Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

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I really have my fingers crossed that my middle 3 (aged 6, 8, 11) children will be eligible to receive vaccines soon. … and fully vaccinated before the next wave crashes, Because with the 30% or so hold outs will keep it mutating in their bodies.

3 y/o won’t be likely to get it any time soon, but at least for awhile, he’ll be shielded by a bubble of vaccinated children & adults. I don’t let anyone near us who is unvaccinated.

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

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The Food and Drug Administration is planning to allow Americans to receive a different Covid-19 vaccine as a booster than the one they initially received, a move that could reduce the appeal of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and provide flexibility to doctors and other vaccinators.

The government would not recommend one shot over another, and it might note that using the same vaccine as a booster when possible is preferable, people familiar with the agency’s planning said. But vaccine providers could use their discretion to offer a different brand, a freedom that state health officials have been requesting for weeks.

The approach was foreshadowed on Friday, when researchers presented the findings of a federally funded “mix and match” study to an expert committee that advises the Food and Drug Administration. The study found that recipients of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose shot who received a Moderna booster saw their antibody levels rise 76-fold in 15 days, compared with only a fourfold increase after an extra dose of Johnson & Johnson.

Federal regulators this week are aiming to greatly expand the number of Americans eligible for booster shots. The F.D.A. is expected to authorize boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines by Wednesday evening; it could allow the mix-and-match approach by then. The agency last month authorized booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for at least six months after the second dose.

An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will take up the booster issue on Thursday; the agency will then issue its own recommendations. By the end of the week, tens of millions more Americans could be eligible for extra shots.

The study presented to the F.D.A.’s advisory panel last week, conducted by the National Institutes of Health, suggested that Johnson & Johnson recipients might benefit most from a booster shot of the Moderna vaccine. A shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine also raised the antibody levels of Johnson & Johnson recipients more than Johnson & Johnson did, the study found, although not as much as Moderna did. The N.I.H. researchers tested a full dose of Moderna’s vaccine for a booster shot, but regulators are also considering whether to authorize a half dose.

Experts emphasized last week that the new data was based on small groups of volunteers and short-term findings. Only antibody levels — one measure of the immune response — were calculated as part of the preliminary data, not the levels of immune cells primed to attack the coronavirus, which scientists say are also an important measure of a vaccine’s success.

The study’s researchers warned against using the findings to conclude that any one combination of vaccines was better. The study “was not powered or designed to compare between groups,” said Dr. Kirsten E. Lyke, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who presented the data.

While the research on mixing and matching doses is somewhat thin, even some scientists who have strongly criticized the Biden administration’s booster policy said that providers should be given a measure of discretion as the campaign ramps up.

“If you look at the data, it certainly looks like it might be better,” Dr. Paul A. Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said of Moderna or Pfizer boosters for Johnson & Johnson recipients. “I think we should move quickly on this, because it’s already happening.”

At the meeting on Friday of the Food and Drug Administration’s expert panel, of which Dr. Offit is a member, top C.D.C. officials argued that providers needed latitude to offer different vaccines as boosters because patients might have had adverse reactions after their initial shots or presented other new concerns. Providers also might not have access to a vaccine a patient initially received, they said.

The federal government will cover the cost of a different vaccine as a booster only if the Food and Drug Administration authorizes the approach, officials said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/18/us/p ... sters.html


Europe has already been mixing doses, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer or Moderna seems common.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3404
Supreme Court Refuses to Block Maine’s Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers

This week, the United States Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal from Maine residents seeking to block a mandate requiring health care workers in the state to obtain COVID-19 vaccines by the end of this month.

The Court has previously rejected requests for injunctions on laws or policies at the city level, or by universities that required such mandates. This latest action is the first time the Court has acted on a state-wide mandate on vaccines.

The order from the Court, authored by Justice Stephen Breyer on Tuesday, noted that petitioners could still attempt to undo the mandate through the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The application is denied without prejudice to applicants filing a new application after the Court of Appeals issues a decision on the merits of the appeal, or if the Court of Appeals does not issue a decision by October 29, 2021,” Breyer wrote in the order.

