COVID Booster Shots Are Coming. Here's What You Need To Know

Pien Huang, Sydney Lupkin & Carmel Wroth, NPR

Health officials are preparing to roll out COVID-19 booster shots in the United States this September. According to a plan announced Wednesday, all U.S. adults who received a two-dose vaccine would be eligible for an additional jab of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine eight months from when they got their second one.

This week's announcement raises numerous questions about how urgently Americans need boosters, how the rollout will go and more. Here's what we've learned so far.

Finding Facts During the Pandemic

Immigrant Families Fund

Millions of immigrants are working on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, risking their health and well-being every day to keep our society going. And yet, many immigrants were excluded from federal stimulus aid. The COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund is providing financial support to immigrant families who have been left out of the federal government’s relief efforts. Immigrants may be eligible to receive a $500 grant to help cover whatever is most pressing in their lives.

More details here.

Little Free Library at Hart Park

Free Book Exchange. Take a book.
Leave a book. The best books are shared.

This week PowerCorpsPHL installed a new Little Free Library at Hart Park (1300 block of N. 4th St.). The Little Free Library was granted through the Fairmount Park Conservancy.

Some of Hart Park’s youngest friends helped stock the first round of books.

Friends of Benson Park Meeting

ATTENTION UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMANTS!!

Click here for "What is ID.me?"

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (DLI) is notifying certain individuals through their PUA dashboards that they must go through identity verification with ID.me to continue their PUA claim.
Click here for ID.ME information for PUA.

Click here on "How to I verify my identity when filing a new Unemployment Compensation (UC) claim at Pennsylvania DLI?"

Philadelphia Plastic Bag Ban!! Prohibición de bolsas plásticas en Filadelfia!!

New Mask Requirements in Philadelphia Effective August 12, 2021

Do I have to wear a mask or not? Philly’s new COVID mandate, explained
Michaela Winberg, BillyPenn

Philly businesses and institutions have been given a choice between two options.
1) Everyone masks: They can require all customers and employees to wear masks inside. If a business goes with this one, everybody has to wear masks inside the establishment — even if they’re fully vaccinated.
2) Everyone vaxxed: Alternately, a business can require all customers and employees to be fully vaccinated. The businesses that choose this route will be expected to ask patrons to see their vaccination card at the door. People who can’t prove they’re vaccinated won’t be allowed inside. Under this option, because everyone would be vaccinated, no one would have to wear masks on site.

What if I lost my vaccine card?
Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us, and the health department is streamlining the process to get a replacement. If you lost your vax card, call 215-685-5488 or email covid@phila.gov, and staff will help verify your address and info, and then work with you to get a new card.

How do I get vaccinated?
Visit Philly’s vaccination directory to find a clinic near you.

Read the rest of the details here.

ModestNeeds grants

At Modest Needs, we all know from experience how hard it is to ask for help, even when you really need it. We're happy that you've found us, and we'll do everything we can to find a way to help you. If you're brand new to Modest Needs and would like to apply for a grant, just follow the three simple steps here.
We know that, sometimes, applying for help can be confusing. To make this process simpler, we've written a 'Frequently Asked Questions' page just for applicants. This page will tell you everything you need to know about how Modest Needs works, from the kinds of grants we can and can't make to detailed information about our application process. You can access our FAQ for applicants by following this link.

More details here.

Wheels to Work!

Planting Potatoes @ La Esquina!

438 W Jefferson St

La Esquina gardeners will be putting lots of baby potato plants in the ground this Saturday (Aug. 14) and could use a little help. If you would like to help on Saturday or any time in the future or have questions about how to get involved with this lovely - and very productive! - neighborhood farm stop by or reach out: laesquinagarden@gmail.com

After a pandemic delay, Philly is finally opening 12 community composting sites

Michaela Winberg, WHYY

Philly is about to take a stride forward in reducing its impact on the environment. Starting this summer, some community groups will finally have a free composting option — after the pilot program was delayed a full year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Department of Parks and Recreation is opening its first 12 community composting sites, where members of those groups that applied to be part of the pilot can drop off food scraps and other organic waste at no cost. Also about to launch: Compost pickup at about 30 city rec centers, kicking off in September.
Streets Department officials say they don’t have the capacity to bring back widespread composting. But local advocates think this is a solid start. Now, some Philly prisons are composting, and they won an EPA award for diverting more than 44 million tons of food waste from landfills. But other than that, if a Philly resident wants to make a difference by composting, they’d have to do it in their backyard, or pay a monthly fee to a private company like Bennett Compost or Circle Compost.

