and associate professor of communication, researches how stigmas and culture affect health communication. She counted 20 of 150 students wearing masks during a recent exam in class, in line with trends observed throughout the semester.
Photo by Ronnie Mata
On Sept. 15, a student-led protest was held following news of the tragic death of a student from complications of COVID-19.
Since the vaccine is not currently mandated in Texas, regardless of whether a doctor recommends a patient get vaccinated or not, medical ethics dictate the patient does not have to receive it. “One of the ethical principles of health care is what’s called autonomy, and it is where patients choose to undergo treatments and procedures,” Street said. “You can’t force them in most instances to do anything. A person has to choose to engage in a particular treatment. “So what you want to do is work with a person to enhance their understanding of why
they should get the vaccine. You’re working so they come to that decision on their own.” The other part of medical practice is persuasion, Street said. “Sometimes, doctors are influential by encouraging and having a patient do something by arguing it is the right thing to do,” Street said. “Getting a person to do what you want them to do versus [telling them what to do] is shared-decision making. “So, in the case of vaccines, that’s where sometimes clinicians have to balance and have [patients] make their own choice.”
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Monoclonal infusion, doorstep delivered Q: How did you react when your test came back positive?
Q: What was getting the monoclonal infusion like?
A: I honestly wasn’t surprised because I had been showing symptoms a couple hours before. But on the other hand, I was taken aback because I felt like I had been very cautious and I had been doing all things, washing my hands, making sure I wasn’t touching my face and all that other stuff. This was my first time getting COVID, so I had gone this long without getting COVID. I knew it was bound to happen eventually, so I guess I was more bummed out than shocked.
A: It was actually a very quick and smooth process, and they came to my apartment, which was nice. They hooked me up to an IV, took my vitals really fast and the infusion only lasted about 20 minutes. They then took my vitals again, took the IV out and stayed at my apartment for about an hour just to check my vitals periodically, probably every 15 minutes or so to make sure I was still stable before they left. But the nursing assistant was very kind and cooperative. It was a very smooth process, and I would personally recommend it because I am feeling a whole lot better since I got it.
Q: Are you getting support? A: It’s not been hard to get support. Everyone that I’ve contacted [such as] my apartment complex and my friends [are] helping out, everyone’s been very supportive and cooperative.
Q: Was it hard to isolate? A: No, not really, because both my roommate and I have [the virus], so it has been easy to navigate sharing the common areas and stuff.
Q: Have your professors been helpful?
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University studies journalism junior Jessica King said while receiving a monoclonal infusion in her apartment, medical staff were fully equipped in medical suits, masks and faceshields.
By Lindsey Golden Coronavirus treatment rolled up to Texas A&M student Jessica King’s door three days after she received a positive COVID-19 test. The mobile infusion center is available for A&M students, faculty and staff who test positive and have a referral from a doctor to receive monoclonal infusion. The monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the body’s own immune system’s ability to fight off harmful antigens, including the
coronavirus, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website. To receive the treatment through A&M, an individual must be symptomatic, but have mild symptoms, not be hospitalized, not require oxygen therapy and have not had the coronavirus for more than 10 days after symptoms develop. King was in isolation when interviewed but has since ended her quarantine.
A: Yes, every one of my professors has reached out to me to try to make it as easy as possible these next couple of weeks. A lot of my classes, as far as the coursework goes, [have] been published online since the beginning of the semester, so it wasn’t really a hard transition at all, and I think it’s going very smoothly.
Q: Did you tell anyone you had COVID? A: I just told my family at first, then my roommate, and then I needed several things, so I texted my friends. But I’m not super concerned about keeping it private because I feel like everyone’s going to get COVID at one point or another, so it is not something to be ashamed about.
Q: On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the worst, how did you feel before the infusion? A: I would say that, with my symptoms and everything I was feeling, about a six or seven. My symptoms were pretty mild to begin with, but I was still feeling groggy, and I wasn’t feeling 100 percent.
Q: On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the worst, how did you feel after the infusion? A: Afterward, I was probably down to like about a four, and the day after, I was almost down to a two. I barely had any symptoms. The only thing I’ve been feeling ... for the past couple of days is that I’m stuffy, but as far as energy levels and everything goes, I felt back to normal.
Q: Are you vaccinated? A: No.
Q: Do you plan on getting vaccinated? A: I’m not sure right now.
Q: Has getting COVID made you think more about it in any way? A: It has, but I don’t feel super rushed to make a decision right now.
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Student athletes shoulder extra pandemic load
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The NCAA conducted an association-wide survey of athletes in late 2020 that quantified pandemic stress on student athletes, including mental health. Tatiana Makarova and Bladen Reaves, members of the Texas A&M tennis and football teams, discussed life as athletes both at the beginning of the pandemic and now that students have returned to in-person classes.
