A jury awarded a record $12.6 million to woman fired from Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Read the full storyJury Awards Record $12.6 Million to Woman Fired for Refusing COVID Vaccine
Tag: vaccine
Dutch Court Orders Gates to Face COVID Vax Victims; Jury Awards $1 Million Each to Fired Unvaxxed Workers
A year after promoting passports for the COVID-19 vaccines he helped fund as a way to reopen the global economy, philanthropist Bill Gates complained about their lackluster performance against infection and transmission starting with the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. He even called Omicron “a type of vaccine” whose natural immunity could protect unvaccinated groups.
Read the full storyFDA Approves of Leaky Mpox Vaccine That May Cause Heart Inflammation in ‘About 1 in Every 175 Persons’
Late last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a monkeypox vaccine that is known to “shed from the vaccination site” and cause heart inflammation in about 1 in every 175 persons.
ACAM2000, made by Emergent BioSolutions, was developed to prevent monkeypox disease in individuals determined to be at high risk for mpox infection. But according to the FDA’s own medication guide for the product, the risks of the vaccine appear to outweigh the benefits.
Read the full storyEarliest COVID-19 Vaccine Recipients Wrote in Tens of Thousands of Injuries Left Off CDC Surveys
The earliest recipients of newly authorized COVID-19 vaccines, including healthcare workers, wrote in tens of thousands of adverse events related to the heart, ears, reproductive system and other conditions not listed as checkboxes in a federal active monitoring smartphone app.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the past two months turned over 780,000 “free text” entries from V-safe, the agency’s vaccine-safety monitoring system, under a January order by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by Freedom Coalition of Doctors for Choice.
Read the full storyCommentary: Moderna Came Up with a Vaccine Against Vaccine Dissent
Finances at the vaccine manufacturer Moderna began to fall almost as quickly as they had risen, as most Americans resisted getting yet another COVID booster shot. The pharmaceutical company, whose pioneering mRNA vaccine had turned it from small startup to biotech giant worth more than $100 billion in just a few years, reported a third-quarter loss last year of $3.6 billion, as most Americans refused to get another COVID booster shot.
In a September call aimed at shoring up investors, Moderna’s then-chief commercial officer, Arpa Garay, attributed some of the hesitancy pummeling Moderna’s numbers to uninformed vaccine skeptics. “Despite some misinformation,” Garay said, COVID-19 still drove significant hospitalizations. “It really is a vaccine that’s relevant across all age groups,” she insisted.
Read the full storyMinnesota Woman Denied Unemployment After Refusing Vaccine Asks SCOTUS to Review Case
A Minnesota woman who was fired for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine and then denied unemployment benefits has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case, arguing that her First Amendment rights were violated.
“Religious belief is intimate and differs substantially among Americans. The promise of religious liberty in the First Amendment is that such differences may persist without punishment from the state. That promise is being broken in Minnesota,” James Dickey, senior counsel for the Upper Midwest Law Center, said in a petition filed with the court Monday.
Read the full storyResearch Finds COVID mRNA Vaccine Makes ‘Pfrankenstein’ Proteins, but Feds Seem Unfazed
Three years after federal regulators granted emergency use authorization to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines for older teens and adults, mainstream scientific research is confirming suppressed warnings from two years ago that the novel technology has a problem with “translation fidelity.”
Translation: it tends to make a bunch of wacky “off-target” proteins whose effects and severity are unknown.
Read the full storyResearchers Question One-Size-Fits-All COVID Booster Strategy as FDA Circumvents Advisors
Federal health officials face a growing hurdle in their quest to persuade Americans of all ages and risk profiles to get updated COVID-19 boosters: strong proponents of vaccination.
From New England to the Bay Area, researchers voiced concerns to mainstream science and health publications in recent days that the one-size-fits-all model may be backfiring.
Read the full storyRFK Jr. Hauls in Millions in Campaign Cash, but Lags Far Behind Biden’s Billion-Dollar Campaign
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be a long-shot candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, but he appears to be hauling in the kind of campaign cash that could give President Joe Biden and his re-election efforts some heartburn.
