Thursday, April 15, 2021
Bond stronger than blood the brotherhood that is Pokeapella By Sam Milek O’Colly Contributor “Bond is stronger than blood. The family grows stronger by bond” – Itohan Eghide What it means to be a family has drastically changed as time has progressed. What was once determined by who your parents, grandparents and siblings now tend to have an extra meaning. This, of course, being the bond created by group of people. Such is the case for Oklahoma State University’s male chorale, Pokeapella. Founded in 2013 originally as Cowboy Chorale, Pokeapella is a men’s chorus group that does small gigs and shows around Stillwater. In doing so, they have created a group of individuals that harmonize in more aspects than their voices, creating a See Bond on pg. 2
COVID has not broken the brotherhood of this group as they move forward and grow.
Provided by Pokeapella.com.
Why aren’t more men getting the COVID-19 vaccine? Soumya Karlamangla Los Angeles Times (TNS) A man took his adult children to receive COVID-19 vaccinations over the weekend, knowing it was important for them to be immunized against the disease. But he didn’t feel concerned about his own risk of catching the virus, despite the fact that older people and men are more likely to die from COVID-19, Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County’s public health director, said this week. He had not made plans to get vaccinated. “I was worried about him, and so were his children,” said Ferrer, who encountered the family at a Los Angeles vaccination site. “What’s staggering to realize is that the very group of folks who have the higher mortality rate are now also the group of folks that have the lower vaccination rates.” Throughout the pandemic, men worldwide have been far more likely to die from COVID-19 — because
of a mix of biological and behavioral factors — but also less likely to have been vaccinated against the disease. The data from L.A. County paints a troubling
a vaccine, only 30% of men have. And in the 38 states that have published a gender breakdown of vaccination rates, more women have been vaccinated than men in all of them, according to Kaiser Health News. The disparity is in part because vaccinations were initially offered to healthcare workers and the elderly, groups that are disproportionately composed of women. But it also likely reflects longstanding patterns of men engaging in riskier behavior and paying less attention to their health than women, experts say. “Unfortunately, it’s not terribly surprising to see that there’s gender differences in uptake for vaccinations,” said UC Riverside medical sociologist Richard Carpiano. Joshua Cleary Ferrer said the health department would focus on picture: Here, 153 of every targeting vaccine messaging 100,000 women have died at men and improving access from COVID-19, while 289 to the vaccine. The vaccine of every 100,000 men have. But while 44% of women in L.A. County have received at least one dose of See Men on pg. 3