(dramatic upbeat music) - [Lorraine] The threat posed by some variants of COVID-19.

- And that is a highly transmissible strain is also a more lethal strain.

- [Lorraine] Connection between masks and stress for grocery store workers.

- And a lot of them felt verbally threatened, sometimes even physically threatened.

- [Lorraine] An update on key legislation passed at the Capitol.

- I imagine we will be here for, at least another month, if not longer.

(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to Arizona 360, I'm Lorraine Rivera.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Across the country and in Arizona, distribution of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine is on pause.

This is the CDC and FDA look into reports that a handful of recipients developed blood clots.

That revelation kicked off our discussion with Dr. Joshua Labaer, Executive Director of ASU Biodesign Institute.

How did this happen given that clinical trials had already occurred?

- Right, so they there've been six reported cases of blood clots that have happened within a couple of weeks of the vaccine.

Probably worth mentioning that it sounds a bit similar to what has been observed with the AstraZeneca vaccines.

Both of which happened to be adenovirus delivery systems.

Keep in mind that these are really rare events.

There've been six cases reported in almost 7 million people receiving vaccines.

That rate of event is so low you would not pick it up in a clinical trial.

It's the kind of thing that you could only pick up if you're monitoring very carefully all the outcomes in all the doses that you deliver.

And so they've obviously deployed the vaccine, almost 7 million times.

And so they picked up this kind of rare event.

- There are somewhere north of 220,000 people in the State of Arizona who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

What should they be looking out for if they're hearing this news and they're concerned?

- Right, so this, so what the observation here is in primarily younger women, sort of the 18 to 44 year old range, something in that ballpark.

And they get there, they get these blood clots.

So it's something to look out for in that population.

As I mentioned, it's a very rare event, probably also important to keep in mind that in that same age group where there were six reported events nationwide, there were 700 people in Arizona who died from COVID.

So the COVID is much more common a killer than the blood clots - You and your colleagues at the Biodesign Institute up at ASU have recently discovered a new variant of the Coronavirus.

How concerned are you?

- So yeah, Eva Lim and his team have identified a variant that has a mutation in the spike protein that is similar to what's been observed in the South African variant that may allow it to evade some of the vaccine immunity.

There have been some data to suggest that even in real-world terms, people who get variants like this may still get infected by COVID-19.

Now a couple of things to remember though, this particular variant has not been observed frequently.

There's only been about 17 or 18 cases to my knowledge, so far in Arizona, much less common, far less common than the UK variant, which is becoming more dominant in our State and which does respond well to the vaccines.

Also really important to remember that even if are people can get infected with the virus with the vaccine, they still don't have that output.

For the most part, people who've been vaccinated, even with variants that have this mutation still do not get severe disease or die from it.

- What do you make of Arizona's current case rate and the fear that another surge is coming?

- So it does look like the numbers are starting to creep up in Arizona.

We are starting to see a slow but nonetheless kind of day over day rise in cases.

So we do have to keep a very close eye on that.

Certainly in other parts of the country, there has been the beginnings of a surge, Michigan in particular but some parts of the Eastern seaboard are also starting to see a rise in case numbers.

Probably my biggest concern in Arizona is the growing dominance of the UK variant.

The so-called B.1.1.7 variant, which we do see rising rapidly in Arizona.

And I think will soon become the dominant strain in our State.

And that is a highly transmissible strain.

It is also a more lethal strain than the older variant that we had in Arizona.

And so we really do have to watch that and the best advice here is to get out and get vaccinated.

And when you're out in public to wear masks and follow all of the recommendations we've repeated over time about physical distancing and all that stuff.

- As people continue to follow all those measures, they want to move on and they would like to know why, in some cases, the vaccine isn't preventing against the virus.

So they're at a loss, where is that balance in achieving the public health but also a slowly starting to return to normal practices?

What do you recommend?

- So, right, so what the vaccine is really good at and I mean, real good at is preventing severe outcomes.

So if you personally have been vaccinated, the risk to you to get a severe outcome is very low.