More here.

What you need to know about the City’s plastic bag ban

Bria Spivey, Department of Commerce, Office of Sustainability, Office of the Mayor

August 1, 2021 - Retail establishments are required to have posted at all points of sale conspicuous signage informing customers that single-use plastic bags and non-recycled content paper bags will no longer be provided by the establishment as of October 1, 2021.

Details here.

SKCP COMMUNITY ZONING MEETING (VIRTUAL)

SKCP's RCO will host a virtual Community Zoning Meeting [pdf] on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at 6:30 PM.

We will review the following project:

6.30pm 1300 N Howard Street

We will have time for questions during the meeting but we ask that questions be submitted ahead of time.

Please review the project, submit questions, and register here for the meeting.

If you prefer, you may also sign up by calling South Kensington Community Partners' office at215-427-3463 and leaving a message with your name and number. SKCP will provide reasonable accommodation to any neighbor that requests additional assistance with joining the meeting or otherwise submitting feedback on the projects.

REPORT 311@southkensingtoncommunity.org

Vaccination @ Cousin's Supermarket Berks

Vaccination Opportunity: July 24th, 10 am-1pm Cousin's Supermarket @ Berks 1900 N 5th Street

SECOND DOSE ALERT:
Did you know that being FULLY vaccinated can protect you from the Delta variant. People who are only partially vaccinated, which means they only have one dose of Pfizer or Moderna, are only 33% protected. Just getting that second dose raises your protection up to nearly 90% Have you or do you know someone that has missed their 2nd vaccination dose. If so, you can receive your second dose regardless of how much time has passed without having to receive the 1st dose again. More information and the registration link can be found here.

Latest COVID Vaccine News

Latest COVID Vaccine News

• Get a vaccine without an appointment - Starting July 7 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays (8am to 1:30pm) at the following Ambulatory Health Annex locations:
  °Health Center 3 Annex (4219 Chester Ave, 19104)
  °Berks Street Annex (2001 W. Berks St, 19121)
  °Health Center 6 Annex (301 W. Girard Ave, 19123)
  °Health Center 10 Annex (2230 Cottman Ave, 19149)

• For more information about vaccine clinic dates or to schedule an appointment, visit www.phila.gov/vaccine or call 3-1-1.

Health Center #6 Vaccination entrance on 3rd Street

Philly officials say even fully vaccinated people should again wear masks inside public spaces

Philly officials say even fully vaccinated people should again wear masks inside public spaces
Stacey Burling and Sarah Gantz, Philadelphia Inquirer

The recommendation is meant to "normalize" mask wearing and protect children too young for vaccines. As the highly contagious delta variant fuels COVID-19 case spikes among the unvaccinated in many parts of the country, Philadelphia health officials said Thursday they now “strongly recommend” that everyone — including the fully vaccinated — wear masks inside public places. James Garrow, a spokesperson for the city Department of Public Health, said officials are concerned about a small increase in hospitalizations among children too young to be vaccinated. Vaccines are only approved for people 12 and older. National statistics also point to trouble ahead.
Read here.

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Updated Mask Recommendations Due to the COVID Delta Variant
James Garrow Board of Health, Department of Public Health

Countries around the globe, and states throughout the United States, are seeing the number of people infected with COVID rise as the Delta variant spreads. Even here in Philadelphia, we’re seeing more people test positive. Because of the rapid increase in cases here and around the country, and because we are seeing hospitalizations rise among children in Philadelphia, we are now strongly recommending that everyone mask while indoors in places where you do not know that everyone is vaccinated.
Read here.

SEPTA Summer 2021 Travel Survey

We would like to hear from you in our Summer 2021 Travel Survey. If you’ve taken one of our Travel Surveys in the past, you'll notice some differences with the new survey, but the goal remains the same: To help us improve our service and keep our passengers and employees safe.

View here the results from the SEPTA Winter 2021 COVID-19 Travel Survey

Click here to participate.

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Webinar: SEPTA is the WAY TO GO BACK
Aug 4, 2021 12:00 PM

Tune-in to hear what SEPTA is doing to meet your safety, security, and service needs through this recovery and beyond - including cleaning protocols, mask requirements, new fare options, and schedule changes.
Speakers:
°Leslie Richards, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer
°Scott Sauer, Assistant General Manager Operations

Click here to register.

Report a Pothole!!