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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2020)
September 16, 2020 Page 9 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. O PINION A Portland demonstrator is arrested during a Black Lives Matter protest on Aug. 30. Complaints on Police Tactics Reviewed Portland’s Citizen Review Committee is now reviewing if police are using appropriate tactics for crowd control during protests. Crowd control tactics used by Portland Police responding to recent and past protests are being investigated by citizens serving on Portland Citizen Review Committee. The workgroup is seeking feedback directly from the community. For more information, email crc@portlandoregon.gov or visit the Citizen Review Committee website at portlandoregon.gov/ipr/53654. Keep Politics Out of COVID-19 Vaccine Unpaid Rents Interference in process erodes public trust M arc h. M orial Maintaining the Amer- ican public’s trust in the Food and Drug Admin- istration is vital. If the agency’s credibility is lost because of real or perceived interfer- ence in the process to approve a vaccine for the coronavirus, people will not rely on the agency’s safety warnings. Erosion of public trust will leave con- sumers and patients doubting public health recommendations, making them less like- ly to enroll in clinical studies or to use FDA-regulated products when they should to maintain or improve their health. This is problematic under normal circumstances but especially if we are to ultimately over- come COVID-19. Protecting the FDA’s independence is essential if we are to do the best possible job of protecting public health and saving lives. It’s no secret that the White House be- lieves the approval of a vaccine or treat- ment for COVID-19 would be a boon for the President’s reelection campaign. From the moment the novel coronavirus first reached America’s shores in January, the president has regarded it first and foremost as a political inconvenience. Without evidence, he has portrayed any- thing that delays the “magic bullet” he be- lieves will end the pandemic – or at least appear to end it – as the result of a conspir- acy to damage his candidacy. This includes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ap- provals process. If we have any hope of developing a safe, effective vaccine that brings the virus under control, it depends entirely on the FDA’s resolve to resist this shameful po- litical pressure. In an encouraging move, eight top FDA officials and doctors lasts week published an op-ed in USA Today pledging that all “decisions will continue to be guided by the best science” and maintain indepen- dence from political pressure. Their statement came a day after execu- tives representing nine companies working on coronavirus vaccines pledged to submit the vaccines for FDA approval only after they’re shown to be safe and effective in large clinical studies. “We believe this pledge will help en- sure public confidence in the rigorous sci- entific and regulatory process by which COVID-19 vaccines are evaluated and may ultimately be approved,” said a state- ment signed by the CEOs of AstraZeneca, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna, Inc., Novavax, Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Sanofi. It’s worth noting that many of the reg- ulations that still govern the FDA’s drug testing process were developed in the wake of the thalidomide scandal of the early 1960s. The drug, taken by pregnant wom- en, killed thousands of babies in the womb and caused at least 10,000 others in 46 countries to be born with severe deformi- ties. The U.S. escaped this tragedy largely due to the determination of FDA medical officer Frances Oldham Kelsey who fas- tidiously blocked its approval while drug company officials maligned her as a bu- reaucratic nitpicker, according to the New York Times. Widespread vaccine use has helped eliminate deadly and disabling diseases in the U.S. The last natural outbreak of small- pox – which killed three of every 10 people who contracted it – was in 1949, and the disease was declared eliminated in 1952. Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, although outbreaks among the unvaccinated are triggered by infect- ed travelers bringing the virus from other countries. Rubella, a typically mild illness that can cause serious complications for pregnant women and their babies, was de- clared eliminated in the U.S. in 2004. Prior to 1955, polio permanently paralyzed thou- sands of children every year. No cases of polio have originated in the U.S. since 1979. I have faith that one day, coronavirus can be added to this list. But only if we can main- tain faith in our public health institutions. A poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation released this week found that 62 percent of Americans are concerned that a COVID-19 vaccine will be rushed to the market before it’s ready because of political pressure from the Trump administration. A smaller majority, 54 percent, said they wouldn’t take a vaccine that is approved before Election Day. It’s hard to estimate how much dam- age the Trump administration has done by allowing politics to override responsi- ble public health policy. The FDA and the pharmaceutical companies must invoke the spirit of Frances Oldham Kelsey and stand as a firewall against his interference. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer for the National Urban League. Grow during COVID-19 c ontinued froM P age 4 pandemic, and since May, between 12% and 15% of Portland renters have been un- able to make their monthly rent payments. Among “Class C” properties, which tend to be older buildings and located in Port- land neighborhoods farther east, the rate of non-payment during the pandemic has been closer to 20%. It’s estimated that unpaid monthly rent totals have grown to between $22 - 28 mil- lion in Portland and are expected to grow to $120 - $125 million in another 12 months. And with disparities based on income, em- ployment, and housing, the impacts from missing rent have a substantially greater impact on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities who are disproportion- ately renters and overrepresented in service industry occupations, where they are most vulnerable to the health and economic im- pacts of the pandemic, officials said. “Even prior to the pandemic, too many Portlanders were just one medical crisis, or family emergency, or job loss away from homelessness. We need to protect renters and we also need to make sure that local property owners who rent their homes to Portlanders are not foreclosed on because these circumstances make it impossible for them to pay back their loans,” said Mayor Wheeler. “These are temporary measures, but ensuring Portlanders stay in their homes may be the most important and ef- fective action we can take right now.”