The Kennedy Jr. campaign last Friday announced its first million-dollar day just hours before the close of the critical July quarterly reporting period.
Read the full storySwitzerland Not Recommending COVID-19 Vaccine, Including for High-Risk Individuals
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health said no COVID-19 vaccination is recommended this spring/summer season, including for people at high risk of becoming seriously sick from the virus.
“Nearly everyone in Switzerland has been vaccinated and/or contracted and recovered from COVID-19. Their immune system has therefore been exposed to the coronavirus,” the Swiss health agency said.
Read the full storyGeorgia House Committee Votes to Keep COVID-19 Vaccine Proof Prohibition
A bill that would permanently extend Georgia’s prohibition on local governments requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for services was approved by the House Public Health Committee on Monday.
Read the full storyOhio U.S. Rep. Joyce Proposes End to Head Start Vaccine Requirement
U.S. Representatives Dave Joyce (R-OH-14) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-1) are seeking an end to the COVID-19-vaccine mandate affecting workers at Head Start facilities.
The federal Head Start program was founded in 1965 and provides numerous early-learning, wellness and parenting-support services to families with children ages five and younger who receive public assistance or have incomes below the poverty line. The program serves more than 800,000 children nationwide including 33,241 in Ohio and roughly 1,500 in Joyce’s district.
Read the full storyWisconsin Senator Johnson Presses FAA on Vaccine Effects
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is asking the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide information about the effects that COVID-19 vaccines may have had on numerous aviation professionals and the agency’s response to those effects.
Johnson wrote a letter to FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen and Office of Aerospace Medicine Federal Air Surgeon Susan Northrup last week requesting an investigation into the conditions of commercial pilots Greg Pierson, Bob Snow and Wil Wolfe. The three were all in their 50s or 60s and the latter two received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while Pierson got the Pfizer shot. The senator also wants investigations to determine vaccine effects on agricultural pilot Cody Flint and air-traffic controller Hayley Lopez, respectively 33 and 29, who both obtained the Pfizer jab.
Read the full storyFeds Adapting AI Used to Silence ISIS to Combat American Dissent on Vaccines, Elections
The government’s campaign to fight “misinformation” has expanded to adapt military-grade artificial intelligence once used to silence the Islamic State (ISIS) to quickly identify and censor American dissent on issues like vaccine safety and election integrity, according to grant documents and cyber experts.
Read the full storyThough the Military Vaccine Mandate Is Overturned, Unvaccinated Troops Still Risk Reprisal
While the Biden administration has officially reversed the military COVID-19 vaccination mandate, servicemembers who escaped discharge for refusing the vaccine still risk retaliation and could be booted anyway, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Ongoing class action lawsuits thwarted the military’s efforts to discharge thousands of troops who objected to the mandate before the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law Friday, overturned it. However, servicemembers may risk reprisal even after the deadline passes for the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement the repeal, staining the records of thousands of servicemembers for the remainder of their careers, experts explained to the DCNF.
Read the full storyMarsha Blackburn Commentary: Firing Servicemembers over the COVID-19 Shot Threatens Our National Security
President Biden said it himself: the pandemic is over. So why is his Department of Defense (DoD) willing to look at the brave men and women who volunteered to serve our nation and say, “you’re fired” – all because they chose not to get the COVID-19 shot?
In the United States, the number of new servicemembers joining the military has reached a record low. Every single branch struggled to hit its recruitment goals this year, including the U.S. Army, which fell 10,000 soldiers short. At this rate, they will face a deficit of 21,000 soldiers next year. The National Guard also missed the mark by about 12,000 recruits, and expects to discharge up to 14,000 more by 2024 for refusing the COVID-19 shot.
