covid vaccine
Supreme Court blocks Biden workplace vaccine rule, allows health care workers mandate
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a blow to the Biden administration’s fight against the pandemic, blocking a federal mandate that workers be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19 — though the court allowed a separate rule requiring vaccinations for some health care workers. The two rulings represented a split victory for Republican attorneys general from Ohio, Missouri, […]
Biden sends medical teams to 6 states, promises more free COVID tests and masks
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the federal government will deploy military medical units to six states to assist hospitals overwhelmed with the recent spike of the omicron coronavirus variant. Starting next week, more than 120 medical personnel — the beginning of a deployment of 1,000 service members — will go to hospitals […]
Complaints about White House handling of COVID-19 aired at U.S. Senate hearing
WASHINGTON — Senators from both political parties expressed their frustration with the Biden administration coronavirus response team during a Tuesday hearing that keyed in on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance on vaccines, as well as the shortage of COVID-19 tests available for Americans. The hearing also was highlighted by a tense exchange between […]
Supreme Court appears wary of Biden vaccine-or-test employer mandate
The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared unconvinced Friday of the Biden administration’s authority to impose a vaccine-or-test mandate on private businesses, casting doubt on a key piece of the White House COVID-19 response. The justices seemed potentially more comfortable with another Biden administration rule to fight the virus that requires certain health care workers […]
Census recounts fail to account for COVID chaos, cities say
By Tim Henderson, Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts Nelsonville, Ohio, faced a lot of the same challenges that cities around the country did during the 2020 census: renters and older people who were hard to reach, college students who left town during the pandemic and widespread distrust of government questions. The initial […]
Federal judge blocks Biden vaccine mandate for Head Start workers in 24 states
A Louisiana federal judge has put a hold on President Joe Biden’s mandate that Head Start workers be vaccinated against COVID-19. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, who previously ruled against a vaccine mandate for health care workers, issued a preliminary injunction on New Year’s Day restricting the executive branch from enforcing in 24 states a mandate […]
Laws shield hospitals from families who believe loved ones contracted COVID as patients
By Lauren Weber and Christina Jewett, Kaiser Health News After Amanda Wilson lost her son, Braden, 15, to COVID-19 in early 2021, she tried to honor his memory. She put up a lending library box in his name. She plans to give the money she saved for his college education to other teens who love […]
Health experts worry CDC’s COVID vaccination rates appear inflated
By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News For nearly a month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s online vaccine tracker has shown that virtually everyone 65 and older in the United States — 99.9% — has received at least one COVID vaccine dose. That would be remarkable — if true. But health experts and state officials […]
Omicron underscores the limits of local COVID policy
Omicron is upon us. From Dec. 20 to Dec. 23, over 40,000 Ohioans tested positive for COVID-19, the most of any four-day stretch ever. As a matter of fact, each of the days in that window topped the previous single-day high of 13,374 cases recorded on Nov. 30, 2020, giving us the new first, second, […]
Bullying ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ political minority has no right to tread on the rights of others
Don’t tread on me. Leave my liberty, my choice, my freedom to do whatever I damn well please alone. But I can tread on you. No vax for me means I can infect you. Zero gun control for me makes you unsafe in a country where mass shootings are routine. My belief about abortion cancels […]
Biden pick to lead FDA fields questions over pharma ties, abortion pill, COVID tests
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration drew praise from a top Senate Republican, as well as critical questions from conservatives and others during a Tuesday confirmation hearing. Dr. Robert Califf fielded queies on his ties to the pharmaceutical industry, the pandemic-loosened rules around abortion drugs, and frustrations involving COVID-19 […]
Some politicians deliberately sacrifice public health and safety for personal greed
Whether driven to hang on to power, have access to money, or intoxicated by fame — when politicians say and do things that hurt and harm the people for their personal gain, it is greed of the most grievous kind. Greed? Yes, greed. Greed has many faces and is manifested in many ways. Whatever form of greed […]