26251 replies to this topic

[amor de cosmos]

Only fully vaccinated guests are welcome on Grouse Mountain this winter
The requirment starts on opening day of ski and snowboard season and applies to anyone born in 2009 or earlier
https://www.cbc.ca/n...inter-1.6215588

Ottawa sending more help to N.W.T. to deal with COVID-19 surge
Support includes 10 specialists from Canadian Red Cross
https://www.cbc.ca/n...surge-1.6216242

The NHL has suspended San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane 21 games for submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccination card.
https://www.cbc.ca/s...games-1.6215684
 

Robert Willis, the hacker who helped build a massive, US-based disinformation network and was profiled in a recent Ars Technica feature, has decided to name names. In a blog post today, Willis confirmed he worked for Mike Adams, who goes by "the Health Ranger" at the site NaturalNews.com. This matches the documentation previously seen by Ars Technica in the course of reporting the piece.
 
Willis had joined NaturalNews.com in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election and helped the site build out a network of anonymized websites that looked independent but secretly promoted the "health" information and pro-Trump political writings of Mike Adams and NaturalNews.com.
 
NaturalNews has long been linked to disinformation. In 2019, The Atlantic named it one of the top producers of anti-vax content on the Internet. The site has touted homeopathy, urged "natural" remedies for things like cancer, and warned about "chemtrails." NaturalNews content has been banned from Facebook, and the site has been called a "powerful conspiracy empire."
 
In his initial conversations with Ars, Willis made it a condition of publication that we not publish the real name of the site to avoid possible legal problems for Willis. (In the article, the site was referred to as Koala Media.) But after the article published, he changed his mind.
 
"After reading many comments on the Ars article, I realize that many people feel that I am protecting the organization by not naming them," Willis wrote today on his personal site. "I understand that some feel that this is seen as a ‘half-assed whistleblow’, and that was not my intention. I believe naming them is the right thing to do, and I hope that the community supports me on this."

https://arstechnica....aturalnews-com/

‘Make a gesture of humanity’: Pope Francis urges drug makers to release Covid-19 vaccine patents
https://www.statnews...pfizer-moderna/
 

“I love the Aussies. Their history of rugged independence is legendary; I’ve always said Australia is the Texas of the Pacific,” Cruz tweeted alongside a clip of Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner discussing COVID-19 rates and fines for not being vaccinated. He continued: “The Covid tyranny of their current government is disgraceful and sad. Individual liberty matters. I stand with the people of Australia.”
 
Cruz’s post received widespread attention online, including a killer response from Gunner.
 
"Hey Ted Cruz, g'day from the Northern Territory in Australia. Here are some facts. Nearly 70,000 Texans have tragically died from COVID. There have been zero deaths in the Territory. Did you know that?" Gunner shared in a tweet. "Vaccination is so important here because we have vulnerable communities and the oldest continuous living culture on the planet to protect. Did you know that?"
 
Gunner emphasized the importance of vaccinations to protect the vulnerable and ended with a mic drop criticizing Cruz’s lack of knowledge not only of his country, but the COVID-19 vaccine.
 
"We don't need your lectures, thanks mate. You know nothing about us. And if you stand against a lifesaving vaccine, then you sure as hell don't stand with Australia. I love Texas (go Longhorns), but when it comes to COVID, I'm glad we are nothing like you."

https://www.dailykos...roasts-Ted-Cruz

Turkey gives homegrown COVID vaccine candidate as booster shot
Volunteers vaccinated with 2 shots of Chinese Sinovac gets Turkovac jab
https://www.aa.com.t...er-shot/2396652
 
Ukraine on Tuesday reported record coronavirus deaths as the country sees a surge in infections and struggles to roll out jabs to its vaccine-sceptic population.
A government tally in the ex-Soviet country whose public health service is under-resourced reported 538 deaths over the past 24 hours, the highest figure since the beginning of the pandemic.
https://medicalxpres...vid-deaths.html

Mexico to begin packaging Sputnik V vaccine in second half of November — statement
The Mexican regulator issued a permit for the emergency use of Sputnik V in the country to protect residents from the coronavirus infection in early February
https://tass.com/economy/1351105
 

Russia's second city, St. Petersburg, announced Monday it would tighten restrictions to battle a surge in Covid-19 cases, introducing a health pass to regulate access to crowd events.

