Items

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  2022-04-25

  Covid Green Pass

  This is an Instagram post by informa_mente_italia. It is criticizing the use of the Green Pass in Italy, where vaccination status is checked at certain places. The picture shown is making fun of the people that get the vaccines, and there are many needles to show that they are never ending, due to booster shots. This is a political issue within Europe at the moment because the Green Pass for COVID controls movement of people and what parts of society they are allowed to participate in.
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  2022-04-29

  Pelosi endorses strategy to combine Ukraine, COVID aid

  This is a news story from The Hill by Mike Lillis. This is about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi combining COVID aid with Ukraine aid into one package. This strategy is intended to help Congress pass the spending needed for Ukraine for the war. Currently, the CDC has said that overall need for aid has diminished as cases keep going down, with more guidelines being removed. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the prospect that combining the two bills could delay them both is “a real consideration” that will likely influence the ultimate strategy.
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  2022-04-28

  Xi Jinping Is Betting It All on Zero Covid

  This is a news story from The Wall Street Journal by Eyck Freymann. This article is about President Xi Jinping's zero COVID goal. The author argues that this is a risky move for President Xi, as enforcing a zero COVID policy could have many economic ramifications. As of Monday, 45 cities with 373 million people, representing 40% of China’s gross domestic product, were under partial or full lockdown, according to Nomura estimates. More cities and counties are under “static management,” a euphemism for quasi-lockdown. President Xi's COVID policy gets compared to Chairman Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, where it can start with a noble intention, but turn deadly for the population. Just like Mao faced great food shortages after the Great Leap Forward, locking down centers that produce a lot of the country's GDP is a risk too.
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  2022-04-21

  Does Free Speech Protect COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation?

  This is a story from Standford Medicine's Scope Blog by Sharon Beckstrand. This is an opinion piece on free speech and misinformation as it relates to COVID-19. Beckstrand goes over some of the reasoning some might resist getting vaccinated, such as political beliefs. Some of these beliefs can come from well-intentioned individuals thinking they are spreading good information, or from intentionally misleading sources. Both of these examples are classified under misinformation. The author of this asks: how can the spread of misinformation be stopped without quashing free speech? To get an idea on how the United States approaches this with the First Amendment is though Supreme Court cases. The Supreme Court has upheld that false statements are still protected under free speech. A 2012 case of United States vs. Alvarez struck down a law that made it a criminal offense to lie about receiving military medals, as a false statement is still protected under the First Amendment. Other types of speech are not protected, such as: lying in court, making false statements to the government, impersonating a government official, and defaming someone. Beckstrand lays out some of the dangers that can come from the government trying to police false claims. One thing she asks people to consider is that a scientific statement claimed as false today could be considered verifiable at a different time, especially if it is something that has not been studied yet. Additionally, many do not trust the government to not abuse power when deciding what is misinformation. The article ends by saying that if something becomes politicized, they are more likely to view messages from groups they don't identify with as suspicious, regardless of how much evidence there is to back it up. At the end, Beckstrand closes with saying that if we cannot make sound decisions on how we interact with information, we can't make sound decisions about health.
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  2022-04-20

  "Trust the Science" is Anti-Science

  This is an Instagram post by city_slicker_bnswagon. This person is questioning the way we think of the science surrounding COVID. This person thinks that the virus is more political than it is about health.
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  2022-04-22

  Fauci slams ‘no experience’ Florida judge who nixed mask

  This is a news story from the New York Post by Yaron Steinbuch. Dr. Anthony Fauci has went against what the Florida judge has said against the mask mandate. He says that she does not know enough about health to make a decision. The judge's decision has also sparked a response from the White House. On Wednesday, the Justice Department filed a notice that it will appeal US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s ruling at the behest of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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  2022-04-19

