NYC teacher vaccine mandate enjoined by federal judge: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-new-york-courts-education-c5dd62f249ff600cf034924be734d8f8 . As the rule was going into effect Monday, one imagines that almost every person willing to be vaccinated has already done so. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-mandate-for-new-york-city-teachers-blocked-by-federal-judge-11632589910 .
Natural immunity challenge to vaccine mandates: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-new-york-courts-education-c5dd62f249ff600cf034924be734d8f8 . In my view, this argument lacks force. The weight of evidence currently is that vaccination is superior protection to prior infection. As the article notes, the Israeli study showed people with natural immunity receiving a single dose of the vaccine received increased protection. Also, schools require proof of vaccination for many illnesses; prior infection does not create an exception. It is hard to see how that policy should change for COVID, where reinfection can occur, there are asymptomatic cases, and the virus is extremely contagious.
The debate over doctors who refuse office care to the unvaccinated: https://news.yahoo.com/medical-ethicists-criticize-doctors-refusing-to-treat-the-unvaccinated-202958236.html . Note that the doctor here is providing telehealth consultation for longtime patients until they find another provider. The doctor is trying to lower the risk to other patients and staff from an office visit by the unvaccinated. That is a treatment and protection issue for her patients. She believes she should protect the responsible from the risk created by the unvaccinated. I would add that the unvaccinated are people who refuse to follow her medical advice.
WSJ: The global vaccination gap: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-gap-between-rich-and-poor-nations-keeps-widening-11632578312 .
Sad but true: Boy chooses vaccine on his 12th birthday after losing his father, who died of COVID last year: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-jersey-boy-gets-vaccinated-his-12th-birthday-after-losing-n1279815 .
Biden administration pandemic messaging: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/25/health/us-coronavirus-saturday/index.html . The messages here seem confused. Yes, “we will not boost our way out of the pandemic”. But the point of boosters is to reduce severe illness and mortality among the most vulnerable. Mandates have become necessary because not enough people have chosen to take the vaccine. Also, children under 12 remain ineligible for vaccination.
WSJ: The 5 major issues in reconciliation discussions: https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-budget-bill-talks-intensify-here-are-the-five-biggest-issues-dividing-democrats-11632567600 .
Post-mortem on the Arizona “election audit”: There’s nothing there, but facts don’t matter to the OJ conspiracy theorists: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/24/trump-election-falsehoods-arizona-report-514275 . Meanwhile, fact checkers are pounding the crap out of the audit: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-joe-biden-elections-arizona-voting-ec714036dccf6adb09966561776cc046 .
The audit is a microcosm of OJ’s life and presidency. Inexperienced incompetents make false claims, are unable to prove anything, and say it’s proof there’s a deeper conspiracy yet to be unearthed. Some portion of this crowd still believes Obama was born in Kenya.
I take comfort from the fact that the second OJ Capitol rally’s attendance declined from 10,000 on January 6 to 400: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_States_Capitol_attack . I chuckle that the educated have found witty ways to strike back in headlines: https://www.thedailybeast.com/arizona-audits-big-reveal-trump-a-bigger-loser-than-first-thought . But the educated must unite to turn out this GOP cancer on American democracy. The educated must focus on keeping as many of these dishonest power seekers out of office as possible. The heavy lift for 2022 will be to keep Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, and additionally defeat Greg Abbott and Ron Costello-DeMentis.