Read the full storyOhio Think Tank Wins Lawsuit for D.C. Tavern Against COVID Mandate
A Columbus, Ohio-based think tank this week prevailed in an administrative case on behalf of a Washington, D.C. tavern owner against D.C.’s since-rescinded mandate forcing indoor establishments to require that patrons wear masks and submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
The Buckeye Institute handled the matter for Eric Flannery, a Navy veteran and co-proprietor of The Big Board, a bar and grill operating three blocks east of Washington’s Union Station. Despite the city’s mask and vaccine-card rules, Flannery announced that “everyone is welcome” at his restaurant. This winter, the D.C. Department of Health (DOH) officials responded by suspending the tavern’s operating and liquor licenses, ordering the place to temporarily shutter and slapping Flannery with a $2,000 fine.
Read the full storyNational Guardsman with Religious Objection Given COVID-19 Vaccine Instead of Flu Shot
A former National Guardsman who sought a religious exemption to the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate was given the mRNA shot instead of an inoculation for the flu “accidentally,” according to the service.
After refusing the COVID vaccine multiple times and requesting a religious exemption to the mandate, former Maine National Guard Specialist Mathew Bouchard was given the mRNA shot instead of the flu vaccine months before he was to leave the service, he told Just the News on Thursday.
Read the full storyUS Senator Ron Johnson Presses Feds for Source of Vaccine at Military Bases after Whistleblower Allegations
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) is pressing the Pentagon, Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for answers after multiple whistleblowers raised concerns about the provenance of a Comirnaty-labeled COVID-19 vaccine shipped to military bases.
On Monday, nine military officers from across all the branches sent a whistleblower report to Congress regarding a COVID vaccine appearing at Coast Guard medical clinics. Key GOP senator presses feds for source of vaccine at military bases after whistleblower allegations
Read the full storyNew Government Spending Will Benefit Top Biden Adviser’s Consulting Clients
White House Senior adviser Anita Dunn has consulted for companies and trade groups that have benefited or stand to benefit from federal funding and is being forced to recuse herself from matters involving them, according to a financial disclosure.
Dunn has consulted through the public affairs firm SKDK during the past two years for the likes of Pfizer, AT&T, Micron and the American Clean Power Association, according to a filing reported on by CNBC Friday. Dunn, who founded the SKDK in 2004, is recused from working on issues related to past clients, a spokesman for the White House told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Read the full storyTennessee College Announces It Will Continue COVID-19 Safety Protocols
Citing a recent surge of COVID-19 cases across the country and in the Volunteer State, Tennessee State University (TSU) recently announced that it will continue to put COVID-19 safety protocols in place for the upcoming fall semester beginning on August 22nd.
Read the full storyCOVID Expert Deborah Birx Says She ‘Knew’ Vaccines ‘Were Not Going to Protect Against Infection’
A former high-ranking federal COVID-19 adviser admitted this week that she “knew” the coronavirus vaccines “were not going to protect against infection,” a stunning declaration that comes roughly 18 months after the shots were first rolled out to the general public.
Dr. Deborah Birx, an infectious disease expert and a regular presence at the Trump White House during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, made the admission during an interview with Fox News’s Neil Cavuto on Friday.
Read the full storyPresident Joe Biden Tests Positive for COVID-19
President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday morning, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms. He has begun taking Paxlovid,” she said in a press release.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Feds Pile Up Vaccine ‘Adverse Event’ Reports as They Decry Scaremongering Elsewhere
Since the Food and Drug Administration authorized the first vaccines for COVID-19 in late 2020, the government and much of the media have insisted that the medicines developed in record time are safe and effective. Those who raised questions about them have been routinely dismissed as conspiracy theorists.
Read the full storyCommentary: Airlines Feel the Pinch as Boomer-age Pilots Refuse the Vax Mandate
Remember the mandate to fire anyone who wouldn’t be coerced into getting vaccinated craze that consumed much of the first year of the Biden presidency?
Joe Biden is really hoping that you won’t.
Airline disruptions and cancellations are part of the ongoing “supply chain” crisis which is playing havoc with the U.S. and world economy. Sure would be nice to have some of those pilots, flight attendants and ground crew back at the airports now, wouldn’t it? United Airlines alone claimed that 2,200 workers who received religious or medical exemptions from the vaccine would be placed on administrative leave or put into roles which did not touch customers.