The vaccine does reduce by far the risk of getting the virus but it doesn't eliminate it entirely.

And that's why we recommend mask wearing so that you don't become an unwitting carrier of the virus to somebody else.

Now, of course, once we get to that herd immunity, once we get most, everybody vaccinated, then we don't have to worry about that so much.

And then we will be able to get back to no mask wearing and public events and going back to restaurants and even going to concerts.

- Dr. Joshua Leabaer from ASU Biodesign Institute.

Thank you for your analysis.

- Thank you, take care.

- As masking up goes from being a rule to recommendation, results can vary.

Arizona 360 heard firsthand from residents across Pima County about what drives whether or not they decide to wear a mask.

- I think it's very important to wear a mask.

- There was a time where it was needed to where everything was in a panic.

Last Spring, when nobody knew what was going on.

But when you look at the numbers, I just don't think it's necessary.

- Since I don't have the shots yet.

I think it's good to wear it.

- It's the best way that I can offer other people protection from coronavirus.

- I think that people should do what they want.

- I wear one out of respect for businesses when I go into business.

But as you can see, when I'm walking outside on the streets, I'm not gonna wear a mask.

- There are some businesses that don't require it and I'll go with that.

- Our customers, our clients, and yes, our team and our staff will wear masks.

- It not only protects us but it also protects our residents here in our town.

- I will continue to wear one even though I've been fully vaccinated.

- I would like to think that everyone around me also would still wear a mask.

- We know firsthand what it's gonna cost.

- I trust my own inner authority.

- I trust the City of Tucson more and the Health Department more than Governor Ducey.

- I think that whatever the governor does preempts any local authority.

- I don't know, I follow the local mandates because that's the community I'm in and the people that I know.

- I think I trust my local government.

- It's very confusing to know what the right thing is.

And I think that people hold on to different opinions fiercely.

- I think at the end of the day, we just need to do what we think matters to us and what we feel safe doing.

- The issue of mask wearing, the ability to choose and how those choices affect others have captured the attention of sociologists at the University of Arizona.

We heard from two about their research.

Beginning with Dr. Jim Shockey, Shockey analyzed national data that tracked how people have behaved during the pandemic and how their ideologies weigh in.

- I'm tempted to say, I think it's a lot, but again, I think it's complex.

I think there's probably about 10% of the population from what I'm finding based upon survey data that is strongly inclined to not wear masks, to not keep physical distance, to maybe not maintain appropriate hand hygiene because of their political beliefs, because their belief that we live in a free country and they shouldn't have to wear a mask in public.

10% is pretty small but 10% on the other hand is pretty large when you're thinking about the consequences and the degree of spread that could result from 10% of the population doing absolutely nothing.

- Your work will be featured in a discussion with the American Sociological Association this Summer.

How do you hope that will inform future discussions?

- Well, I think that an increasing number of social scientists are paying attention to the behaviors.

I look at the literature and I don't see a great deal of information where sociologists, psychologists, certainly political scientists maybe have more in the past couple of years because of the politics of this country, but social science, hasn't paid a whole lot of attention recently to mask wearing, to physical distancing and so forth things, that are incredibly important to us and are increasingly part of our culture.

No one did this, no one would have thought two years ago that we could have essentially stopped the country and everybody routine would be wearing a mask.

How can we maintain the momentum of appropriately trying to prevent disease spread in this country?

And frankly, around the world, it's going to be very easy after we all get vaccinated.

After things start to settle down to go back to our old ways.

So we have to find a way as a culture, as a society to try to avoid backsliding and keeping some of the momentum that we have.

- You are optimistic that this will improve our behavior in society, though you are concerned that this wasn't perhaps enough to tilt us in that right direction.

- I think that if we continue to wear masks, we maintain physical distance, we go out cautiously in the public settings and we all maintain good hand hygiene.

I think that we can go a long way to reducing this sort of thing in the future.

If we, if it comes back every year, which we don't know, it could be a routine annual outbreak just like the flu has been.

We don't know, but if we have learned anything through this, hopefully it will allow us to ramp up more quickly next time that we won't start out as slow as we did last March and April and May in through the Summer.

