The Defense Department previously encouraged immunization, but it was not mandatory. About 65 percent of the 1.3 million service members on active duty have been fully vaccinated, according to Pentagon data from earlier this month.
Here’s what to know.
Kanye West won’t require vaccines or coronavirus tests at Thursday concert
Return to menuKanye West will not require vaccines or proof of a negative coronavirus test for Thursday’s album-listening party at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
The Chicago native will instead reduce capacity, limiting the event to 38,000 people rather than the 63,000 who can fill the football and soccer stadium, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Chicago Park District spokeswoman Michele Lemons told the paper that the event shows the Windy City can remain open while it practices coronavirus safety.
“We have worked with Soldier Field on covid-19 safety protocols, as we have other venues including Wrigley and Guaranteed Rate Fields, and feel this event can be safely held with the proper mitigation efforts in place,” Lemons told the Tribune.
At a previous listening party for “Donda,” the album named for his late mother, fans at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium were offered the chance to receive a Pfizer-BioNTech dose in early August.
Four of 40,000 people who attended received a vaccine at that event, Billboard reported.
Nearly 51 percent of people in Illinois are fully vaccinated, according to The Post’s coronavirus database.
Last year, the rapper and businessman called the vaccine the “mark of the beast,” a biblical reference about followers of the Antichrist at the end of days.
Jail doctor prescribes livestock drug ivermectin to detainees with covid-19 despite FDA warnings
Return to menuAn Arkansas jail and its health-care provider are facing criticisms of “medical experimentation” because the jail’s medical staff has been treating covid-19 patients with ivermectin, a drug commonly used for deworming livestock.
Washington County Justice of the Peace Eva Madison (D) said she heard reports of the practice Tuesday after a county employee visited a Karas Health Care coronavirus testing site at the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville and was prescribed ivermectin despite testing negative for the coronavirus.
Karas is one of three health-care providers accessible to employees on the county health-care plan. It operates in the jail as Karas Correctional Health.
“When this employee told me that, I thought, ‘Our sheriff has common sense. He’ll know what’s going on,’ ” Madison told The Washington Post on Wednesday. Madison said she has a good rapport with Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder but was dismayed when he confirmed her suspicions — and defended the practice.
“He didn’t seem to care that this goes against FDA guidance.”
Neither Helder (D) nor Robert Karas, the owner and lead physician at Karas Heath Care, responded to The Post’s request for comment Wednesday. Helder confirmed the practice to the Northern Arkansas Press-Democrat.
Helder told the Press-Democrat that he has known since July that jail detainees were being treated with ivermectin, and he praised Karas as a health-care partner.
Like hydroxychloroquine before it, ivermectin is a drug whose off-label use has been touted, particularly in conservative media and nonmedical circles, as a covid-19 treatment.
In recent weeks, calls to poison-control hotlines have surged in several states as people snap up the drug in various forms — including buying out livestock supply centers for the veterinary formulation of the drug. Ivermectin can be prescribed for human use in limited doses, typically in tablet form to treat parasitic worms and as a topical cream to treat lice and rosacea, according to the federal Food and Drug Administration.
“No one — including incarcerated individuals — should be subject to medical experimentation,” Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said in a statement. Dickinson cited the FDA’s warning about ivermectin, noting that it can cause seizures and death when misused.
Inconclusive review of virus origins prompts calls for more investigation
Return to menuAn array of activists, scientists and politicians said Wednesday that the Biden administration’s inconclusive report on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic demonstrates the need for further probes, even if that leads the United States into delicate geopolitical territory.
“It is good they did that review, but I don’t think we should all move on just because it was inconclusive,” said Anita Cicero, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “I’m actually disturbed that much of the scientific and public health community seems complacent to make their best guesses and move on without getting to the root cause of the pandemic.”
The administration’s classified review, with portions set to be publicly released as soon as this week, doesn’t rule out that the virus emerged in the wild or that it leaked from a laboratory, officials said. Its pending release has sparked an outcry in China, where officials have bristled at inquires into the possibility of a laboratory leak and state media this week preemptively criticized the U.S. findings.
The findings also caused a stir in the United States, with close observers concluding that the White House report supports their existing positions on the novel coronavirus — even when their positions directly conflict.
“I’m not surprised that the intelligence community would come up with the similar conclusion that the scientific community has, which is you can’t rule out either a natural hypothesis … or this lab leak hypothesis,” said Michael Worobey, head of the University of Arizona’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, who said far more evidence favors that the virus jumped from animals to humans.
“There is no mystery: Overwhelming evidence indicates the COVID-19 virus originated in the Wuhan lab in China,” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who is not a scientist, countered in a statement. “The failure of the Biden administration to reach a definitive conclusion on the origins of COVID-19 shows this was not a serious, objective effort.”