From Nov. 1, people will need to present a QR barcode to get into sports and cultural events where more than 40 people are gathering, the city's deputy governor Boris Piotrovski said in a Telegram post.

Only people who have been fully vaccinated or who have had a negative Covid test in the past 72 hours will receive the QR code.

From Nov. 15, those restrictions will be extended to swimming pools, fitness centers, theatres, cinemas, museums and circuses. From Dec. 1, the measures will also include restaurants and shops.

But cafes in stations and airports will be exempted, as will pharmacies and shops selling food.

https://www.themosco...controls-a75331
 
Russia mulls non-working week after record COVID deaths
https://medicalxpres...week-covid.html

COVID incidence going up in 79 Russian regions — sanitary watchdog chief
To date, 8,060,752 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia
https://tass.com/society/1351363
 

BEIJING (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) - China reported nine new domestically transmitted Covid-19 cases for Oct 18, the highest daily tally since the end of last month, with the latest outbreak prompting two northern border areas to enforce a lockdown.

Under a national policy of zero tolerance of domestic coronavirus clusters, cities with new infections have quickly tracked down and tested contacts of infections and sealed off higher-risk areas.

Five of the nine new local cases were found in the northwestern city of Xian in Shaanxi province, and two were in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, data from the National Health Commission (NHC) showed on Tuesday (Oct 19).

Erenhot city in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, which shares a border with Mongolia, advised its 76,000 residents on Monday not to step out of their residential compounds unless for necessary matters. Since Oct 13, it has reported a total of four local cases as of Tuesday morning.

Vehicles were banned from leaving or entering the city, except for essential cars with official clearance, the Erenhot health authority said in a statement on Monday.

The city also closed indoor public venues such as cinemas, internet cafes and gyms, and suspended tourist sites as well as places for religious activities.

Ejina Banner, an administrative division in another part of Inner Mongolia, has closed all entrance and exit channels, launched a testing scheme on its 36,000 population and suspended school, local authorities said.

Ejina had found five new local cases as of Tuesday morning in the latest outbreak. All were in close contact with two patients found in Xian on Oct 17, the local authority said.

The north-western city of Xian in Shaanxi province reported five local cases for Oct 18.

The city has suspended some tourist sites to carry out disinfection, and require those arriving in the city from outside Shaanxi province to show proof of negative test results within 48 hours before they can visit tourist sites or stay at hotels.

https://www.straitst...vid-19-outbreak
 
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing to allow "mix and match" coronavirus vaccine boosting, in which people get a different additional shot to the dose they initially received, US media reported.
https://medicalxpres...ne-booster.html

Small minority of US Olympians oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandate, say officials
http://alriyadhdaily...a677ea9c28d7a8b
 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a useful new tool that breaks down rates of cases and death by COVID-19 based on vaccination status. The interactive tool shows the overall rates, as well as rates by age group, and rates based on the type of COVID-19 vaccine received (Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Moderna, or unvaccinated).
 
Currently, the data is broken down into increments running from the beginning of April until the end of August 2021 (so before and after delta hit big). All incidents are per 100,000 people. And as the data shows, while breakthrough cases are definitely a thing, the vaccines give you a much better chance against dying from the disease.
 
One example: August 15, 2021 data showed cases at their peak for the period of time this tool’s data covers. On that day there were:

• Unvaccinated: 736.72 infections per 100,000 people
• Janssen-vaccinated: 171.92 infections per 100,000 people
• Pfizer-vaccinated: 135.64 infections per 100,000 people
• Moderna-vaccinated: 86.28 infections per 100,000 people

As the CDC’s data shows, for the month of August an unvaccinated person had a 6.1 times greater chance of testing positive for COVID-19 and an 11.3 times greater chance of dying from COVID-19 than a fully vaccinated individual. The new tool is a fascinating visualization of just how much vaccines help prevent infection and disease. It’s no wonder health professionals are sharing it widely on social media.

https://www.fastcomp...izer-moderna-jj
https://covid.cdc.go...-vaccine-status
 

Powell, a four-star general who became the first Black U.S. secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died Monday from complications of COVID-19. The 84-year-old had been treated over the past few years for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that impairs the body's ability to fight infections and to respond well to vaccines.
 
The COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalization and death, and the unvaccinated are about 11 times more likely to die from the coronavirus.
 
But they are not perfect, and experts stress that widespread vaccination is critical to give an added layer of protection to the most vulnerable.
 
"The more people that are vaccinated, the less we have viral spreading in the community, the less chances of people like him getting infected to begin with," said Dr. Mangala Narasimhan, chief of critical care at Northwell Health in New York.
 
Moreover, people with weakened immune systems because of illnesses like cancer — or cancer treatments — don't always get the same level of protection from vaccinations as healthier people. Several studies have found as few as 45 per cent of people with multiple myeloma may develop protective levels of coronavirus-fighting antibodies after getting the vaccine.
 
Age also is a risk, especially months after someone is first vaccinated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tracked dips in protection, especially among older Americans who were among the first people vaccinated last winter. The reduced protection is the result of either waning immunity or the extra-contagious delta variant.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...-dead-1.6215199

It’s cheap, easy to make and in demand overseas. So why can’t this Texas-born COVID-19 vaccine break into the US market?
https://www.rawstory...ine-2655321285/
 

About half of US nurses said they may leave the profession within the next two years in a new survey.
 
In the survey of 250 nurses by ShiftMed, an on-demand staffing platform that connects nurses to healthcare facilities, 20% said they were either extremely or very likely to leave the profession within two years.
 
In total, 49% said that they were at least somewhat likely to leave. ShiftMed ran the poll between September 16 and 28.
 
Healthcare staff say they're feeling burned out and emotionally exhausted after working during the pandemic, often in difficult working environments. Nurses say they've seen more physical and verbal abuse from agitated patients, Insider's Allana Akhtar reported.

https://www.business...-survey-2021-10
 

Dennis Prager really dislikes vaccines, mandates, and masks, instead ranting about his desire to get "natural" immunity -- the kind you get from exposure and infection with COVID.
 
Well, he got his wish. During Monday's show, he reported that he was broadcasting from his house because he "tested positive last week." He reports that he was never in danger of being hospitalized. Instead of a totally free and highly effective vaccine, he chose to get treated with monoclonal antibodies (Regeneron), hydroxychloroquine and zinc. He also says he has taken a z-pack (antibiotic) and the horse dewormer, ivermectin.
 
He grotesquely bragged about how he has actually TRIED to get sick, stating that he has "engaged with strangers, constantly hugging them, taking photos with them knowing that I was making myself very susceptible to getting COVID. Which is, indeed, as bizarre as it sounded, what I wanted, in the hope I would achieve natural immunity and be taken care of by therapeutics. That is exactly what has happened. It should have happened to the great majority of Americans. "

w/vid
https://crooksandlia...is-wish-natural
 

An anti-vaccine private school in Miami, Florida, is requiring students who receive a COVID-19 vaccine to stay home for 30 days after each shot, according to local news outlet WSVN.
 
In a letter to parents, the school once again spread vaccine misinformation, falsely claiming that COVID-19 vaccines can cause "potential transmission or shedding onto others." No COVID-19 vaccines in use in the US include a live virus; there are only mRNA-based vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) and a nonreplicating viral vector-based vaccine (J&J) in use here. These COVID-19 vaccines do not cause "shedding" or pose any risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to others.
 
The school, the Centner Academy, is well-known for its anti-vaccine rhetoric and vaccine misinformation. The academy notes that it is against all vaccine mandates and does not require any immunizations for its students, citing "freedom of choice." Without evidence, it links routine, safe, and life-saving childhood vaccinations to the rise of a variety of health conditions such as diabetes and offers to help parents obtain exemptions from state vaccine requirements. Like many anti-vaccine groups, Centner plays up fears of harms and falsely suggests that there have been insufficient safety studies on vaccines. Centner's tuition ranges from $15,000 to $30,000 per year.
 
In April, Centner made national headlines after telling teachers that they would not be allowed contact with students if they received a COVID-19 vaccine. Again, the school cited entirely false claims about "shedding." Centner's co-founders, Leila and David Centner, also discouraged mask use at the school and hosted Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is well-known for spouting anti-vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories.

https://arstechnica....t-a-covid-shot/

Edited by amor de cosmos, 19 October 2021 - 08:12 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

News 1130:

B.C. lifting capacity limits for indoor, organized events Oct. 25

Indoor sporting events, symphony, concert theatres, movie theatres and other indoor events like weddings will be able to increase their capacity to 100 per cent.