And that we'll be able to learn from our mistakes.

And I do think the bulk of us will do that.

- Okay, Dr. Jim Shockey from the UA School of Sociology, thank you.

- Thank you.

- Businesses that require masks often include grocery stores but customers don't always follow the rules, putting employees at risk of exposure unless they act as enforcers.

Dr. Brian Mayer, whose research involved surveying workers about their concerns says either position can take its toll on their mental wellbeing.

- All the way back in July, 2020, we launched a survey.

We called it, the Arizona Frontline Worker Project.

And that asks grocery store workers primarily to talk to us about how they were doing in their workplace, right?

There was a lot of uncertainty in the Summer.

And then we just finished up with another round of that survey in February.

And what that tells us is that most, let's call it about 60% of those workers feel safe at work but that means about 40% still do not and they're very anxious, there's signs of depression as well as high levels of stress that are still continuing in that population.

- Businesses are private companies.

So it's up to the employer to help enforce some of these requirements like wearing a mask or physical distancing.

Do they feel supported, the grocery store workers?

- Not at all.

That was the number one thing we heard loud and clear, was that lots of workers reported encountering difficult, agitated, angry customers.

And a lot of them felt verbally threatened, sometimes even physically threatened.

But when they were telling us those stories, it was always accompanied by, "I wish management would do something to support me."

And so, even though we know today that grocery stores still have signs saying, that masks are required social distancing is requiring, it's not being enforced and workers are really left to their own devices to figure out how to navigate those difficult situations.

And it's stressful and it's damaging to their mental health.

- Did your report find anything about why employers are hesitant?

I imagine it probably has something to do with the bottom line, but also not creating an uncomfortable environment inside a grocery store.

- Right, I think the question comes down to responsibility and so you can see both sides of the coins.

And so we didn't get to talk to any employers.

We're just listening to the voices of the workers.

But if you think about the situation, what does a store manager, what does a company policy wants?

Do they want their worker to have to confront someone who's going to get physically violent with them about wearing a mask?

And the answer is probably, no, right?

Which is worse.

And that's a really difficult situation to be in for those companies and lacking federal, lacking State policy on how best to manage that, they've really been left to themselves.

And we see this very uneven application of, "Do I have to wear a mask in the store?

"What if I don't want to?

"What if a worker asks me to, what do I do as a customer?"

And it's similarly puzzling for those workers in terms of how do they sort of protect themselves.

- The workers that you surveyed, how did they feel about having to wear a mask or gloves for their own personal protection?

And then of course, vaccines came into the picture here.

- Sure, so going all the way back into the July, one of the surprising things that we've found is, a worker's sense of safety isn't really based on those physical things, having to wear a mask themselves, having partitions put up at checkouts, having signage, those things were important.

What was most important was having access to regular safety training, which I think speaks to this question of management and enforcement as well as being able to tell customers to follow the right policy.

- You mentioned that your survey took place in July which was well into the pandemic.

Anything in your research show that their feelings had evolved over time?

- A couple of things did change.

One was sort of the fear of COVID seems to have gone away, at least partially, replaced again by sort of this fear of interacting with difficult customers.

We also saw more folks not willing to get vaccinated.

So we asked a hypothetical question, "If the vaccine was made freely "and conveniently available to you, "how likely would you be to get it?"

And that number went down by about 10%.

Those that felt that they would be strongly likely to get it remained the same but those were undecided tended to move towards being opposed to vaccination.

And that was surprising.

- Did they offer any reasons for coming to that decision?

- We did ask, "What would be a reason "that you would get vaccinated "and what would be a reason "why you wouldn't get vaccinated?"

The number one reason why they wouldn't get vaccinated was fear about possible side effects.

- And finally, Dr. Mayer, you mentioned side effects like anxiety.

I mean, that can be detrimental to a workplace.

And these are critical jobs that these individuals are performing.

Looking into the future, what does that tell you about safety in the workplace and is it sustainable for people who are managing these issues to be at the grocery store to service everyone else?

- I don't think these current levels of mental health distress are sustainable at all.