The report, commissioned as a 90-day review, was prompted after President Biden received a May report from the nation’s intelligence agencies saying they had “coalesced around two likely scenarios” but had not reached a conclusion. The president disclosed that two agencies leaned toward the hypothesis that the virus emerged from human contact with an infected animal, while a third leaned toward the lab scenario.
Maryland teacher placed on leave for refusing to wear mask
Return to menuA Maryland teacher who did not comply with a school system mandate to wear a mask was placed on leave Wednesday.
“I have just been placed on administrative leave, and I am leaving the building, followed by all these security guards,” Angela Harders, a special-education teacher at Paint Branch High School, said in a video clip she posted to her Facebook page.
Harders told The Washington Post that she was taking a stand against forced masking, adding that face coverings are at odds with her doctor’s orders and her religious faith. On Facebook, she wrote of “faith over fear” and the rights of “free human beings.” Her Facebook page included a string of supportive comments, with some saying she was heroic or brave.
Harders has been a teacher for 12 years, she said, and has held several positions in Montgomery County Public Schools, the state’s largest school system. She said she had medical-related accommodations last school year and taught virtually until spring, when in-person classes resumed. She said she was then given leeway about masking — wearing a face shield when she entered the building and simply keeping her distance from students in her very small class. Harders said she had not sought similar accommodations for this year and was unaware she needed to start the process over again. School begins Monday.
A Wednesday letter that Harders posted from Paint Branch Principal Afie Mirshah said that she was being placed on leave because of allegations of “inappropriate, unprofessional behavior.”
It said she had been told Monday that she was required to wear a mask indoors on school property and that she was asked to leave when she refused. On Wednesday, the letter said, she was maskless in the school’s main hallway, surrounded by staff members. When approached by the principal, she “refused to comply,” it said.
An investigation will be conducted, the letter said. The leave, with pay, was set for one day.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) on Wednesday announced that all county employees would be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or be tested regularly.
China’s coronavirus lockdown led to an earlier, greener spring, a new study suggests
Return to menuChina imposed its first pandemic restrictions on Jan. 23, 2020. Over the 18 days that followed, travel plummeted 58 percent. From factories to public transit, industries ground to a halt. New research published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances indicates that these changes contributed to an earlier, brighter and greener spring in the country.
“The vegetation basically responded immediately to the change in conditions,” said John P. Wilson, a professor of spatial sciences at the University of Southern California and an author of the study. The findings, Wilson and his co-authors wrote, show that “short-term changes in human activity can have a relatively rapid ecological impact.”
During the lockdown, the study found, there was a reduction in nitrogen dioxide, which is derived from burning fossil fuels and often used as a proxy for greenhouse gas emissions more broadly. Aerosol optical depth, a measure of the degree to which smog and dust impede radiant heat, was also lower. That meant clearer skies and more sunlight reaching Earth’s surface.
To see the ecological response, researchers used satellite data to compare the advent of spring in 2020 with the previous five years (2015 to 2019). The annual seasonal shift, they reported, came an average of 8.4 days earlier and included a 17.45 percent increase in leaf-area coverage.
China is not alone in seeing a steep drop in its emissions amid coronavirus shutdowns. In hard-hit northern Italy, a Washington Post analysis of satellite data found, nitrogen-dioxide levels also plummeted. Globally, one study found that carbon-dioxide emissions dropped by about 2.5 billion tons through December 2020, the equivalent of taking about 500 million cars off the road. Another study reported a peak drop in daily global emissions of 17 percent in early April 2020.
Florida doctor removed from treating patients after offering ‘opt-out’ slips for masks
Return to menuA Florida physician who offered $50 “opt-out” slips for parents not wanting their children to wear masks has been stopped from caring for patients.
Brian Warden, an emergency room physician at Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee, promoted the opt-out documents in a Facebook group called Parents Against Masks, where he invited Leon County, Fla., parents to contact him if they wanted a medical exemption for their child, WCTV reported.
He offered the forms after the Leon County schools superintendent announced Sunday that students in grades K-8 must wear masks unless they have a medical reason, and after the school board voted in support of that decision, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
Through his company, Dove Field Health, Warden offered a signed opt-out form on official letterhead along with PDFs and originals that would be mailed.
“Also, I am a real doctor,” he wrote in the comments of a post explaining that his notes were not affiliated with any hospital or group.
His posts swirled across social media, kicking off demands for him to be canned.
Capital Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Rachel Stiles told The Washington Post in a statement that providers are expected to behave in a way consistent with the hospital system’s values, which include “absolute integrity.”
“Immediately upon learning of this physician’s actions, we began the process of removing him from providing services to our hospital patients,” she said.
The hospital’s CEO notified the board of trustees at Tuesday night’s meeting that he had been removed from patient care, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Warden did not respond to The Post’s request for comment Wednesday evening.