A panel within the First Circuit court also rejected an emergency stay of the policy on Friday, but a legal appeal to a lower court’s order affirming the legality of the mandate could still be filed.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced the policy in early September, saying it would be enforced for all health care workers in hospitals and nursing homes in the state. The workers affected by the mandate have until October 29 to get vaccinated, or risk losing their jobs.

“Anyone who is placed in the care of a health care worker has the right to expect – as do their families – that they will receive high-quality, safe care from fully vaccinated staff,” Mills said last month.

As a result of the mandate from Mills, dozens of health care workers have left their posts, which has led to an “acute shortage” of nurses, according to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. But the majority of health care workers in the state have complied with the order.

Polling shows that Americans overwhelmingly want workers in a number of industries to be vaccinated for COVID-19, particularly within the health care industry. An August Associated Press-NORC poll, for example, found that 62 percent of Americans believe hospital and other health care workers should be vaccinated, while only 19 percent said they opposed the idea.

President Joe Biden has proposed a new rule that would require health care workers across the country to be vaccinated if they work for a health care group or company that receives federal Medicare or Medicaid funding. According to a Gallup poll last month, 63 percent of Americans back that provision of the president’s proposed mandate.
https://truthout.org/articles/supreme-c ... e-workers/

As a retired RN I think it is very stupid for a healthcare worker to refuse to get vaccinated. Same would go for any public service worker such as police, fire, EMTs/Paramedics or anyone that is in constant contact with the public.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3405
TrueTexan wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:05 pm
Supreme Court Refuses to Block Maine’s Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers

This week, the United States Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal from Maine residents seeking to block a mandate requiring health care workers in the state to obtain COVID-19 vaccines by the end of this month.

The Court has previously rejected requests for injunctions on laws or policies at the city level, or by universities that required such mandates. This latest action is the first time the Court has acted on a state-wide mandate on vaccines.

The order from the Court, authored by Justice Stephen Breyer on Tuesday, noted that petitioners could still attempt to undo the mandate through the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The application is denied without prejudice to applicants filing a new application after the Court of Appeals issues a decision on the merits of the appeal, or if the Court of Appeals does not issue a decision by October 29, 2021,” Breyer wrote in the order.

A panel within the First Circuit court also rejected an emergency stay of the policy on Friday, but a legal appeal to a lower court’s order affirming the legality of the mandate could still be filed.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced the policy in early September, saying it would be enforced for all health care workers in hospitals and nursing homes in the state. The workers affected by the mandate have until October 29 to get vaccinated, or risk losing their jobs.

“Anyone who is placed in the care of a health care worker has the right to expect – as do their families – that they will receive high-quality, safe care from fully vaccinated staff,” Mills said last month.

As a result of the mandate from Mills, dozens of health care workers have left their posts, which has led to an “acute shortage” of nurses, according to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. But the majority of health care workers in the state have complied with the order.

Polling shows that Americans overwhelmingly want workers in a number of industries to be vaccinated for COVID-19, particularly within the health care industry. An August Associated Press-NORC poll, for example, found that 62 percent of Americans believe hospital and other health care workers should be vaccinated, while only 19 percent said they opposed the idea.

President Joe Biden has proposed a new rule that would require health care workers across the country to be vaccinated if they work for a health care group or company that receives federal Medicare or Medicaid funding. According to a Gallup poll last month, 63 percent of Americans back that provision of the president’s proposed mandate.
https://truthout.org/articles/supreme-c ... e-workers/

As a retired RN I think it is very stupid for a healthcare worker to refuse to get vaccinated. Same would go for any public service worker such as police, fire, EMTs/Paramedics or anyone that is in constant contact with the public.

I agree with you TT, especially healthcare workers who can easily pass it on to very vulnerable patients. This is a highly contagious virus and the most vulnerable are the elderly and immunocompromised, the frail elderly are the most are risk.

SCOTUS first denied students who complained about the vaccine mandate at Indiana University, I didn't hear Barrett who is from Indiana or any other justice dissent. NYC teachers appealed to Sotomayor who oversees the 2nd Circuit and she refused to bring it as an emergency action to the court. Not surprised they upheld Maine's mandate.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3406
The US Food and Drug Administration authorized booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Wednesday and also said any of the three authorized vaccines could be used as a booster in a "mix and match" approach.

