Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

listen live donate
listen live donate
listen live
donate
  • News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
    Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
  • Podcasts & Shows
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
    Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 

‘I Feel Your Frustration’: In Podcast, State Surgeon General Gets Personal About Pandemic

Saturday, February 27, 2021 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
download audio
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Photo by Christopher Michele via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California Surgeon General.

Photo by Christopher Michele via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

By CalMatters staff

California’s initial vaccine rollout was “slow — we were last.”

The current numbers on vaccine equity “look awful.”

The fact that so many children are still not able to attend in-person school is having “a significant impact, developmentally, mentally and emotionally.”

California’s first surgeon general, Nadine Burke Harris, didn’t flinch from acknowledging the challenges the state faces as it nears the one-year anniversary of a coronavirus pandemic that upended life as we knew it. And yet, in a revealing interview on the podcast “California State of Mind,” she was upbeat as she outlined the pivots and progress the state has made.

She opened up about her own challenges as the mother of four boys doing remote learning, and a daughter unable to visit the intensive care unit where her mother was battling a COVID-unrelated illness — what she called “the hardest thing.”

“I think that as most people would imagine, the experience of fighting this pandemic in the role of surgeon general is not separated from the experience of going through the pandemic as a mom, as a daughter, as a wife,” Harris said. “It’s been an amazing experience of trying to provide resources to keep our ICU capacity available and support our doctors and, you know, set up these accessory sites so we can maintain our health care infrastructure, and during that same period of time my own mom was in the ICU, more than once.”

The surgeon general admitted that when the Newsom administration rolled out its original vaccination plan, the overwhelming response was that the system was too complex and was slowing vaccine delivery on the ground. That was a big problem — the federal government was saying the faster a state gets its residents vaccinated, the greater its vaccine allotment — so California is continuing to make adjustments.

As for how fairly the vaccine has been distributed among racial and ethnic groups, Harris said the early numbers reflect the first two groups to be vaccinated in California — health care workers and nursing home residents — who are predominantly less likely to be from communities of color. “So there’s where we start to see those skewed numbers,” she said.

As a specialist in early childhood trauma, Harris encourages parents to watch for signs of stress, including developmental regression, difficulty sleeping and changes in appetite. What she prescribes in response: good nutrition, mindfulness, getting out in nature, and “connecting with people by whom we feel understood and recognized.”

Podcast hosts Elizabeth Aguilera of CalMatters and Nicole Nixon of Capital Public Radio also talked with two small business owners about their eligibility for the state’s new stimulus grant program.

Starting this week, “California State of Mind” will also air on radio and digital stations. Tune in to the show for your weekly digest of essential California news on Fridays at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. on CapRadio’s stations in Sacramento, Stockton-Modesto, Tahoe-Reno and Quincy. It will also air Fridays at 6:30 p.m. on CapRadio’s sister station, North State Public Radio.

Listen to the 15th episode of “California State of Mind” here. Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can follow @yourgoldenstate, @CalMatters and @CapRadioNews on Twitter to engage with our show every week and see the biggest California stories of the day.


Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

    More about Coronavirus

  • NIAID-RML via AP

    Coronavirus In California: Latest Updates And Resources

    The coronavirus has impacted nearly every aspect of life in California and around the world. Here are resources and all our coverage at CapRadio and NPR.

 Coronavirus

More Stories

AP Photo/Tran Nguyen

Second plane carrying migrants lands in Sacramento. Here’s what we know.

June 5, 2023

Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / CalMatters

Tax on short-term rentals like Airbnb could fund California affordable housing

June 2, 2023

Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP

California expands partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to make free books available to kids under 5

June 8, 2023

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    •  
      (916) 278-8900
    •  
      (877) 480-5900
    •  Contact / Feedback
    •  Submit a Tip / Story Idea
  • About

    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Stations & Coverage Map
    • Careers & Internships
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Press
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile Apps
    • Smart Speakers
    • Podcasts & Shows
    • On-Air Schedules
    • Daily Playlist
    • Signal Status
  • Connect

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen Live

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2023, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.