vaccination
Louis Pasteur’s discoveries revolutionized medicine and continue to save millions of lives
By Rodney E. Rohde, Texas State University Some of the greatest scientific discoveries haven’t resulted in Nobel Prizes. Louis Pasteur, who lived from 1822 to 1895, is arguably the world’s best-known microbiologist. He is widely credited for the germ theory of disease and for inventing the process of pasteurization – which is named after him […]
COVID vaccination hits record lull in Ohio; less than 2 in 3 are vaccinated
Ohio’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign has hit a new lull after two months of record low numbers of residents getting vaccinated. While the concept of diminishing marginal returns would suggest this is to be expected, Ohio remains under-vaccinated on a national and international scale. Just 62% of state residents are vaccine-started, and 57% are vaccine completed. […]
Giving thanks to America’s medical community for life-saving vaccines
If we were not still in the grip of a deadly pandemic, with the seven-day average U.S. death toll from the coronavirus hovering just over 1,100 a day, I probably would not have thought of giving thanks this year for the medical researchers who have given this country protection against many life-threatening illnesses. Back in […]
Ohio’s prison workforce is 28% vaccinated, per state data; lowest rate among all state agencies
Ohio’s prison authority, the largest government agency in the state tasked with overseeing the 43,000 inmates in its custody, is the least vaccinated entity in Ohio’s government, according to state data based on employee-submitted records. About 28% of employees within the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction are vaccinated against COVID-19 and have submitted proof […]
As American independence rang, a sweeping lockdown and mass inoculations fought off smallpox
By Woody Holton, University of South Carolina Many Americans of the founding era denounced government tyranny, celebrated the Declaration of Independence – and favored lockdowns and mass inoculations to combat a viciously contagious disease. Unchecked, smallpox kills more than one in 10 of its victims, leaving many of the rest blind, disfigured and sometimes sterile. […]
COVID-19 hospitalizations climb; vaccination rate trickles
An average of more than 6,400 Ohioans continue to contract COVID-19 per day, according to data from the state health department. The recent surge of cases is driven by children aged 18 and below, who comprise nearly 3 in 10 infections statewide. Nearly 3,700 Ohioans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to data from the […]
School vaccine records missing for tens of thousands of Ohio students
School vaccination records were missing or incomplete among roughly 1 in 5 sampled Ohio middle and high school students last year, despite state law requiring local boards of education to track immunizations records of all enrolled students. All Ohio students, per state law, must be vaccinated against mumps, tetanus, polio, measles, Hepatitis B, chicken pox […]
DeWine signs bill to temporarily ban school COVID-19 vaccine mandates
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation Wednesday that could block schools from mandating vaccination against COVID-19 for the fall. In the dying moments of the final legislative session before a summer recess, lawmakers tacked the vaccine provision as an amendment onto an unrelated bill regarding educational opportunities for military children. The amendment: It passed on […]
State school board member asks Ohio supt.: ‘Are you paid by Bill Gates?’
During a recent state school board discussion of student vaccinations, a board member offered a question to the Ohio superintendent of public instruction. “I’m just wondering what kind of influence Bill Gates does have on you … “Are you paid by Bill Gates?” board member Diana Fessler asked Supt. Paolo DeMaria. The comments came during […]
Misinfo thrives at Spanish-speaking vaccination site; health workers are fighting back
LORAIN — Wanda knows she’s lucky to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Her three adult-aged children in the Dominican Republic haven’t yet had the chance — there are too few doses for too many people to go around. In the United States and Ohio in particular, the inverse is true: There’s an abundance of vaccines and […]
DeWine, top lawmakers met with national anti-vax leader in 2019
Gov. Mike DeWine and legislative leaders in the Statehouse met in 2019 with Robert Kennedy Jr., a scion of the American political dynasty and a leading voice of anti-vaccination politics. Kennedy, son of U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, came to the Statehouse to speak in support of legislation […]
Ohio judge adds COVID-19 vaccination as terms of probation
A Franklin County judge recently began including vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition of defendants’ terms of probation. Common Pleas Judge Richard Frye said Thursday he added the vaccine as a condition on three cases this week of the roughly 20 sentences he imposed. He said he discussed the matter in open court with the […]