Read the full storyTennessee-Based Nurse Freedom Network Hosting ‘Healthcare Homecoming’ Featuring Dr. Peter McCullough
The Tennessee-based Nurse Freedom Network is hosting a Healthcare Homecoming Saturday and Sunday, June 11 and June 12 that will focus in restoring patients’ rights and truth in medicine and will feature the world-renowned Dr. Peter McCullough.
The free event, held Saturday from 3 to 8 p.m. at The Shed, located at the Factory in Franklin, Tennessee and will include around two dozen speakers and entertain. A fundraising dinner with Dr. Peter McCullough that will support the Nurse Freedom Network will be held Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Historic Maple Lawn in Brentwood.
Read the full storyModerna Recalls More than 750,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses After ‘Foreign Body’ Found in Lot
The pharmaceutical company Moderna on Friday recalled 764,900 doses of its Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine after a “foreign body” was found in a vial.
The contaminated lot was manufactured at a contract manufacturing site, ROVI, in Spain, and was distributed in mid-January 2022 in Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Spain, according to a company press release.
Read the full storyCommentary: Pharma Giant’s Mandate Makes Ex-Workers of Vaccine Objectors
Mandy Van Gorp was confident that her employer of 18 years, Eli Lilly and Company, would treat her fairly when she objected to its company-wide COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The pharmaceutical giant had promised to exempt employees with valid health or religious objections to the policy and she believed she had had both.
Despite presenting a doctor’s note in support of her exemption, citing an auto-immune disease, the company denied her request for a medical exemption. To add injury to the insult she felt, she tested positive for COVID-19 the day after receiving her rejection letter. She then appealed for a six-month deferral on grounds of the positive test. Lilly also denied that request. When she then raised her religious concerns, Lilly said she had missed the application deadline – a deadline that had lapsed several weeks before Lilly replied to her initial accommodation request.
The “toughest night was when we were sitting at the dinner table and my 12-year-old was sobbing, hysterically begging me to get the vaccine so I could keep my job,” recalled Van Gorp, a 42-year-old sales representative and mother of three. “I had to explain that my choice was not about money and that I felt God was leading me not to follow a mandate. It’s hard to explain that to a 12-year-old.”
Read the full storyAnalyses of CDC Data Show Massive Spike in Excess Mortality in Millennials After Vaccine Mandates
Former BlackRock Portfolio Manager and Investor Edward Dowd is accusing the United States government of democide after an analysis of Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data showed an 84 percent increase in excess mortality in millennials in the fall of 2021.
During a recent appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room Pandemic, Dowd said that an insurance industry expert analyzed the CDC’s aggregate data and broke down the number of mortalities by age and created baselines for each age group. All age groups experienced excess mortality, especially millennials, he said.
Read the full storyFederal Court Rules in Favor of Navy SEALs Who Refuse to Take Vaccine
On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of a group of Navy SEALs who defied the U.S. Navy’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, dealing one of the biggest blows yet to the military mandate.
As reported by The Daily Caller, the court’s ruling was similar to a previous decision by a district judge in Fort Worth, Texas in January, who ordered a temporary halt to the Navy’s vaccine mandate while the case moved forward. The lawsuit was filed by a group of 35 Navy SEALs who all sought religious exemptions from being forced to take the vaccine.
The appeals court ruled that the Department of Defense failed to prove that the vaccine mandate served “‘paramount interests’ that justify vaccinating these 35 Plaintiffs against COVID-19 in violation of their religious beliefs.” The court noted that despite the Navy claiming to have a “compelling interest” in forcing all sailors to get vaccinated, it “undermined” its own mandate by preparing unvaccinated SEALs for deployment while the pandemic was still ongoing.
Read the full storyColumbus and Surrounding Cities’ Mayors Signal Potential End to Indoor Mask Mandate
City leaders from Bexley, Whitehall, Worthington, and Columbus met with Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts and Franklin County Health Commissioner Joe Mazzola recently to receive an update on the status of the spread of COVID-19 in the community, according to a statement by the city of Columbus.