  Disney World drops mask mandate for guests at Florida resort

  This is a news story from The New York Post by Mark Lungariello. This is about Disneyworld lifting the mask mandate for the parks. It says that vaccinated guests have the option of wearing a mask or not. However, public transportation, like the monorail and buses, will still require masks. This change comes not long after a federal judge ruled against the mask mandates in Florida.
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  2022-04-20

  'More fearful than I was': At-risk immunocompromised Americans decry lifting of travel mask mandate

  This is a news story from USA Today by Ella Lee. This is about pushback against the lifting of the mask mandate, as it has made immunocompromised people afraid. "Being immunocompromised, it's already a huge risk getting on a plane with everybody masked," said Derek Schmitz, 17, of Oxford, Alabama, who takes immune-suppressing arthritis medication and has to fly for work as a disability advocate. "Now, knowing that I most likely will be one of the only people on a plane with a mask is petrifying." After the lift of the mandate for planes and other public transportation was voided, ride share companies like Uber and Lyft have followed suit in removing their own mandates. "I was angry and felt hopeless," said Erin Masengale, 33, who has multiple autoimmune diseases treated by immunosuppressants. "I just want people to realize that when they cheer for the ending of protections, they’re cheering for the ending of access to everything for people like me." Under the strict definition of immunocompromised, only about 3% of Americans fit that definition. Though, the author mentions that disabled and chronically ill people, a much larger population, also face risk with the lifted mandates. The question I have for people that read this is: is it worth it to keep the mandate even though it caters to a relatively small population? Would it be wiser for people already with these ailments to mask on their own instead of mandating it for everyone else, especially if overall cases and hospitalizations are lower? These are the questions I have after reading this article. I am not against people masking when they see fit, but it is clear that these mandates have worn many people out.
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  2022-04-20

  Canada Will Keep Mask Mandate for Planes

  This is a news story from Skift by Anna Mehler Paperny. This says that Canada will keep the mask mandate for planes. The Canadian government said it has no plans to lift the mask mandate after a US federal judge in Florida struck down the mask mandate for planes. Canada's spokesperson for the Transportation Minister wrote in an email that “We are taking a layered approach to keeping travelers safe, and masks remain an incredibly useful tool in our arsenal against Covid-19."' The safety measures that travelers to and from Canada are beyond just masks though. The federal government also requires citizens to track close contacts for fourteen days. Masking and other such safety measures have been shown to have more popularity in Canada, with surveys in agreement with the mask mandates as they are right now.
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  2022-04-19

  TSA will not enforce Covid mask mandate on planes, public transit after court ruling, White House says

  This is a news story from CNBC by Spencer Kimball. It says that the TSA will not enforce the COVID mask mandate on planes after a court ruling by a federal judge in Florida. The CDC, however, still recommends people wear masks while using public transit. The US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle said that the CDC failed to provide adequate reasons for the mandate. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says that the White House will appeal this ruling, with the Justice Department determining if ti will appeal. Airlines themselves are fairly divided on the issue. The Association of Flight Attendants, the nation's largest union of cabin crew, has offered a neutral stance on the mask mandate since it is a divisive issue within the union. Meanwhile, other airlines have asked the Biden administration to drop the mask mandate and other restrictions on citizens. Currently, the CDC says that hospitalizations have plummeted by 90% since the peak of Omnicron in January, and agencies are using this type of data to argue for why mandates should be lifted.
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  2022-04-18

  Striking Down Mask Mandates

  This is a Twitter update by artisfire1. This is about a judge striking down mandates on planes. Tony, otherwise known as atrisfire1, blames it on the selfishness of the right wing in the United States. The comic underneath that is posted helps demonstrate this person's feeling on the matter. The "I'm with them" sign held by an anthropomorphic coronavirus, is there with the anti-mandate crowd, making it apparent that the author of this tweet sees the anti-mandate crowd as the ones who spread the virus the most.
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  2022-04-12

  Vacuna contra COVID19

  This is an Instagram post by eldiariodetlaxcala. This is written in Spanish and is about information for people to get the AstraZeneca vaccine. This event will be held for two days. In the picture, we see volunteers working to help administer the vaccine. Only people 18 and above are eligible for this vaccine, and it is being held in Ocotlán, Tlaxcala.
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  2022-01-27

