Tag: coronavirus

Canada could open to vaccinated U.S. tourists as soon as August, Trudeau says

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Canada could reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers from all countries by early September, and possibly welcome immunized Americans as soon as mid-August, the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said late Thursday.

Canada closed its land border with the United States in March 2020 as the pandemic first accelerated, and it has since restricted entry for other foreign visitors to help stem the spread of the virus.

But now, as vaccination rates climb and transmission slows, those controls could be lifted in the coming weeks, Trudeau said in a call with Canadian provincial leaders Thursday.

Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan Update: July 16, 2021

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Governor Walz Signed Historic Executive Order Protecting LGBTQ+ Youth from the Harmful Practice of Conversion Therapy

Gov. Walz Signs Executive Order


On Thursday, Governor Tim Walz signed an Executive Order, protecting Minnesotans from conversion therapy. Conversion therapy, also known as “reparative therapy,” refers to a counseling practice that seeks to change a patient’s gender or sexual orientation. Every leading medical and scientific association including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and National Education Association have strongly and uniformly rejected conversion therapy for minors, citing its harmful effects on the long-term mental health of LGBTQ+ youth.

“Our kids deserve to grow up in a state that values them for who they are – not one that tries to change them,” said Governor Walz. “This Executive Order aims to protect young and vulnerable Minnesotans from the cruel and discredited practice of conversion therapy and affirms that the LGBTQ+ community is an integral part of One Minnesota. This is not the end of our work to see this practice become a thing of the past. We will continue to fight for love over hate every single day.”

Continue reading “Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan Update: July 16, 2021”

GOP vaccine resistance poses growing challenge in pandemic fight

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Growing GOP resistance to COVID-19 vaccines is raising alarms among public health experts and creating a major challenge as the U.S. tries to move past a pandemic that has lasted almost a year and a half.

Attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference cheered talk of a lower-than-expected vaccination rate over the weekend. Tennessee is ending outreach to adolescents on vaccines, including for COVID-19, amid pressure from state GOP lawmakers. And a range of conservative media hosts and lawmakers have expressed concerns over the vaccine and the Biden administration’s outreach efforts.

The resistance helps explain why more than 30 percent of U.S. adults remain unvaccinated, with even higher percentages in Republican-leaning states, leaving places with lower vaccination rates at risk of localized surges of the virus. Continue reading.

Anti-vaxxers gain power on right, triggering new fears

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Public health experts are growing increasingly concerned about a rise in anti-vaccination rhetoric among elected officials and right-wing media as a new wave of coronavirus infections begins to wash over Americans who have yet to get vaccinated.

Legislators in more than 40 states have introduced measures to bar vaccine passports, and many Republican governors have signed executive orders or laws barring their use. 

In some cases, Republican governors and legislators are now repeating far-right talking points questioning the safety and effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines, in spite of the overwhelming scientific evidence that the vaccines developed in the past year are some of the safest and most effective ever created.  Continue reading.

Opinion: Republicans are dismantling the right to vote. But they’ve enshrined the right to infect.

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In the United States in the year 2021, you, as an American citizen, do not necessarily have the right to vote.

You do not necessarily have the right to teach or to learn about matters of race, gender or anything else state lawmakers consider “divisive concepts.”

But you do have one absolute, sacrosanct, inviolate, God-given, self-evident and inalienable right: the right to refuse a coronavirus vaccine — and to infect as many people as you can.

With the blessing of the Roberts court, legislatures in Republican-run states are rushing to impose new voting restrictions, particularly on non-White voters. A tally by the Brennan Center finds that, as of June 21, 17 states had enacted 28 new laws restricting the ability to vote since the start of this year. Continue reading.

DeSantis sells ‘Don’t Fauci My Florida’ merch as new coronavirus cases near highest in nation

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Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested that he should be criminally investigated. Republican members of Congress introduced a “Fire Fauci Act” to remove his salary.

Now White House medical adviser Anthony S. Fauci — a polarizing figure in the U.S. response to the coronavirus — is also part of a rising GOP star’s political branding.

“Don’t Fauci My Florida,” read drink koozies and T-shirts that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s campaign team rolled out just as his state sees some of the highest coronavirus hospitalizations, new infections and deaths per capita in the country. It’s the latest example of Republicans running on their opposition to virus-fueled shutdowns and mask mandates. A pandemic hero to some and villain to others, Fauci has become a high-profile target. Continue reading.

Kristi Noem still brags about defying public health advice — but an expert just showed why it was a disaster

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South Dakota and Vermont are not only two very different states politically — they are also two states that have had very different COVID-19 outcomes. And Dr. Ashish Jha, a dean at the Brown University School of Public Health who is often featured as a medical expert on MSNBC, lays out some reasons for those outcomes in an op-ed published by the Washington Post this week. 

South Dakota is a deep red state with a Republican governor, Kristi Noem, who is a far-right supporter of former President Donald Trump and has been highly critical of COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing measures. Even now, she still brags about her refusal to comply with basic public health precautions:

Vermont, in contrast, is a blue state that has a Republican governor, Phil Scott, who leans conservative economically but is far from a Trump loyalist. Although Scott has policy differences with Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described “democratic socialist,” he crossed party lines in the 2020 presidential election and voted for now-President Joe Biden — not Trump. And Scott has never been a coronavirus denier. Continue reading.

‘It’s devastating’: Unvaccinated woman thought she could ‘escape’ COVID-19 – now she says she’ll ‘never be the same’

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After a rough battle with COVID-19, a North Carolina woman who was unvaccinated is now urging people to get the shot, 13News reports.

“I thought I was healthy enough and that I could escape it,” said Linda Edwards, who contracted the virus about three weeks ago. “Really, it was the most frightening thing I’ve ever been through in my life.” 

“It was devastating. I had no dreams of ever staying that long. It’s the longest I’ve ever been in the hospital,” she said of her two-week hospital stay. “I was there hoping and praying my son was okay here because he had tested positive, too.” Continue reading.

On TikTok, audio gives new virality to misinformation

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The Institute for Strategic Dialogue analyzed 124 TikTok videos featuring vaccine misinformation that garnered more than 20 million views and 2 million likes, comments and shares.

In December, a Wisconsin man who goes by the username the_alpha_k9 on TikTok uploaded a testimonial-style video to the platform, telling his thousands of followers that he wouldn’t be taking a Covid-19 vaccine. 

“You’re telling me in 40 years of research there is no vaccine for HIV … for cancer, no vaccine … the common cold, no vaccine,” he said. “Yet in one year we’ve developed a vaccine for COVID-19 and you want me to take that … thanks, but no thanks.”

It was one of the many debunked, run-of-the-mill anti-vaccination talking points that have permeated many social platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic. But on TikTok, where users regularly reuse popular audio tracks to make their own videos, it took on a life of its own. More than 4,500 videos featuring the audio have been made, which have been viewed more than 16 million times, according to a report published Monday by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based organization that tracks disinformation. Continue reading.

Anti-vaxx nurse dies from COVID-19 in Louisiana

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A Louisiana nurse who questioned the safety of vaccines has died of complications from COVID-19.

Olivia Guidry, a registered nurse in the emergency department at Ochsner Lafayette General, died Saturday after being hospitalized for the coronavirus in the intensive care unit, reported The Advocate.

“Today is a sad day for my ER family and I,” her colleague Nick Berthelot postedon Facebook. “Your contagious laugh and smile will truly be missed Liv. Until we meet again sweet girl.” Continue reading.