What needs to be done is we need better guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration with cooperation from the CDC so employers know what is required of them, should they enforce mass policy.

So hopefully we learn from this pandemic and provide these employers, from large to small with clear guidance on how to do that.

And I think that would be beneficial to the workers there that they can know what management is expected to do and trust in that, that's beneficial for customers that they know what to expect when they go into a store and that'll make the lives easier of these companies in terms of what policies they need to have in place.

- Okay, thank you for your insight, Dr. Brian Mayer, the Director of Undergraduate Studies at the School of Sociology at the University of Arizona.

- Thank you.

(bright music) - At different times, the pandemic put the brakes on a lot of services, but not Tucson's Public Transportation System, Sun Tran kept operations going with some adjustments.

Tony Banjara reports on how Sun Tran continued to serve passengers and overcome financial setbacks.

- [Tony] The Sun Tran public transit system was founded in 1969 and has grown steadily over the decades.

Today, it encompasses the bus system, Sun Van for the disabled and the Sun Link Streetcar Service.

The bus has covered more than 40 routes in the Metro Area which prior to the pandemic carried about 50,000 passengers each day, like Joella Gonzalez.

- I'm satisfied with it, I really am.

- [Tony] Gonzalez has a driver's license, but no car.

So this is her main way of getting around, pandemic or not.

- It means everything to me because either I walk or take the bus, I don't wait for nobody.

I ride every day, every day.

- [Tony] From where to where?

- From Green Valley into Tucson.

I gotta take the shuttle and the bus and then back.

So yes, a long day.

- [Tony] In fiscal year 2018.

From July 1st of 2017 to June 30th of 2018, Sun Tran provided more than 15,200,000 rides.

In fiscal year 2019, that number had dropped by about a million to over 14 million rides.

But in fiscal year 2020, which ended last June and was impacted by the coronavirus, rides had gone down again to about 12,300,000.

- Most systems in the country lost 40, 50, 60% of the ridership.

Seattle lost 70% of the ridership.

We had an initial drop of about 40% but now we've recovered to the point there we're within about 15% of where we were pre-pandemic.

And there's only about 8% of the transit systems nationally that are closer to their, returning to their full service.

- [Tony] And Tucson has been doing that while not charging any fares.

That decision was first made by the Mayor in council in March of 2020.

- [Steve] And at that time then as part of the safety protocol, we moved to rear door boarding so that we could provide better safety for our employees.

And they continue to be fare free today.

In February, they actually voted to extend the fare-free system through the end of this fiscal year.

- [Tony] That's June 30th of this year.

It costs the system about $700,000 a month in uncollected fares.

But federal funds have kept the wheels turning so far.

- I think it's good.

It's convenient right now.

'Cause you don't have to pay.

- [Tony] Sun Tran requires wearing masks, which is authorized by the Federal Transportation Security Administration.

It doesn't answer to County or State policies about masks.

- It don't bother me, we gotta take precautions.

- I don't mind wearing a mask when I'm on the bus or just out roaming around.

I was smoking, I had it down there for a minute.

I've seen people get cross with bus drivers and for what?

- [Tony] Sun Tran general manager, Steve Spade says, "There has been a learning curve for everyone "in public transportation.

"Moving forward, this will require new maneuvers "and adaptations."

- We've been through a lot of things in transit.

Whether it's snow storms, blizzards, floods, hurricanes.

Those kind of things only last a few days or a week.

The fact that this has been so prolonged has, I think, what's made it really hard.

And I know our folks had done this for over a year now and it's been, it's a real testament to them, how hard they work.

(slow music) - Governor Ducey signed the Bill this week that legalizes sports betting in the State, just one of dozens signed into law this Legislative Session.

We checked in with Arizona Capitol Times reporter, Julia Shumway to discuss significant events at the legislature.

Let's begin with a headline of the week, expanding gambling in the State of Arizona to include sports betting.

Proponents say this pumps at least a hundred million dollars into the State of Arizona.

What was some of the kickback that delayed the vote?

