Tackling COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

03/18/21 • 24 min

Maybe Elamin’s situation hits home for you, too: he’s been getting WhatsApp messages from his mom with questions about COVID-19 vaccines, and some of those concerns appear to be based on misinformation floating around the internet. On a week that saw plenty of headlines about the AstraZeneca vaccine in particular, Rosie and Elamin lay out the need-to-know facts about the updated recommendation for seniors getting the shot here in Canada, and why some European countries have chosen to temporarily pause their rollout. The two also look ahead to this week's Conservative Party convention — happening virtually, of course — and break down why the pressure is on Conservative leader Erin O'Toole to prove he can lead the party to power.

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Party in the U.S.A: COVID relief, plus the future of immigration

President Joe Biden has his biggest moment yet — the passage of his $1.9 trillion dollar COVID-19 relief bill. It’s one of the largest expansions of federal social support in the U.S. in decades, bringing aid to tens of millions of people. But another area where President Biden had promised to distinguish himself from his predecessor — the immigration file — is proving more difficult. He’s promised to usher in a new, more humane system and erase Trump’s controversial legacy on immigration policy. But with a burgeoning border crisis and no consensus even within the party, the reform he’s promised could be out of reach. Elamin is joined by Kadia Goba, a Congress reporter for Axios, and freelance journalist Tanvi Misra who covers immigration in Washington D.C.

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Party in the U.S.A: To be Asian in America

The Atlanta shooting attack on March 16 marked a culmination of a year of increased racism, discrimination and violence directed against Asians and Asian Americans in the U.S. In this episode, we look at the long history of discrimination against Asians in America, the complications of "Asian-American" as a political term, and what this moment means for mainstream politics and grassroots organizing. Elamin is joined by Kim Tran, an anti-racist researcher and consultant based in Oakland, and Arissa Oh, a professor of history at Boston College.