The change to capacity limits does not apply to places with regional restrictions like Northern Health, Interior Health and parts of Fraser Health.

The requirement that all patrons be seated in restaurants and pubs is also being lifted. Changes are applicable where proof of vaccine status is being checked.

[Victoria Watcher]

TC:

Henry says capacity limits will remain in effect where regional orders are in place, including the eastern Fraser Valley and parts of the northern and Interior health regions.




It’s interesting they further fractured Fraser Health. When earlier they would not even split the province at all into regions for lockdowns.

What’s wrong with a portion of Fraser? Or what did they want to allow in the rest to break it off?

[Nparker]

...What’s wrong with a portion of Fraser? Or what did they want to allow in the rest to break it off?

Presumably, data shows vaccination rates are lower in the the eastern Fraser Valley. Not surprising considering this is fundamentalist country.

[Victoria Watcher]

yes that appears correct.

[spanky123]

News 1130:

B.C. lifting capacity limits for indoor, organized events Oct. 25

Indoor sporting events, symphony, concert theatres, movie theatres and other indoor events like weddings will be able to increase their capacity to 100 per cent.

The change to capacity limits does not apply to places with regional restrictions like Northern Health, Interior Health and parts of Fraser Health.

The requirement that all patrons be seated in restaurants and pubs is also being lifted. Changes are applicable where proof of vaccine status is being checked.

 

Hmmm. Infections and deaths are higher now then when the orders were introduced but it is ok to lift them? Seems like a lot of financial harm for a poorly thought out plan.

[Victoria Watcher]

I agree somewhat spanky. But I also say that now you have choice about vaccination.

I really wish we could see data about the currently hospitalized and deaths. Age, co-morbities etc. Come on, open the data.

[Nparker]

By the way we're being treated you get the feeling all deaths are occurring in otherwise perfectly healthy, fully vaccinated, 30-year-olds.

[Victoria Watcher]

Well they say that vaccination decreases severity if you get it. I think that is borne out in hospitalization stats.

But let’s see who is in hospital, in ICU, and dying.

I get the feeling it’s not mainstream youngish healthy people.

But who knows. It’s hard to even find people today that will admit obesity is unhealthy. See: Lizzo fans.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 October 2021 - 02:44 PM.

[phx]

I really wish we could see data about the currently hospitalized and deaths. Age, co-morbities etc. Come on, open the data.

 

The government says “it’s an epidemic of the unvaccinated”, and leaves the mob to rant about anti-vaxxers.

 

They would rather not say the truth: “it’s an epidemic of the under-12s and aboriginals”.

Edited by phx, 19 October 2021 - 07:33 PM.

[SimonH]

The government says “it’s an epidemic of the unvaccinated”, and leaves the mob rant about anti-vaxxers.

They would rather not say the truth: “it’s an epidemic of the under-12s and aboriginals”.

Oh dear.

[Victoria Watcher]

Conservative radio host Dan Bongino, given Rush Limbaugh’s time slot as his apparent successor, has already offered an ultimatum to his carrier over their COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

 

Cumulus Media, which syndicates Bongino’s daily show, announced more than two months ago that all employees, except those who work remotely or have a religious exemption, would be required to have at least one shot of the vaccine by Oct. 11.

 

That date has now passed and Bongino, who has already been vaccinated, has declared war, calling the mandate “unethical” and “immoral.”

 

https://www.nydailyn...y5ge-story.html

 

 

 

 

Conservative radio host Dennis Prager has Covid and claims he got it on purpose  

 

Dennis Prager says he prefers ‘to have natural immunity than vaccine immunity’

 

https://www.independ...d-b1940824.html

 

 

 

i'm a prager fan but i don't quite understand his take.  he's 73.  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 October 2021 - 05:05 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Looks as though the Southwest employee sick-out two weekends ago worked.

 

 

Southwest drops plan to put unvaccinated staff on unpaid leave starting in December

 

https://www.cnbc.com...exemptions.html

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 October 2021 - 05:18 AM.