Currently, each city has local orders in place requiring the wearing of face coverings indoors, however, Dr. Roberts reported that both COVID-19 transmission rates and hospitalizations have continued to decline dramatically. If current trends continue, each city expects to consider lifting local face covering requirements in the coming weeks, according to the press release.
Read the full storyCriticism Mounts Against Federal Policies Tracking COVID Vaccine Religious Exemption Requests
Fifty-five federal agencies have issued rule changes to track employees and others who request religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Critics of the tracking say the practice is discriminatory against people of faith.
Read the full storyCommentary: America’s Assault on Reason and Logic
“In critical moments,” said Star Trek’s master of logic, Mr. Spock, “men sometimes see exactly what they wish to see.”
Apparently so. The truth of this statement hit me like a bolt of lightning recently when a friend relayed his experience at a medical clinic. It seems the ignorance and lack of rational thinking in our medical system is even worse than I imagined.
It all started when my friend John, a man in his mid-60s, went to the doctor to fill out forms and answer questions before undergoing an in-house surgery. After about 30 minutes of taking his history, the nurse asked him if he had taken the COVID vaccine. John replied that he had not—a fact he had already told the office secretary when he made his appointment—but that he was prepared to take tests to see if he was positive for the virus.
Read the full storyNew CDC Data Say Vaccine Booster Effectiveness Wanes Sharply in Months After Dose
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week released data showing that effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine booster wanes markedly in the months following that shot, though the agency still said uptake of the booster is important for fighting against the virus.
The agency said in a press release that studies showed effectiveness against COVID-19 emergency department and urgent care incidents “was 87% and 91%, respectively, during the 2 months after a third dose [of the booster],” but that it “decreased to 66% and 78% by the fourth month after a third dose.”
The CDC said that “protection against hospitalizations exceeded that against ED/UC visits” with the shot.
Read the full storyTennessee Stands Says New COVID-19 Law Not Being Followed, Urges Bill Lee to Act
The Williamson County-based Tennessee Stands published an online column on their website Sunday that called on Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee Department of Health to enforce an already-existing state law enacted late last year. Gary Humble, of Tennessee Stands, referenced House Bill 9077 and its equivalent Senate Bill 9014.
Read the full storyProfessor Pushes Students at Virtual ‘Die-In’ to Use ‘Radical Activist Tactics’ for Stricter COVID Policies
KSU Covid Safety Coalition, a student-led organization at Kent State University, held a virtual “die-in” protest Tuesday to pressure the school administration to adopt stricter COVID-19 guidelines.
The virtual protest occurred over Microsoft Teams and featured students and faculty voicing their opinions on the university’s response to the pandemic.
Natalia Cruz, a third-year student at Kent State, spoke first about the “sorry excuse of a response and plan in regards to the COVID 19 pandemic.”
Read the full storyMichigan Orders Nursing Homes to Offer on-Site COVID Boosters
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) ordered nursing homes statewide to provide on-site COVID-19 vaccines to residents within 30 days.
“With the Omicron variant rapidly spreading across our state and cases of COVID-19 continuing to remain high, we want to make sure our most vulnerable Michiganders are protected from the virus,” MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel said in a statement. “The COVID-19 vaccine is our best defense against the virus, and we want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to get up to date.”
Under the order, nursing homes must offer on-site doses of COVID-19 vaccines to residents who are not up to date as of Jan. 20, 2022. The order doesn’t force residents to get vaccinated.
Read the full storyMajority of Democrats Favor House Arrest for the Unvaccinated, Nearly a Third Want Them to Lose Custody of Children: Poll
Democrats were more than twice as likely as other voters to favor harsh government restrictions being placed on unvaccinated people’s lives, ranging from fines to loss of child custody, according to a recent poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports and the Heartland Institute.
Forty-eight percent of Democratic voters said the government should be able to fine or imprison those who publicly question the COVID-19 vaccine’s efficacy, while only 27% of all voters supported the proposal, according to the poll results.