Texas governor prohibits vaccine mandates
Return to menuGov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday banned vaccine mandates in Texas, which is experiencing a surge of infections and hospitalizations spurred by the highly contagious delta variant.
“Vaccine requirements and exemptions have historically been determined by the legislature, and their involvement is particularly important to avoid a patchwork of vaccine mandates across Texas,” Abbott (R) said in a statement.
The governor added the issue of vaccine mandates issued by local governments to the legislature’s next special-session agenda.
Abbott’s stance on banning masks in schools and vaccine orders from local governments has been clashing with school boards and local governments that seek to curtail the spread of coronavirus as the delta variant causes another spike in infections and illnesses in the state.
Last week, the Texas Education Agency announced that it would not enforce the governor’s ban on masking in schools and would wait until legal matters regarding the issue were resolved. Abbott has issued an order prohibiting schools, school districts and local governments from issuing mask mandates. A growing list of school districts has defied the governor’s order.
The Texas Supreme Court has denied Abbott’s request to force school districts to remove their mask mandates.
At least 56 percent of Texans have received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Texas reported more than 23,000 new infections Tuesday, adding to its total of nearly 3.5 million infection cases since the onset of the pandemic, according to Washington Post data.
FDA approval not swaying some vaccine holdouts
Return to menuFederal officials have sought for months to persuade vaccine holdouts who are among the roughly 85 million still-unvaccinated eligible Americans — a largely entrenched population despite a range of incentives, political appeals and now mandates to get the shots. But hopes that many of those skeptics would be swayed by official vaccine approval appear to have been unrealistic, according to interviews with 16 unvaccinated Americans — including six who said this year that they would be more likely to get vaccinated if the FDA approved the shots.
The FDA’s full approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine “increased the likelihood” of getting vaccinated, said Derrick M., a 27-year-old who recently left active-duty military service and like several spoke with The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity for fear that he might be harassed. “But at this time, I’m still not planning to get it.”
The number of still-skeptical Americans — and their willingness to shift the goal posts on what might convince them — underscores that vaccination mandates are essential, said Robert Murphy, an infectious-disease physician and executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
Thousands of employers have imposed vaccination requirements on workers, with a slew of additional organizations, including the Pentagon, CVS Health and more citing the FDA approval when announcing their mandates this week. While regulators had previously authorized the shots for emergency use, the agency’s formal approval is expected to provide further legal cover for companies that had debated requirements.
Only one unvaccinated person interviewed by The Post said the FDA approval had changed his mind — but he’s not eligible to be vaccinated until November because he received Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment for a recent coronavirus infection.
Many skeptics who were waiting on regulators now say they have new doubts.
Air Canada mandates coronavirus vaccines for all employees
Return to menuTORONTO — Air Canada said Wednesday that it will require all employees and future hires to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus or face consequences such as termination or unpaid leave.
Canada’s largest carrier said in a statement that all employees must be vaccinated by Oct. 30. It would make accommodations, it added, for those “who for valid reasons, such as medical conditions, cannot be vaccinated.” It was not clear what other reasons may be accepted.
Air Canada joins other carriers, including Lufthansa and Delta, in taking such a stance. The latter said Wednesday that employees who opt not to get vaccinated must pay a $200 monthly surcharge for health insurance or undergo weekly testing. United this month became the first carrier to require that U.S. employees be vaccinated, with exceptions for medical and religious reasons.
The Air Canada announcement comes during an election campaign in which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tried to position vaccine mandates, which are broadly supported here, as a potential wedge issue.
Trudeau’s government announced several days before he called a snap election that it would require all federal civil servants to be vaccinated, as well as passengers on trains, planes and cruise ships in Canada.
His chief political rival, Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole, has urged Canadians to get vaccinated but has said he would not mandate it and instead would require federal civil servants to undergo regular testing.
Air Canada said it would not offer its employees testing as an alternative.
Trudeau has not said what consequences civil servants who do not comply with the mandate might face. In an online notice that has since been removed, Canada’s Treasury Board, which has oversight of human resources, said it would “consider alternative measures, such as testing and screening” for those federal employees who refuse vaccination. The prime minister said the message was removed because it had been posted in error.
6 trip ideas from health experts for safer travel this fall
Return to menuAs summer comes to an end but the delta variant’s surge does not, it’s difficult for travelers to know what options they have for safe trip-planning. Travel advisories and local pandemic-related mandates are returning, and even Hawaii is asking visitors to stay away amid its rising coronavirus hospitalization rates. Does all of that mean we should stop traveling?
“The short answer is: It depends,” said Jessica Malaty Rivera, an epidemiologist with the COVID Tracking Project.
Although much has changed since 2020, Rivera is erring on the side of caution with travel, much like she did last year. For her, that means risk-reduction efforts such as choosing to drive instead of fly when possible, avoiding crowded settings and researching the vaccination and hospitalization rates of potential destinations. (Rivera recommends that travelers look at the coronavirus websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or a state’s public health website.)
