COVID-19 vaccine 6 , CD3 DFL

‘We want to be educated, not indoctrinated,’ say Trump voters wary of covid shots

The responses of focus group participants suggest they can be persuaded — but perhaps not by politicians, including the former president

Be honest that scientists don’t have all the answers. Tout the number of people who got the vaccines in trials. And don’t show pro-vaccine ads with politicians — not even ones with Donald Trump.

That’s what a focus group of vaccine-hesitant Trump voters insisted to politicians and pollsters this weekend, as public health leaders rush to win over the tens of millions of Republicans who say they don’t plan to get a coronavirus shot. If those voters follow through, it would imperil efforts to achieve the high levels of immunity needed to stopthe virus’s spread in the United States, experts fear.

“These people represent 30 million Americans. And without these people, you’re not getting herd immunity,” said Frank Luntz, the longtime GOP pollster who convened Saturday’s focus group over Zoom. The group followed what Luntz characterized as a remarkable arc: By the end of the two-hour-plus session, all 19 participants (one dropped out early) said they were more likely to get vaccinated, and Luntz said he had begun nationwide polling to see which messages resonated with a broader population. Continue reading.

Ron Johnson’s unscientific take on the coronavirus vaccine

Reporter: “Did you get the vaccine or are you planning to get vaccinated?”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.): “No, I had covid, so I don’t believe, you know, I think that probably provides me the best immunity possible, actually having had the disease.”

— Interview on CBS 58 Milwaukee, March 10

Doctors, public health experts, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are clear: Get the coronavirus vaccine even if you had covid-19.

Yes, people who had the disease produce antibodies that provide immunity from the coronavirus. But that immunity fades over time, and the body’s natural response may not be enough to prevent a repeat infection 90 days after the first one, the CDC says.

Reinfections, both mild and severe, have been well documented since the coronavirus emerged in late 2019. For example, a nursing intern in the Netherlands with no issues in her immune system contracted covid-19 in the spring and again in the summer of 2020, with stronger symptoms the second time. A nurse in Ohio got the disease twice, seven months apart. Hundreds more cases have been reported worldwide, although experts say they are widely undercounted. Continue reading.

Fauci urges Trump to tell supporters to be vaccinated

The nation’s top infectious disease expert warned Sunday that a new wave of COVID-19 infections could be on the way while urging former President Trump to tell his supporters to be vaccinated.

Speaking with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,” Anthony Fauci pointed to surges across the European Union and warned that Europe’s case trends tend to be a few weeks ahead of similar trends in the U.S.

Europe “always seem to be a few weeks ahead of us,” Fauci said, adding that it was “absolutely no time to declare victory” over the virus. Continue reading.

COVID will rage on longer because Republicans and white evangelicals refuse to get vaccinated: analysis

Ever since the start of the pandemic Americans have been asking each other, “When there’s a vaccine are you going to take it?” At first many were wary because Donald Trump was president and not many felt he could be trusted to not push the FDA to approve the vaccine to get re-elected. And in fact, he came close, promising Americans it would be available in October. (His Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said September.)

In response many mocked those who were vaccine hesitant, saying they would be risking death. The real story there was because of how the virus spreads, they wouldn’t only risking death, they would potentially be helping to spread it.

But now that 100 million Americans have received their first coronavirus vaccine shot, more than 2 million shots a day are being given, and as of May 1 all adult Americans will be eligible to get vaccinated, “herd immunity” isn’t too far away.

Or is it? Continue reading.

Why experts say it’s especially important for heart patients to get a coronavirus vaccine

More than 30 million people in the United States have heart disease, which alone kills hundreds of thousands each year. It’s also a significant risk factor for developing serious complications from another major threat right now: covid-19.

That’s because the disease caused by the coronavirus often attacks the lungs, forcing the already injured heart to fight that much harder.

Both the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology are urging eligible individuals — including heart patients — to get vaccinated. The American College of Cardiology has even issued a health policy statement to provide guidance on how to prioritize certain cardiac patients for vaccination. Continue reading.

Biden Tells Nation There Is Hope After a Devastating Year

In his first prime-time address from the White House, the president said that he would order states to make all adults eligible for the vaccine by May 1 and that a return to normalcy was possible by July 4.