[amor de cosmos]

Black Ball, the ferry operator, announced Tuesday that it will be back in business Nov. 8, when the U.S. reopens its land and marine borders to Canadians (at least, the fully vaccinated ones) travelling for non-essential purposes.
https://www.timescol...ov-8-1.24364895

Health authority taking over operations at Vancouver care home struck by deadly COVID-19 outbreak
All facilities managed by Little Mountain Residential Care and Housing Society to be transferred to VCH
https://www.cbc.ca/n...ntain-1.6217533

Premier Scott Moe admits Sask. could have responded faster to 4th wave of COVID-19
Province announced Monday that 6 ICU patients would be transferred to Ontario for treatment
https://www.cbc.ca/n...-wave-1.6216535
 

Antibodies in the airways quickly wane after SARS-CoV-2 infection, but vaccination results in a strong increase in antibody levels, especially after two doses, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal JCI Insight. The results suggest that having a second dose of vaccine also after recovering from COVID-19 may be important for protecting against re-infection and to prevent transmission.

"What makes the study unique is that we have looked at samples from both blood and airways, which has given us new knowledge of the local immune response where the virus infects," says the study's co-last author Anna Smed-Sörensen, docent and research group leader at the Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet. "Since it is more difficult to sample the airways, we know much less about antibody levels there than in the blood."

https://medicalxpres...dy-airways.html
 

In April 2020, as SARS-CoV-2 was first beginning to spread through New England, researchers at two hospitals in Boston — Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s — began attending deliveries in the Covid units to collect blood and placenta samples from pregnant patients who’d caught the dangerous new infectious disease. That biorepository, which has since grown to house samples from more than 1,000 people, including dozens who received either the Moderna or Pfizer Covid shots, is now helping to answer important questions about the response to the vaccines and coronavirus infection during pregnancy.
 
In two studies published Tuesday in Science Translational Medicine, the Boston-based research teams found that pregnant and lactating women mount robust antibody responses to both vaccination and infection. The encouraging data also came with some twists that offer intriguing new clues to one of the pandemic’s enduring mysteries: why Covid-19 hits male adults, children, and infants harder than females.
 
“What’s striking here is that the mothers who are carrying male babies have much lower levels of antibodies to the coronavirus,” said Akiko Iwasaki, a virologist and immunologist at Yale University who was not involved in the study. “What’s interesting about that is it means that the sex of the baby can dictate how the mother responds to a viral infection.”

https://www.statnews...research-shows/

COVID: new antibody treatment could offer up to 18 months’ protection against severe disease
https://theconversat...-disease-169783
 

Booster campaigns in wealthy countries could potentially slow donations even further. “Everybody in global health is very despondent right now,” says epidemiologist Madhukar Pai of McGill University in Montreal. “It’s almost as if the logic for giving boosters is, ‘Oh my god, we have all these millions of doses lying in our freezers; we need to use them. Let’s start giving boosters for all the people.’”
 
There are, in theory, plenty of vaccine doses (either existing or in the works) for most of the world’s people to get the primary course very soon. Experts project that 12 billion doses will have been produced by the end of 2021 and that 11 billion will be sufficient to vaccinate 70 percent of the world.
 
Even if the G7 nations—the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan—and the European Union gave boosters to 80 percent of their residents older than age 12, more than one billion doses would still be available for donation to developing countries, according to data from the analytics firm Airfinity. “I’ve never seen a scenario where [wealthy] countries don’t have a surplus,” says Caroline Casey, the company’s lead COVID analyst.
 
But one billion doses would be nowhere near enough to achieve the WHO’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the world by June 2022—and this is where widespread booster campaigns could become a problem. “I understand why a politician would like to say, ‘I want to do both’” booster campaigns and donations, says health law expert Brook Baker of Northeastern University. “But to pretend that a dose in an American arm doesn’t mean one less dose in an African arm doesn’t make sense.” On an individual level, though, an eligible person’s decision to forego a booster is unlikely to free up a dose for an unvaccinated person abroad.

etc
https://www.scientif...t-of-the-world/
 

BRASÍLIA, Brazil — A Brazilian congressional panel is set to recommend that President Jair Bolsonaro be charged with “crimes against humanity,” asserting that he intentionally let the coronavirus rip through the country and kill hundreds of thousands in a failed bid to achieve herd immunity and revive Latin America’s largest economy.
 
