December 10, 2021

Misinformation is tightening its stranglehold on the American psyche. My 9-year-old daughter, Sonia, knows no other world than one where truth and fiction are often indistinguishable. That’s the reality for a generation well-versed with social media and the internet.

This stranglehold is not a looming threat — it’s affecting children right now. Most parents, including many who accepted other childhood vaccines, are hesitant or outright opposed to vaccinating their children against Covid-19. This is despite sound evidence that vaccines are safe and effective and recent endorsements from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are 28 million children 5-11 years old now eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, and 16.7% of them have been vaccinated. Now is an opportunity to teach these children to thrive — not just in a world where Covid-19 poses a constant threat, but in one dominated by misinformation.

Read more at STAT News.

December 10, 2021

LONDON — In England, the prime minister now talks about compulsory vaccinations, just six months after proclaiming “Freedom Day” from coronavirus restrictions. In Germany, the new chancellor has endorsed barring unvaccinated people from much of public life. Next door, in Austria, the unvaccinated will remain confined to their homes, even after the government lifts a lockdown on Sunday.

Across Europe’s democracies, the latest wave of the pandemic is prompting governments to reimpose sweeping restrictions on free movement and mixing in their societies. Only this time, many of the rules single out those who are not vaccinated. That has stirred angry street protests and rekindled a searing debate over how much countries should curtail individual liberties in the name of public health.

Read more at The New York Times.

December 10, 2021

Only about one in 10 Americans say that receiving the Covid-19 vaccine would violate their religious beliefs, while about 60 percent say that too many people are using religion as an excuse to avoid vaccine mandates, according to a new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute and the Interfaith Youth Core.

A majority of Americans are critical of religious exemptions and say that the vaccines do not violate their own religious beliefs or the teachings of their religion, and that there are no valid religious reasons to refuse the Covid-19 vaccine.

The survey indicates a sharp divide between vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans. That gap widens along partisan lines. More than 80 percent of vaccinated Democrats say they are angry at those who refuse to get vaccinated, and similar numbers of unvaccinated Republicans are “angry at those who think they have the right to tell me to get vaccinated against Covid-19.” Less than half of vaccinated Republicans and unvaccinated Democrats say they are angry along such lines.

About one in five Americans say that vaccination has caused major conflict within their families.

Read more at The New York Times.

December 5, 2021

(NEXSTAR) – As a new variant of COVID-19 starts to spread around the world, the Centers for Disease Control is encouraging all adults to get a booster shot as soon as they’re eligible. But what if you’ve just boosted your immunity the hard way by recovering from the virus?

The answer comes down to the debate between natural immunity and immunity garnered from the coronavirus vaccines.

“Immunity after a breakthrough case is imperfect,” David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in an interview with Verywell Health. Immunity from the vaccine is more reliable and may last longer than protection someone has after recovering from the virus, studies show.

Read more at KDVR.

December 9, 2021

The Senate voted Wednesday night to repeal President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate on private businesses with over 100 employees by a vote of 52-48.

Two Democrats crossed party lines and voted with all Republicans present to repeal the mandate.

Both Democratic “yes” votes, cast by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. and Jon Tester, D-Mont., were expected.

Republicans brought up the repeal for a vote using a procedural tool called the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn rules created by federal agencies and only requires 51 votes to pass the Senate.

It’s unclear if the Senate-passed repeal will be brought up in the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not required to bring it up for a floor vote, and at least 218 signatures would be needed to force consideration. Even then, if the House were to pass it, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that Biden would veto it should it land on his desk.

Read more at ABC News.

December 9, 2021

DENVER — While the vast majority of state employees have revealed they’re vaccinated against COVID-19, a few thousand hold-outs have decided to keep their status secret and opt for biweekly testing under state rules, an analysis by 9Wants to Know has found. 

Out of approximately 28,000 state employees under the governor’s vaccination rules, about 16% are either unvaccinated or they haven’t revealed their status. 

A review of employee vaccine data from the Department of Personnel Administration by 9Wants to Know found among agencies, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has the highest non-attest rate at 32%, or about one out of three employees. 

“It’s hard to put it down to one thing. We certainly hear different reasons why,” CDOT spokesperson Matt Inzeo said of the unknown reason why his agency has the highest rate. “We’ve been strongly encouraging everyone to get vaccinated.” 

Read more at 9News.

December 10, 2021

Fewer Coloradans have received their flu shots this year compared to 2020, when a record number of people got the jab.

Why it matters: The downturn could have far-reaching consequences.

• With the Delta variant of COVID-19 still dominant across Colorado and the Omicron variant on the rise, experts are concerned that a bad flu season could leave millions of people vulnerable and health care resources overwhelmed.

By the numbers: 200,000 more Coloradans had been immunized against the flu as of this time last year, state health officials tell Axios. As of Thursday, roughly 1.6 million residents have received the flu shot, just 28% of the population.

• Colorado has recorded at least 36 flu hospitalizations since early October, an outbreak in a long-term care facility and no pediatric deaths, state health department data shows.

Read more at Axios Denver.

December 7, 2021

Watch at 9News.

Gov. Jared Polis on Friday lamented that “misinformation and targeted lies” are creating resistance to vaccine science and killing Coloradans.

Polis was presenting to the legislative Joint Budget Committee about state spending in the 2022-23 fiscal year. He prefaced his budget proposal with a commentary on COVID-19.

“(O)ur hospitals are now filled, largely with unvaccinated Coloradans, many of whom are victims of misinformation campaigns and targeted lies that are being spread about the lifesaving vaccine,” he said.

“Unfortunately it’s that misinformation that’s making these unprotected Coloradans fall victim and get very ill and in some cases die from the virus, as well as making them into vessels for new mutations, like omicron. Not only does this misinformation pose a danger to our public health, but with every new mutation the economy here and across the world is impacted.”

Read more at The Denver Post.

‘The emergency is over,’ according to Governor Jared Polis, who explained on Colorado Matters on Friday that vaccines have changed the COVID-19 landscape, rendering masks useful but not required in the state’s fight against the pandemic. 

Meanwhile, Colorado continues to see a rise in hospitalizations and deaths among unvaccinated patients. With the state’s healthcare system overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients and staffing shortages, public health officials are worried another surge of infections may overwhelm already overworked hospitals and medical staff. And the emergence of the omicron variant in the state has introduced more uncertainty into the fight against the pandemic.

The Governor spoke about why he favors vaccination over mask mandates, despite many metro counties having implemented their own mandates to help control the spread of the virus. “Public health [officials] don’t get to tell people what to wear; that’s just not their job,” the Governor said. 

The Governor spoke about wildfire investigations in Colorado as climate change and population growth increase the likelihood of fires. Polis also pushed his plan for more electric vehicles to offset carbon emissions.

Read more at CPR.