  Populist nations fared much worse during Covid outbreak, new research says

  This is a news story from CNBC, written by Chloe Taylor. This is a story about a study that came out about how well populist nations fared under COVID-19 compared to other nations around the world. More than 40 countries were included in this study, with the US, UK, and India being considered populist nations at the time that this was conducted. In 2020, the study claims that excess deaths were more than twice as high for populist ran governments. For comparison, the countries that were not considered populist in this study include Canada, Sweden, and Japan. For every 100 COVID related deaths, non-populist countries had an additional 8 deaths. In populist led countries, it was an additional 18 deaths for every 100 deaths. The study attributes this to higher citizen mobility that was allowed in populist nations, leading to more spread of the virus. It also claims that populist governments downplayed the severity of the virus itself, giving people the impression that things were safer than they actually were.
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  2022-01-19

  Man Calls Out PM Orbán after Mother Dies from Coronavirus

  This is a news story from Hungary Today by Júlia Tar. A man's mother and sister from Nagykanizsa both died from the Coronavirus. Later, this man calls out Prime Minister Viktor Orbán because he believes PM Orbán did not properly protect his family. His mother was vaccinated with Sinopharm, a Chinese vaccine. The PM himself received Sinopharm as his first two doses, with Moderna as his third dose. The man describes feeling hurt seeing his mother die in the hospital after she contracted the Coronavirus.
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  2022-04-03

  Man in Germany gets 90 COVID-19 shots to sell forged passes

  This is a story by The Hill about a German man from Magdeburg getting the COVID vaccines a copious amount of times in order to make forged vaccine cards. The man in question is 60 years old and was caught in Eilenburg in Saxony. The article states that we do not know what effects will happen after getting the vaccine 90 times. The German government has been trying to crack down on forgeries of vaccine cards. This probably speaks of a bigger nationwide issue, where people will want forgeries if forced to get the vaccines that they see as against their will. With that, brings people like this man who will get the vaccine many times in order to make money off of selling forged vaccine cards.
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  2022-04-03

  The can-do vaccine spirit must be applied to refugees

  This is a news story written by The Sunday Times (cannot find author). The Sunday Times is a British paper and this is detailing the contrast between the generosity of the British citizens towards Ukrainian refugees, but the lack of care from the British federal government. It says that over 200,000 people and organizations have registered to sponsor refugees in the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The overall story is not about the vaccines themselves, but the author is wishing for the can-do attitude of distributing vaccines in the UK to be applied to the refugees. Of the visas applied by refugees, for families, 32,300 applied for a scholarship, but only 4,700 were issued. I think that during the pandemic, the author that wrote this got more used to the government being lenient in helping, but now when faced with a refugee crisis, lacks that same helpful spirit.
• 
  2022-03-26

  Russia spread anti-vax lies in Ukraine. Will it cause a COVID crisis for Europe?

  This is a news story from the Los Angeles Times by Melissa Healy and Emily Baumgaertner. The authors claim that even prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that Russia has been working to undermine the confidence of Western vaccines. It says that these messages were encouraged by President Vladimir Putin and shown on Russian TV and social media. In Ukraine, only 35% of residents are fully vaccinated, some of the lowest in all of Europe. This makes the refugee crisis in Ukraine more dire, as people needing to leave will risk spreading COVID more places. The authors assert that with the low vaccination rates of Ukrainian refugees that it will cause another surge in COVID cases throughout Europe. The CDC has advised countries accepting refugees to offer them the vaccine upon entry. This article details that this is not the only vaccine that Ukrainians have not accepted as much compared to the rest of Europe. In 2021, only 53% of Ukrainian babies were vaccinated against polio. That number has now risen to 76% of infants being immunized against polio. Though, the likelihood of these diseases spreading as far as COVID are fairly low. The vaccine hesitancy, the authors say, is rooted in deep distrust of the government. In December 2020, only 14% of Ukrainians reported having trust in their government in a poll.
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  2022-03-30