A report from the panel’s investigation, excerpts from which were viewed by The New York Times ahead of its scheduled release this week, also recommends criminal charges against 69 other people, including three of Mr. Bolsonaro’s sons and numerous current and former government officials.
 
The panel initially recommended in the report that Mr. Bolsonaro be charged with mass homicide and genocide against Indigenous groups in the Amazon, where the virus decimated populations for months after hospitals there ran out of oxygen. But less than a day after The Times and several Brazilian news outlets reported on those plans, several senators said that the accusations had gone too far.
 
Late Tuesday, on the eve of the scheduled release of the report, the committee removed the recommended charges of homicide and genocide, Renan Calheiros, the centrist Brazilian senator who was the lead author of the report, said just after midnight on Wednesday local time.
 
It is at best uncertain whether the report from the 11-member panel — seven of them opponents of Mr. Bolsonaro — will lead to any actual criminal charges, given the political realities of the country.
 
But in deeply polarized Brazil, it reflects the depths of anger against a leader who refused to take the pandemic seriously. The report may prove a major escalation in the challenges confronting Mr. Bolsonaro, who took office in 2019, faces re-election next year and is suffering falling popularity.
 
The extraordinary accusations appear in a nearly 1,200-page report that effectively blames Mr. Bolsonaro’s policies for the deaths of more than 300,000 Brazilians, half of the nation’s coronavirus death toll, and urges the Brazilian authorities to imprison the president, according to the excerpts from the report and interviews with two of the committee’s senators.

https://www.nytimes....-19-brazil.html
 
Putin has not got revaccinated against COVID yet — Kremlin
"He will do it when the doctors inform him that it can be done," Dmitry Peskov clarified
https://tass.com/society/1351875

Moscow declares COVID-related restrictions, distance work requirements till spring
All employers are obliged to send at least 30% of their staff to work from home starting from October 25 and till February 25, 2022
https://tass.com/world/1351435

Over 2.236 bln COVID-19 vaccine doses administered on Chinese mainland
http://www.ecns.cn/n...at0473703.shtml

Beijing reports one COVID-19 case, breaks record of no local cases in 70 days
https://www.globalti...0/1236733.shtml
 

Travis Tritt has canceled shows at venues requiring masks, proof of COVID-19 vaccinations or a negative test. 
 
The country singer and songwriter announced the move Monday, which triggered the cancellation of four upcoming shows in Muncie, Indiana; Philadelphia, Mississippi; Peoria, Illinois; and Louisville, Kentucky. 
 
“I’m putting my money where my mouth is and announcing that any venue or promoter mandating masks, requiring vaccinations, or pushing COVID testing protocols on my fans will not be tolerated," Tritt said in a written statement.

https://www.tennesse...ons/8520110002/
 
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State fired football coach Nick Rolovich and four of his assistants on Monday after they refused to comply with a mandate that all state employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.
https://www.espn.com...ine-source-says
 

More than 1,800 Washington state workers were fired or left their jobs because of the state's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to Office of Financial Management (OFM) data released Tuesday.
 
In August, Gov. Jay Inslee issued a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the majority of state workers, including healthcare workers, on-site contractors, teachers, and volunteers.
 
The deadline for these state employees to be fully vaccinated was Monday. Employees who don't get the vaccine can be dismissed from work for failing to meet legal employment requirements, per the governor's mandate.
 
Of 63,291 Washington state workers, 1,887 (3%) had been terminated or left their jobs over the vaccine mandate as of Monday, the OFM's data showed.

https://www.business...eadline-2021-10

SF’s Only In-N-Out Refuses to Enforce the City’s Vaccination Mandate for Indoor Dining
The health department temporarily shut down the Fisherman’s Wharf location, while In-N-Out corporate maintains, “We refuse to become the vaccination police.”
https://sf.eater.com...ination-mandate

NYC Will Mandate COVID-19 Vaccines For All Government Workers, Eliminates Option For Weekly Testing
https://gothamist.co...ernment-workers

Gates Foundation will provide $120 million to ensure generic production of Merck’s Covid-19 pill
https://www.statnews...ill-patents-who
 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the MAGA movement and far-right Christian fundamentalists have downplayed its severity — inspiring critics to slam MAGA as a suicidal "death cult." Christian fundamentalist Joy Pullmann, in a shocking op-ed published by the far-right website The Federalist on the day of Gen. Colin Powell's death, argues that Christians should welcome death from COVID-19, like any other cause of death, as "a good thing." And she attacks the "pagan assumptions" of those who argue in favor of widespread vaccination.
 
