Hospital employee vaccine mandate upheld: https://www.kake.com/story/44820860/us-court-upholds-hospital-employee-covid19-vaccine-rule-in-test-case .
National Guard may replace unvaccinated hospital employees: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/26/new-york-national-guard-unvaccinated-health-workers-governor-kathy-hochul .
Vaccinating kids critical to pandemic end: https://news.yahoo.com/covid-vaccines-for-younger-kids-could-be-the-secret-to-ending-the-us-pandemic-090008822.html . Secret? With such a highly contagious virus, we must continue to vaccinate to raise herd resistance. Children will be protected, as well as their family at home.
WSJ: COVID orphans: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-children-orphans-parent-deaths-million-11632675021 . The staggering number of deaths globally created millions of orphans who were struggling with poverty before being orphaned. I say “millions” because we know the COVID reporting seriously understates total deaths globally.
WSJ: Will the WHO COVID origin study get back on track?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-seeks-to-revive-stalled-inquiry-into-origins-of-covid-19-with-new-team-11632657603 . No. China does not want further investigation.
Booster primer: https://news.yahoo.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-booster-shots-for-covid-19-090020866.html .
Multi-dose vials cause vaccine waste: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-discarding-millions-covid-vaccines-one-cause-multi-dose-n1279901 .
GOP becomes the party of COVIDiots: https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/573970-america-isnt-first-its-far-behind-and-studies-point-to-republicans . There is plenty of data to show that the unvaccinated listen to their (GOP) party leadership on vaccines and have lower levels of education than the US average. While the article frames this as two groups, they have a lot of overlap. As more evidence, this article on West Virginia provides the latest COVIDiot update there: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/26/politics/west-virginia-covid-analysis/index.html (updated content added today).
The ongoing attempts at anti-COVID do-it-yourself: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/anti-vaxxers-are-gargling-iodine-in-the-latest-ill-advised-attempt-at-diy-anti-covid-care-say-reports/ar-AAOPKC1?li=BBnb7Kz . Speaking of COVIDiots, some portion of the US population refuses a safe vaccine to attempt COVID prevention based on Internet advice. Really, how stupid can you be? The pandemic may prove that the US has the highest percentage of complete idiots on the planet. More evidence: https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2021-09-26/covid-19-pandemic-cut-life-expectancy-by-most-since-world-war-two-study . I don’t disagree with the conclusions here. However, as readers know, most COVID data has a number of problems, including intentional underreporting and misattribution of cause of death. Also, as the disease, vaccinations and therapeutics are all evolving rapidly, it will take another couple of years to sort the long-term effects on mortality.
Civil rights complaint over Idaho care rationing: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-discrimination-race-and-ethnicity-idaho-4a152d4f4f809bfb6588b9025c400d6b . One wonders if this lawsuit will proceed as care rationing will apply for a limited period of time relative to current litigation time frames. However, the standards arguably represent a potential threat if they set precedent for the future.
It is relatively common for doctors to prioritize younger patients when care must be rationed. The reason is indeed remaining expected lifespan. However, there is an obvious (if morbid) logic to this approach.
WSJ: A tense week coming on Capitol Hill: https://www.wsj.com/articles/congress-heads-into-tumultuous-week-pressured-by-converging-deadlines-11632657601 .
Israelis claim US booster decision supports their own booster program: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-middle-east-public-health-coronavirus-vaccine-9ee6e5d46d29c08bf7610b39713b025e . Well, maybe in the sense that the US made a similar decision based on our review of the Israeli data. But in terms of science, there is no new data or scientific study here.
WSJ: US supply chain problems continue: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cargo-delays-are-getting-worse-but-california-ports-still-rest-on-weekends-11632648602 . Placing blame on the California ports seems like a juvenile reaction to a complicated situation. However, this may cater to the Journal’s conservative, facts-don’t-matter readership.
WSJ: The walls are closing in on Evergrande: https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-evergrandes-electric-vehicle-business-warns-of-cash-squeeze-11632547657 .