  President Biden Pressures Congress for Emergency COVID funds

  This is a news story written by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Emily Cochrane and Noah Weiland for the New York Times. The article writes of how President Biden believes this is not a partisan issue, but a matter of health. President Biden is said to have received his second COVID booster prior to making this announcement. Another aspect this story brings up is how BA. 2, a new COVID variant, has made itself known, raising concerns for once it gets to the United States. President Biden has made it known that as these new variants pop up, we will be in our "Next Normal", where masks and other such requirements will be used when needed. In other words, there is no real "end" to the pandemic.
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  2021-07-22

  CDC Resources in Languages Other Than English

  Information on COVID-19 must be available to all individuals if the US as a society and as a country are to successfully deal with this virus and prevent deaths and illness. This information must be available in a variety of languages other than English to meet the needs of those who are not proficient in the English language. The CDC created a website with a wealth of information and materials for individuals in languages other than English, including materials for migrants and refugees. The CDC also has a website for Spanish-speaking individuals.
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  2021-04-19

  Navajo Department of Health Public Health Emergency Orders through 19 April 2021

  These eight documents are the eight Public Health Emergency Orders issued by the Navajo Department of Health issued through 19 April 2021.
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  2021-04-07

  Indian Health Services COVID-19 Infections by Service Area through 04/07/2021

  Indian Health Services is an agency of the United States federal government that oversees and administers healthcare to that nation's Native American populations and tribal reservations. This webpage from the Indian Health Services has three sections that address general Coronavirus (COVID-19) information and links, COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution and Administration by IHS Area, and COVID-19 Cases by IHS Area. it also includes a hyperlink to an interactive map for up-to-date COVID-19 Cases by IHS Area: https://maps.ihs.gov/portal/apps/StoryMapBasic/index.html
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  2020-11-11

  Hungary Government Proposes Gay Adoption Ban As COVID-19 Rages

  The story from Reuters talks about how the country of Hungary has people who want to ban Gay adoption as COVID-19 is raging around the world. It is important to note that there are many people who are losing loved ones and who will need a home in the future. The proposed ban would not allow people who are both domestic and international to adopt from this country that currently has a COVID-19 rate that is going up. The Prime Minister is proposing that there be an Amendment stating that children be raised with Christian traditional gender roles. Hungary currently does not allow for same-sex marriage.
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  2021-03-03

  I wish it was a joke

  I came across this post on Instagram tonight. I read it as a joke at first, until it hit me that it actually (and sadly) isn't a joke. I scrolled through the comments and realized that so many people replied to this post in memory of their lost loved ones. What comes off as a joke about government and taxes suddenly hits you hard when you take a second to reflect on the statement. Last year I did know anyone who had lost a loved one to covid, a year later I don't know anyone who hasn't.
• 
  2021-01-21

  West Contra Costa Unified School District Food Services Meal Distribution During the Pandemic

  This is an example of what many schools in California are doing for children and families during stay-at-home orders of the pandemic, as part of efforts of the US Department of Agriculture. Many families face food scarcity issues and the meals provided at school are sometimes the only source of food during the day for students. During the pandemic, many children will face food scarcity issues if they do not attend school in person. This school district has organized meal boxes that provide breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack. The website provides the pickup information in both English and Spanish to meet the communication needs of the families in their district, and stresses the importance of food for students' health and well-being.
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  2020-07-21

  Doctor's Testify at Senate Hearing on COVID-19 Racial Disparities Among Seniors

  The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging hears from doctors who discuss the racial health disparities among seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mortality rate for older African Americans is 3.6 times higher than for older white Americans. This racial health disparity is also apparent for Native American and Latino populations. Many of these people have no or little insurance and are in poverty, directly leading to poorer outcomes in their health and greater risk of dying from COVID-19.