Fines against those who refuse to take the vaccine were viewed favorably by 55% of Democratic voters and just 19% of Republicans, and 59% of Democrats favored a policy requiring unvaccinated people to stay inside their homes at all times, except for emergencies, the poll found. Seventy-nine percent of Republicans opposed a house arrest policy for unvaccinated people.
Read the full storyAwaiting Supreme Court Decision, Iowa OSHA Blocks Vaccine Mandate for Businesses
Iowans are waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees. In the meantime, they’re moving ahead with actions of their own.
Iowa Department of Education Communications Director Heather Doe told The Center Square in an emailed statement that since Iowa is a state-plan state, the Iowa Division of Labor typically enforces workplace safety in Iowa instead of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The state is required to notify OSHA whether it will adopt a given Emergency Temporary Standard or provide notice it will not adopt it because its standards are as effective as the new federal standard. Iowa needed to respond to the standard by Jan. 7.
Iowa Labor Commissioner Rod Roberts did so, saying that the Hawkeye State will not adopt or enforce the mandate.
Read the full storyVaccine Mandate Critics Urge Highest Court to Defend Individual Freedom
President Joe Biden’s series of controversial federal vaccine mandates faced their first day before the U.S. Supreme Court Friday, and critics are urging the justices to side with personal freedoms over what they call executive branch overreach.
National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, the first of two cases heard by the court Friday, considers a vaccine mandate on private employers with 100 or more employees. The second case, Biden v. Missouri, challenges Biden’s mandate on health care workers.
“Today was one of the most important moments in our nation’s history,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, which has joined the legal challenges to Biden’s mandate push, said. “The Biden administration, and many on the far left, believe that the federal government has the right and the authority to dictate personal and private medical decisions to the American people, and coerce their employers into collecting protected health care data on their employees. This overreach is a fundamental violation of the American spirit of freedom and personal responsibility and represents the left’s assault not just on common sense, but our constitutional rights.”
Read the full storySupreme Court’s Conservative Justices Seem Skeptical of Biden Admin’s Workplace COVID Vaccine Rules
The Supreme Court on Friday hearing oral arguments on two major Biden administration efforts to increase the country’s vaccination rate against COVID-19 — starting with the mandate requiring large-scale employers to require workers to be vaccinated or tested.
In the first case, the National Federation of Independent Business, et al., Applicants v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, et al.
OSHA is more specifically requiring businesses with 100 or more workers either require them to be vaccinated or et tested weekly and wear masks while working, with exceptions for those who work outdoors.
Read the full storyJoe Rogan, Rand Paul Begin Exodus from Big Tech in Mounting Backlash over Censorship
Prominent personalities including podcast host Joe Rogan and Republican Sen. Rand Paul have announced plans to leave major social media platforms amid growing backlash over censorship.
Rogan announced late Sunday that he had started an account on alternative social media site Gettr, posting remarks critical of Twitter on the platform.
“Just in case shit over at Twitter gets even dumber, I’m here now as well,” Rogan wrote. “Rejoice!”
Read the full storyAs Omicron Surges, Understaffed Hospitals Ease Mandates, Rehire Unvaxxed Employees
After unvaccinated healthcare workers were fired for refusing to comply with vaccine mandates, some are being asked to return to work due to staffing shortages amid increasing COVID-19 cases.
In Canada, for example, Alberta Health Services announced on Dec. 23 it will allow unvaccinated healthcare workers to resume their jobs starting Jan. 10 if they submit to frequent testing. AHS cited expected increased demands on the health system due to the spread of the Omicron variant for the policy change. As of the date of the announcement, 1,400 healthcare workers who were not fully vaccinated had been placed on unpaid leave.
AHS said that unvaccinated workers will be responsible for paying for and coordinating their COVID tests, which they must complete no more than 48 hours prior to their shifts.
Read the full storyTwitter Admits ‘Error’ in Suspending Just the News Founder John Solomon’s Account over COVID Facts
Twitter late Thursday acknowledged that Just the News founder and Editor-in-Chief John Solomon’s account was “suspended in error” this week over a post about a COVID-19 vaccine.