WASHINGTON — Seeking to comfort Americans bound together by a year of suffering but also by “hope and the possibilities,” President Biden made a case to the nation Thursday night that it could soon put the worst of the pandemic behind it and promised that all adults would be eligible for the vaccine by May 1.

During a 24-minute speech from the East Room, Mr. Biden laced his somber script with references to Hemingway and personal ruminations on loss as he reflected on a “collective suffering, a collective sacrifice, a year filled with the loss of life, and the loss of living, for all of us.”

Speaking on the anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic and the moment at which the virus began tightening its grip, the president offered a turning point of sorts after one of the darkest years in recent history, one that would lead to more than half a million deaths in the country, the loss of millions of jobs and disruptions to nearly every aspect of society and politics. Continue reading.

Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan Update: March 12, 2021

As Cases Fall and Vaccination Ramps up, Governor Walz Adjusts COVID-19 Mitigation Measures

As Minnesota continues to make progress vaccinating Minnesotans and slowing the spread of COVID-19, Governor Walz today announced that on March 15 Minnesotans can begin safely gathering with more friends and loved ones, supporting Minnesota’s small businesses, and visiting large venues.

House DFL lawmakers introduce legislation to increase opportunities for equitable COVID-19 vaccine access

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – House DFL lawmakers Wednesday introduced new legislation to increase opportunities for equitable COVID-19 vaccine access. In response to the vast disparities outlined in reporting from the Minnesota Department of Health, Representative Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven), Representative Jay Xiong (DFL-St. Paul), Representative Hodan Hassan (DFL-Minneapolis), Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley), and 31 other House DFLers are leading efforts to close the gap and get more vaccine doses distributed to marginalized communities across the state.

“By doubling down on our efforts now to get shots into as many arms as possible, in every corner of the state, we can crush the virus and close the chapter on this public health crisis,” said Rep. Morrison, a practicing physician and Assistant Majority Leader in the Minnesota House. “The Minnesota Department of Health has been doing an incredible job handling the pandemic response, but we can and should do more for our communities who have been especially hit hard over the last year.”

The legislation would establish a Mobile Vaccine Program, in which mobile vaccination vehicles are deployed to disproportionately impacted communities around the state to provide COVID-19 vaccines to those residents. A mobile vaccination vehicle providing vaccines in a community with a large number of residents with limited English proficiency must also be staffed by interpreters for the needed languages.

Federal officials relax guidance on nursing home visits, citing vaccines and slowing infections

Federal health officials on Wednesday substantially relaxed the government’s guidelines for family and friends to see nursing home residents in person, saying that vaccinations and a slowing of coronavirus infections in the facilities warrant restoring indoor visits in most situations.

The nursing home guidance, the first federal advice on the subject since September, says “outdoor visitation is preferred,” even when a nursing home resident and family or friends are fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

But acknowledging that weather or a resident’s poor health might make an outdoor visit impractical, the recommendations encourage nursing homes to permit indoor visits “at all times and for all residents,” regardless of whether people have been vaccinated, except in a few circumstances. Continue reading.

DFL Party Statement on President Biden Signing the American Rescue Plan Into Law

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, his $1.9 trillion COVID relief and stimulus bill, into law. The wide-ranging and incredibly popular bill contains numerous important measures to combatting COVID-19 and helping the American people build back better from the pandemic, including:

$1,400 relief checks for most Americans
Extended unemployment insurance of $300 per week through early September
Child tax credits of up to $3,600
More than $15 billion for vaccine distribution
Roughly $50 billion for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing
$130 billion to safely reopen schools
$350 billion in state and local aid

Every DFL member of Congress voted in favor of the American Rescue Plan and every Minnesota Republican voted against it. Republican opposition comes despite the bill’s tremendous popularity among voters across the political spectrum – 75% of American voters and 59% of Republican voters approve of the American Rescue Plan – and despite the roughly $1 billion in local government aid the bill will bring to Minnesota’s Republican-controlled congressional districts.

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As Cases Fall and Vaccination Ramps up, Governor Walz Adjusts COVID-19 Mitigation Measures

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