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Defeat COVID-19 by requiring vaccination for all. It’s not un-American, it’s patriotic.

Severe penalties for non-compliance

Nor is there an alternative to vaccine-induced herd immunity in a pandemic. Relying on enough people becoming infected and then immune is dangerous, as exemplified by the Swedish experience where the COVID-19 mortality rate exceeds that of its more cautious neighbors.Broad induction of immunity in the population by immunization will be necessary to end this pandemic. In simple terms, a refusal to be vaccinated threatens the lives of others.

So here’s what America must do when a vaccine is ready:

► Make vaccinations free and easily accessible.

► Exempt only those with medical contraindications to immunization. It is likely that more than one vaccine platform will prove effective (as was the case for polio vaccines) and, as a result, medical conditions that prohibit all COVID-19 vaccines will be rare.

► Do not honor religious objections. The major religions do not officially oppose vaccinations.

► Do not allow objections for personal preference, which violate the social contract.

How can government and society assure compliance with protective vaccines? Vaccine refusers could lose tax credits or be denied non-essential government benefits. Health insurers could levy higher premiums for those who by refusing immunization place themselves and others at risk, as is the case for smokers. 

Unnerving toll:Sweden hoped herd immunity would curb COVID-19. Don’t do what we did. It’s not working.

Private businesses could refuse to employ or serve unvaccinated individuals, schools could refuse to allow unimmunized children to attend classes, public and commercial transit companies — airlines, trains and buses — could exclude refusers. Public and private auditoriums could require evidence of immunization for entry. The only legal limitation on government or private action is that it not be discriminatory, and it’s hard to see how discrimination would occur if vaccinations were free and accessible to all.

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Russians are receiving text messages about the U.S. State Department’s $10 million reward for information on election interference

Residents of cities across Russia are receiving SMS messages about the U.S. State Department’s newly announced $10 million “Rewards for Justice” (RFJ) offer for information that helps identify or locate hackers attempting to interfere in the 2020 presidential elections, reports the Russian outlet TJournal. 

Russian social media users began sharing screenshots of these messages online on August 6, the day after the U.S. State Department announced the reward offer. Reports about the messages also started to appear in local news outlets, such as the Yekaterinburg-based outlet It’s My Cityand the Vladivostok-based outlet Vl.ru, among others. According to the website Pikabu.ru, residents of the Russian cities of Saratov, Krasnodar, Ulyanovsk, Chelyabinsk, Perm, and Tyumen also reported receiving similar messages. 

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Students at Georgia school snapped photos of maskless peers. Now, they face expulsion

Students at a Georgia high school are being threatened with suspension and other punishments after “negative” photos of their first day back to class circulated on social media.

One North Paulding High School student has already been suspended after snapping a photo of crowded hallways — with few students wearing masks — upon their return to school Monday, local station WSB-TV reported.

The image was one of many “back-to-school” photos that went viral this week, sparking criticism amid rising coronavirus cases across Paulding County and the state. As of Thursday, Georgia had over 204,000 cases and nearly 4,000 deaths, data from the state Department of Public Health show.

Paulding County schools officials reportedly warned students they could be punished for posting such photos, but only after the image of the packed hallways drew backlash and thrust the county onto the national stage, CBS46 reported.

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