"For Christians, death is good," Pullmann writes. "Yes, death is also an evil — its existence is a result of sin. But thanks be to God, Jesus Christ has redeemed even death. In his resurrection, Christ has transformed death into a portal to eternal life for Christians…. The Christian faith makes it very clear that death, while sad to those left behind and a tragic consequence of human sin, is now good for all who believe in Christ."

& much more
https://www.alternet...ers-2655324736/
 

One number that really stood out in last month's Daily Kos/Civiqs poll was the large number of voters who say GOP elected officials aren't working hard enough to get the pandemic under control. It may seem obvious to progressives, but Republican lawmakers were really an outlier in the poll when compared to President Joe Biden and Democratic elected officials.
 
Here was the data on whether voters thought the following were doing enough to control the pandemic:

• President Biden: 48% yes, 41% no
• Democratic officials: 44% yes, 44% no
• Republican officials: 26% yes, 64% no

Biden is above water by 7 points, Democrats break even, but Republicans are notably 38 points underwater.
 
On the one hand, of course they are! Very few GOP lawmakers are actively and consistently touting vaccination as a crucial weapon against the coronavirus, and most Republicans—or at least those making the biggest spectacle of themselves—are actively attacking pandemic mitigation efforts like vaccine and mask mandates.
 
But part of what underlies those dismal GOP numbers is the fact that at least some Republican voters don't think their party is doing enough to control the pandemic—31% of registered Republicans, in fact, according to the crosstabs. That's a sizable number of GOP defections in these partisan times, and presumably many of them are vaccinated Republicans who are dismayed by their party's downright lethal, pro-plague policy stances.

 

https://www.dailykos...-of-Republicans

Fox’s Neil Cavuto Off Air After Contracting Covid: ‘Had I Not Been Vaccinated… This Would Be a Far More Dire Situation’
https://www.mediaite...get-vaccinated/

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tests positive for Covid
Mayorkas, who is vaccinated, tested positive Tuesday and will isolate as he recovers.
https://www.nbcnews....-covid-n1281904
 

There was a lot of discussion about Kyrie Irving’s refusal to get the shot during the TNT halftime show. Irving has been benched by the Brooklyn Nets, and he’s not the only NBA player who has received attention for anti-vaccine sentiments.
 
Kenny Smith said he understands Irving’s position and argued it comes down to how comfortable people are based on “what you’ve read and what you understand.”
 
Barkley very visibly grimaced at Smith’s commentary and started off by saying, “First of all, you don’t get the vaccine for yourself, you get it for other people.”
 
“I got vaccinated. I can’t wait to get the booster,” he continued. “You don’t get vaccinated just for yourself. Like Adam [Silver] said, you get vaccinated for your family first, you get vaccinated for your teammates second.”
 
“I think everybody should get vaccinated,” Barkley said.

https://www.mediaite...t-for-yourself/

[Mike K.]

Thumbs up for Black Ball!

[Victoria Watcher]

Quebec records 458 new COVID-19 cases, 2 new deaths as hospitalizations fall

https://globalnews.c...ctober-20-2021/

 

Ontario reports 304 new COVID-19 cases, lowest daily count since early August

https://globalnews.c...20-coronavirus/

 

 

 

 

https://www.worldome...country/canada/

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 October 2021 - 08:28 AM.

[Barrrister]

Who wants to use Blackball or travel when you get an extra covid test charge of about 100 US. Some but not many,

[Ismo07]

Who wants to use Blackball or travel when you get an extra covid test charge of about 100 US. Some but not many,

 

Canada will drop it soon I think....  US already has said they will.

[Victoria Watcher]

New cases per 100,000 people:

 

Alaska - 1,173

Washington - 300

New York - 228

California - 137

Florida - 125

BC - 119

Ontario - 27

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 October 2021 - 08:44 AM.

[spanky123]

Canada will drop it soon I think....  US already has said they will.

 

Hard to politically when covid cases are on the rise in many Provinces.