NCAA rules shift to reflect new, uncharted landscape in athletics By Tomas Romo From mental and physical health to academic and future career stress, the coronavirus continues to create measurable burdens being carried by college student athletes. The NCAA conducted an association-wide survey that garnered responses from some 25,000 student athletes. Conducted Oct. 6-Nov. 2, 2020, the published results portray the impact on student athletes. The numbers of those reporting negative mental health responses are eye-opening. Designed by the NCAA research team in collaboration with the NCAA Sport Science Institute and the NCAA Division I, II and III Student-Athlete Advisory Committees, the goal was to determine how student athletes dealt with the pandemic. The focus on college students’ mental health has grown among most college institutions. Student athletes are no different, and their success on the playing field doesn’t always directly relate to their personal lives. “Without structured classes [last fall] it was challenging to stay on top of things,” Tatiana Makarova, Texas A&M senior women’s tennis player said. “I found myself having to teach myself the material, which was hard considering the long hours I dedicated to athletics.” The data from the NCAA identified academic worries, lack of access to their sport, COVID-19 health concerns and financial worries as contributing factors that negatively
impacted student athletes’ mental health. “I struggled with online classes,” A&M football player Bladen Reaves said. “I had to sit through three-hour labs online, and I found myself not being able to stay focused on Zoom.” The pandemic put pressure on student athletes to not only perform on the field, but to deal with society as well. “I don’t have much time for other outside activities, regardless of businesses shutting down, and I had limitations of social life during the pandemic,” Reaves said. Being forced to focus on school and athletics while being removed from society to protect their team has taken a toll, according to the survey. The SEC announced a new cancellation policy that states any team unable to play due to COVID-19 forfeits and will assign a win in the conference standings to the team able to play. The new policy makes it more beneficial for student athletes to get the vaccine, according to a recent CBS Sports broadcast. A&M head football coach Jimbo Fisher estimated the A&M football team’s vaccination rate to be “at least 85 percent” during an August press conference. “We’re extremely high; we’re in the mid80s or so and working on our rate,” Fisher told the media at the training camp. Guys are doing a pretty good job; we’re not 100 [percent] that’s everybody’s individual choice.” Student athletes continue to face heightened mental and physical health concerns, including some barriers to sport participation this fall due to lasting changes from the pandemic.
“As a student athlete, there are always positives and negatives to life,” Makarova said. “I’m thankful that COVID[-19] didn’t impact
my mental health, because I was always with my team.”
Graphic by Katen Adams
Data in this graphic was compiled from the 2021 Texas A&M COVID-19 dashboard.
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‘Never very serious’
Photo by Katen Adams
Following Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to ban vaccine and mask mandates, Texas A&M’s ‘Masks Strongly Encouraged’ policy is failing to sway most students to wear masks in classrooms.
Faculty believes university leaders fall short on COVID-19 prevention By Cade Draughon Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued an executive order banning any entity in Texas from requiring vaccinations — including public universities — leaving administrative leaders the job of attempting to mitigate COVID-19 without key science-based practices that have been proven to be effective. Texas A&M returned to full-capacity, in-person classes at the beginning of the fall semester and conducted a mandatory testing period from Aug. 23 to Sept. 10. There were 3,388 positive cases out of 79,092 tests, with a positivity rate of 4.3 percent. Since mandatory testing ended, the university has said it will look at data surrounding community healthcare utilization, campus
caseload, testing and absentee rates to determine if another mandatory testing period is necessary. Weekly hospitalization rates, number of available ICU beds and ventilators, fatalities in Texas counties, positivity rates from Curative tests on campus, test availability and absentee rates among employees, students and contract workers are the factors being analyzed. With Abbott’s ban on mandates, the university is limited in enforcing safe practices within the classroom. Greg Hartman, vice chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and interim senior vice president, has been tasked as the COVID point person on campus by A&M President Katherine Banks. His job is to advise the president on developments and data points that go into making coronavirus policies at the university. Ultimately, it is Banks who makes the final call. “We’re a public university here in Texas, and it’s very clear that the governor will not allow mandatory vaccinations, so that’s the
law and so we need to follow the law,” Hartman said. While the university cannot force students to wear masks in classrooms, the faculty can strongly encourage students to cover their faces by explaining why they personally want the students to do so or by offering initiaves like extra credit. It is up to the discretion of each faculty member to determine how strongly these incentives are pushed. “In terms of allowing some incentives like that, we think it is a good idea, just like incentivizing vaccines through the giveaway of free tuition,” Hartman said, “So we’re supportive of that, and have allowed it to be at the discretion of the faculty members.” Dale Rice, journalism professor and Speaker of the Faculty Senate, acknowledged the difficulty of enforcing safety protocols, but said he believes the university has not done enough to encourage mask-wearing. “I understand that right now, state institutions can’t make that as a requirement,” Rice
said. “But I think faculty are disappointed that the university didn’t do much more to encourage people to wear masks. I think that the university was never very serious about that, and never really under-took a major campaign to convince people that masking is critical.” Per the A&M website, it is the responsibility of the individual to provide their own face covering. The website states that each classroom can keep a small number of disposable face coverings on hand for visitors, and many classrooms are being given masks to disperse to students. “We provide masks in all the classrooms, so there is always a steady supply of them,” Hartman said. “So, all those things that we have been doing, we will continue to do. And I think given our limitations from the state, that [is] probably the most we can be doing.” Editor’s Note: Lindsey Golden contributed to the article.