In court filing, Texas attorney general says state cannot enforce ban on mask mandates
Return to menuTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has promised that anyone who defies the governor’s ban on local mask and vaccine mandates “will be taken to court,” with violators facing fines of up to $1,000.
But Paxton seemed to undercut those threats in a court filing this week shared by the attorney for Harris County, one of the many entities suing over the ban as liberal urban hubs clash with their conservative state leaders concerning school mask rules.
“Neither Governor Abbott nor Attorney General Paxton will be enforcing [the ban],” Paxton’s office wrote in a filing dated Aug. 24, which argues that Harris County must sue whoever is responsible for carrying out the measure.
Citing the Texas Supreme Court, the filing says the governor cannot prosecute local leaders for their defiance. The attorney general “cannot bring such a criminal prosecution without the participation of a district attorney,” it adds, and Harris County has “alleged no credible threat of prosecution by local district attorneys.”
Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee said in a statement Wednesday that Paxton is “telling one story to the public and another to the courts, creating confusion for the school districts, superintendents and local officials who are trying to keep students and residents safe as the Delta variant worsens.”
“Texans deserve the truth,” Menefee continued. “If the Governor and the Attorney General cannot enforce the Governor’s mask mandate ban, the folks making tough decisions for our schools and communities have the right to know that.”
Gov. Greg Abbott’s and Paxton’s offices did not respond Wednesday to requests for comment.
Retailer warns of supply chain disruption as virus spreads in Vietnam
Return to menuTo curb Vietnam’s worst-yet coronavirus outbreak, the country is enforcing strict lockdown measures and shuttering factories, triggering supply chain disruptions that underscore the global nature of the public health crisis and its sprawling economic fallout.
On Tuesday, the top executive at Urban Outfitters warned of manufacturing delays, in the latest logistics challenge to businesses grappling with the second year of the pandemic.
“Vietnam is completely locked right now, it will be locked for another one week or two weeks and hopefully then it will be unlocked and we’ll air it in and try to get it in as quickly as possible,” said Chief Executive Richard Hayne during an earnings call Tuesday evening. Supply chain problems are already apparent in some product categories, Hayne said, including dresses and bottoms that are on order.
The company’s share price fell by more than 9 percent during afternoon trading Wednesday.
Over the past week, more than 75,000 new infections were reported in Vietnam, a record high, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. Deaths over the past seven days have also risen to new levels, at 2,542. Unlike in the United States, where more than half the population has been fully vaccinated, the outbreaks of the coronavirus in Vietnam are spreading while only a small portion of its people have received the shots. Only about 2 percent of Vietnam’s population has received the full dosage, the data shows.
Analysis: The GOP struggles with what to do on employer vaccine mandates
Return to menuPresident Biden this week responded to the Food and Drug Administration’s full authorization of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine by calling on employers around the country to mandate it for their employees — which it seems many will.
And Republicans as a party don’t seem to know what to do with that.
In the days since the FDA’s authorization and Biden’s call, Republicans who have otherwise fought tooth-and-nail against vaccine mandates have been surprisingly quiet about the prospect of employer mandates. The few who have spoken out have generally said employers should be allowed to implement them.
The issue has played out in recent weeks and months in a number of states, with some lawmakers pushing for such bans. But unlike the party’s posture toward school mask mandates, government vaccine mandates and so-called vaccine passports, there is little cohesion on this subject. So far only one state bans employer vaccine mandates: Montana.
Taliban takeover could drive coronavirus crisis in Afghanistan as vaccinations plummet, U.N. warns
Return to menuAs thousands of Afghans flee the Taliban takeover, thronging the Kabul airport and huddling in camps, aid agencies are warning that the overcrowded conditions could bring a new surge in coronavirus cases. The turmoil, the United Nations said this week, has already hindered its ability to respond.
The compounding health and security crises come as the country’s already struggling health-care system reels under the weight of conflict, supply shortages exacerbated by the choke point at Kabul airport, widespread displacement and a long-standing lack of resources.
Since the Taliban seized power Aug. 15, coronavirus testing and vaccinations have plummeted, while plans to boost oxygen supply and ICU capacity at hospitals have also been paused, according to the World Health Organization’s representative in Afghanistan.
Coronavirus immunizations fell 80 percent last week in the days following the Taliban victory, a spokesman for UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, said Wednesday. In the week beginning Aug. 15, just 30,500 people were vaccinated across 23 provinces — down from 134,600 people inoculated in all 34 provinces the week before, the agency said.
“A lot of them have been gathering in overcrowded settings,” said Rick Brennan, WHO emergency director for the Eastern Mediterranean region, which includes Afghanistan, in an interview Tuesday. “And clearly covid is not the big priority for most Afghans right now.”