Tag: coronavirus

State Bar Passes Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Recommendation

The New York State Bar Association on Saturday passed a resolution urging the state to consider making it mandatory for all New Yorkers to undergo COVID-19 vaccination when a vaccine becomes available, even if people object to it for “religious, philosophical or personal reasons.”

The resolution, which was passed by a majority of the bar association’s 277-member House of Delegates, includes conditions limiting its scope. Those include that the state government should only consider making vaccinations mandatory if voluntary COVID-19 vaccinations fall short of producing needed levels of population immunity; that an assessment of the health threat to various communities be made so that perhaps the mandate can be targeted; and that a mandate only be considered after there is expert consensus about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.

In a statement Saturday afternoon, Mary Beth Morrissey, chair of the bar association’s Health Law Section’s Task Force on COVID-19, which in May released a controversial report that had first proposed the idea of a vaccine mandate, said, “The authority of the state to respond to a public health crisis is well-established in constitutional law,”

“In balancing the protection of the public’s health and civil liberties, the Public Health Law recognizes that a person’s health can and does affect others,” said Morrisey, a lawyer who also holds a doctorate degree in gerontological social work research.

The Health Law Section’s May report generated an uproar online, over the spring and summer, among anti-vaccine groups and lawyers who represent people injured by vaccines. But the relevant part of the 83-page report proposing a vaccine mandate was broader in scope, and more direct, than the resolution passed by the bar association Saturday. And most of the conditions contained in the resolution had not been contained in the report.

The report had recommended that it should be mandatory for all Americans to undergo COVID-19 vaccination, despite people’s objections, with the one exception being doctor-ordered medical reasons. There had been no language about a mandate being limited to New York state residents, and no language saying a public recommendation made to the state government should only be for it to “consider” a mandate.

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CDC Report: Officials Knew Coronavirus Test Was Flawed But Released It Anyway

On Feb. 6, a scientist in a small infectious disease lab on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention campus in Atlanta was putting a coronavirus test kit through its final paces. The lab designed and built the diagnostic test in record time, and the little vials that contained necessary reagents to identify the virus were boxed up and ready to go. But NPR has learned the results of that final quality control test suggested something troubling — it said the kit could fail 33% of the time.

Under normal circumstances, that kind of result would stop a test in its tracks, half a dozen public and private lab officials told NPR. But an internal CDC review obtained by NPR confirms that lab officials decided to release the kit anyway. The revelation comes from a CDC internal review, known as a “root-cause analysis,” which the agency conducted to understand why an early coronavirus test didn’t work properly and wound up costing scientists precious weeks in the early days of a pandemic.

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Seasonal Flu Rates Plunge, Baffling ‘Experts’ Who Predicted Deadly ‘Superbug’

Remember when Dr. Fauci foretold thousands more deaths this fall due to a stunning combination of COVID-19 and the flu?

So far, at least, it looks like those warnings were about as exaggerated as the early projections forecasting millions of deaths, because, Instead, while COVID-19 makes a tremendous comeback, the flu simply isn’t spreading like it used to, for reasons that aren’t yet clear to virologists studying the issue.

In a recent column for his new venture, Just the News, reporter John Solomon pointed this out, citing data from the CDC’s own weekly flu tracker.

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CDC says people sick with COVID-19 can break quarantine to vote in-person

Coronavirus patients can break quarantine Tuesday to vote in person, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed.

“Voters have the right to vote, regardless of whether they are sick or in quarantine,” the CDC stressed in safe-voting guidance posted Sunday.

While having the right to do so, those infected by the contagion “should take steps to protect poll workers and other voters,” the health agency said.

“This includes wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet away from others, and washing your hands or using hand sanitizer before and after voting,” the CDC guidance said.

“You should also let poll workers know that you are sick or in quarantine when you arrive at the polling location,” the agency said.

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Michigan Governor: Up To Six Months In Prison If Businesses Don’t Surveil Customers For Contact Tracing

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is requiring restaurants, barbershops, tattoo parlors, recreational facilities, and entertainment establishments to record the names, contact information, and visit times of all customers to “aid with contact tracing.” Any establishment that does not comply is threatened with a maximum $200 fine, a misdemeanor charge punishable with up to six months in prison, and a $1,000 civil fine for violating the state’s emergency orders.

The order, announced Friday, comes as Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her administration began backtracking on the state’s latest reopening plan and tightening COVID-19 restrictions, citing rising hospitalizations and deaths. Other states including New York have implemented similar contact tracing rules, requiring restaurants to record diners’ information in the case of an outbreak.

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Michigan unveils order forcing restaurants to record ‘names and phone numbers’ of customers

Restaurants in Michigan will be required to take down the names and phone numbers of customers beginning Monday, Nov. 2.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced the new order on Thursday, which will require restaurants to note the date and time of entry for customers who visit the premises.

“All dine-in food service establishments must maintain accurate records of the names and phone numbers of patrons who purchase food for consumption on the premises, and the date and time of entry,” the order stated.

The order also requires schools and businesses to “aid in contact tracing and case investigation efforts” during a time when positive tests for the virus have surged in the state.

The press release also noted changes in the capacity limits for indoor events such as weddings, parties, and banquets. The order reduces the number of people who can gather at these events from 500 to 50.

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