- So there was a lot of trouble just getting this Bill up 40 votes in the Senate and part, because one very powerful Senator, David Gawon from Sierra Vista who's the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee tried for a while to hold up this Bill which is the priority for the Governor in exchange for getting some things that are a priority for him including increasing per diem payments, the daily allowances that lawmakers get to cover their costs of commuting to Phoenix or allowing for historic horse racing which is betting on horse races that have already happened.

The Governor didn't want either of those.

There's a standoff for a few weeks, but finally this week, this Bill came to the Senate floor and within a few days, Governor Ducey had signed it.

- I mean, what you're describing as political theater, this is if you vote for this, I'll give you this.

Is that what this came down to?

- Yes, absolutely.

- All right, I wanna talk about another topic that came up this week that is really causing some controversy, a Bill about sex education.

And it looks like at this point, parents will have to give the green light for a school to teach their child things about gender identity, what's the latest?

- So right now you still have the opportunity as a parent to opt out of sex education and a number of Republican lawmakers want to change that to requiring parents to opt in this Bill.

Which is waiting for a signature or veto from the Governor as late as, it needs to happen by Tuesday, this Bill would also potentially prohibit any acknowledgement of sexuality, homosexuality or gender identity and other classes.

You might not be able to learn about say, Harvey Milk being the first elected gay official.

You might not learn about homosexual themes in reading materials.

And it's unclear just how far this would reach.

There were a number of parents of gay and trans youth standing outside as the Governor prepared to sign his sports betting Bill this week trying to urge him to veto this other Bill that they say will have a really bad impact on their children and potentially others.

- As legislators start to wind down, let's talk about something that has also kind of fizzled out, it seems.

Legislation over voting.

We saw this in other States across the country.

Did it gain any traction in Arizona this session?

- It gained quite a bit of traction, but right now as we're talking, it's unclear what the future of a number of these bills might be.

There are quite a few that are still waiting for debate or votes in their second chamber.

Although that could happen at any point between now and when lawmakers call it a session and adjourn, sine die.

So one thing that we did see in the past few weeks was the business community really coming out and condemning these Bills, the law that just passed in Georgia and Bills on the move in other States.

It does seem that Republicans in the legislature holding back a little, they don't want to pass anything too big while there's so much attention on it but these Bills could always come back.

We did sign, the Governor did sign one Bill that would ban the use of private funds for elections.

This is targeting something that a few counties and the Secretary of State accepted private funds to do voter outreach when the legislature did not come through with the funding they had requested.

- And time is truly of the essence, because they usually start to wind down session to sine die, are they targeting late April, May or should I say, we're moving into June on this one?

- Don't make any vacation plans, is probably the best answer for that.

They are supposed to wrap up their session within a hundred days and we are coming right up on that hundred day mark.

But I imagine we will be here for, at least another month, if not longer, part of it's that there's just so much money to spend or to give away in tax cuts.

And when there's more money to divvy up, there's a lot more people who want a piece of it and the session tends to drag on.

- And we'd be remiss if we didn't mention COVID-19, looking back, you've been there every single day whether it be virtually or outside the Capitol, how did that impact discussions this session?

- It's been, it's definitely a very different Capitol this year.

So there's very limited public presence and the Senate most days, it is just me there as a reporter and I'm stuck up in the gallery, I can't even go onto the floor and talk with people because they replaced their press tables with Zoom screens for Senators.

There aren't members of the public there.

So if there's, even if they're passing Bills that would normally bring out, say the Red for Ed t-shirts and have people pack this gallery, you don't see that presence.

And so it's a very different, more subdued session.

If you look in some ways, when you look on video, it looks like it's a normal year now because most Republicans in the legislature have done away with their face masks.

And if you can get a screen, that's just them.

It's almost a semblance of a normal year, just with fewer people around.

- Julia Shamway, thank you for your insight.

Joining us from the Arizona Capitol Times.

- Thank you.

- That's all for now.

Thanks for joining us.

To get in touch, visit us on social media or send an email to arizona360@azpm.org and let us know what you think.

We'll see next week.

(upbeat music)