The respond follows an appeal earlier in the day by Solomon after his account was suspended Tuesday for his tweet linking to the article “Pfizer to continue distributing version of COVID-19 vaccine not fully approved by FDA.”
Read the full storyVersion of Pfizer Vaccine that Predates FDA Approval Still Being Distributed in Pennsylvania
Of the three companies producing COVID vaccines in the U.S., only one—Pfizer Inc.—has yet gained full FDA approval, and at least some Pfizer vaccines currently being administered in Pennsylvania come from inventory that predates that approval.
On Aug. 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a Pfizer shot to prevent severe COVID-19 cases. Like Johnson & Johnson and Moderna, Pfizer had been a manufacturing vaccine to fight the coronavirus under federal emergency-use authorization (EUA). The injection produced by Pfizer under EUA is known as Pfizer BioNTech and the company’s post-FDA approval vaccine is called Comirnaty (pronounced kuh-MUR-nit-ee).
Read the full storyBiden’s Head Start Vaccination Requirement Could Have Detrimental Effects on Montana’s Rural Students
President Joe Biden’s administration put a policy in place that requires all employees in a federal education program to get the COVID-19 vaccine, which program directors argue will have a detrimental effect on Montana’s programs that assist underserved communities in the state.
If enforced, the requirement will have a negative impact on Montana’s Head Start program, according to program directors and information provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation by the state’s Department of Justice (DOJ). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with the White House, has mandated the vaccine for teachers and staff who work for Head Start and Early Head Start programs nationwide.
Head Start includes preschool programs for 3 and 4-year-old children, while Early Head Start programs are for infants, toddlers and pregnant women to “promote the school readiness of children ages birth to 5 from low-income families by supporting their development in a comprehensive way,” according to its website.
Read the full storyNew Study Suggests Natural Immunity Is More Protective over Time Than COVID-19 Vaccine
According to a new study out of Israel, the immunity individuals experience after recovering from COVID-19 is better than the protection experienced by individuals following an immunization against the virus.
Scientists who looked at the country’s health database over a number of months found that COVID infections and severe illness were higher among individuals who were vaccinated than those who recovered from the illness – those with natural immunity.
Read the full storyTexas Sen. Cruz Introduces Bill Prohibiting Vaccine Mandate for Minors
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation that would prohibit the federal government and any entity at the federal, state and local level that receives federal funding, including school districts, from requiring COVID-19 vaccines for minors.
“Parents should have the right to decide what is best for their children in consultation with their family doctor,” he said. “My view on the COVID-19 vaccine has remained clear: no mandates of any kind.
“President [Joe] Biden and his administration have repeatedly ignored medical privacy rights and personal liberty by pushing unlawful and burdensome vaccine mandates on American businesses, and now they are preparing to push a mandate on kids by pressuring parents – all without taking into account relative risk or the benefits of natural immunity.”
Read the full storyTennessee General Assembly Organizes for the Third Extraordinary Session Focused on COVID-Related Issues
The two chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly met Wednesday in floor session for less than an hour to organize for the Third Extraordinary Session of the 112th General Assembly, which will focus on COVID-related issues.
Special Session III was called on October 19 by Tennessee’s Lt. Governor and Speaker of the Senate Randy McNally and Speaker of the House of Representatives Cameron Sexton in response to the written request of two-thirds of the members of each house, even as legislators were engaged in the Second Extraordinary Session called by Governor Bill Lee taking up $884 million in taxpayer giveaways for Ford Motor Company’s $5.6 billion electric vehicle project to be located on the Memphis Regional Megasite known as “Blue Oval City.”
Read the full storyThe City of Phoenix to Hand Out $100 Gift Cards to the First 1000 Takers of COVID Vaccine
The city of Phoenix will incentivize receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at city-sponsored vaccination clinics by handing out $100 gift cards.
The Phoenix City Council approved the pilot program to increase vaccination rates. The program will be funded by federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Read the full story