But it left in place a complex formula for who should get get boosters and when, with officials saying they may simplify the framework as more safety data comes in.
Now vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will consider the FDA's authorization, and offer their own advice. If CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signs off, people could start getting Moderna and J&J boosters within days.

The FDA gave emergency use authorization for a half dose of Moderna's vaccine as a booster for people fully vaccinated at least six months ago who are also at least 65, or who are at least 18 and at high risk of severe Covid-19 or have frequent institutional or occupational exposure to the virus.

It also authorized booster doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine for anyone who got that vaccine, so those 18 and older, at least two months ago.
The CDC's vaccine advisers, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, meet Thursday to decide on whether to recommend the FDA's authorization for the American people, and then the CDC director will decide whether to sign off on ACIP's guidance.

The FDA said it decided to allow the mix-and-match boosters after National Institutes of Health researchers presented their findings last week to its vaccine advisers. Although the findings were limited, they made it clear mixing up the different vaccines was safe.
The agency gave some examples for how this might work.

"For example, Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine recipients 18 years of age and older may receive a single booster dose of Janssen [J & J] COVID-19 Vaccine, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (half dose) or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine at least two months after receiving their Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine primary vaccination," it said.

"In another example, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine recipients falling into one of the authorized categories for boosters (65 years of age and older, 18 through 64 years of age at high-risk of severe COVID-19, and 18 through 64 years of age with frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2) may receive a booster dose of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (half dose), Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine or Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine at least six months after completing their primary vaccination," it added.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/20/health/m ... index.html

Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted on Thursday to recommend booster doses of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines.

The vote came moments after they voted to recommend booster doses of the Moderna vaccine.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices accepted the US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorizations for each vaccine – after considerable discussion about whether such broad authorization was needed for Moderna’s. Members broadly agreed that people who got Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine need a second vaccination, as that vaccine is less effective than Moderna’s and Pfizer’s in preventing infection.

What happens next: It will now be up to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky to accept or modify the committee’s recommendation. The CDC will also issue detailed clinical guidance spelling out what people should consider in seeking out and getting booster shots. This will include whether people may mix and match vaccines.

The FDA gave emergency use authorization Wednesday for booster doses of Moderna’s and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccines. The FDA also authorized a mix and match approach – saying people could get any vaccine as a booster, regardless of which vaccine they got for the initial immunization.

The FDA’S EUA covers Moderna recipients who were vaccinated at least six months ago or longer, who are 65 or older or who are 18 or older and at high risk of severe coronavirus infection because of a medical condition or because of working or living conditions – medical staff, for instance. That’s the same as the existing EUA for Pfizer’s vaccine. The EUA for the Janssen vaccine is for anyone who got that vaccine two months ago or longer.

ACIP modified its interim recommendation to use the same language to cover Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines jointly.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/corona ... index.html
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3407
A booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine was found to have a high efficacy -- 95.6% -- against Covid-19 in a Phase 3 trial, the companies announced on Thursday. They noted that "efficacy was consistent irrespective of age, sex, race, ethnicity or comorbid conditions."

The trial included more than 10,000 fully vaccinated people, age 16 and older, who randomly received either the 30-microgram booster dose of vaccine or a placebo. The median time between completing their initial second dose of vaccine and receiving a booster or placebo was about 11 months, the companies said.

Pfizer and BioNTech reported that during the study, there were 109 Covid-19 cases among people who received a placebo and five cases among those who received the third dose of vaccine. The companies noted that the vaccine efficacy they found, of 95.6%, reflects that reduction of disease among those who received a booster shot versus those who did not. These are the first results from a randomized, controlled Covid-19 vaccine booster trial, the companies said, and they reflect a period when the highly contagious Delta variant was prevalent.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/21/health/p ... index.html

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is 93% effective in preventing hospitalization due to Covid-19 among children ages 12 to 18, according to a study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine effectiveness differed only slightly within that age group, with 91% effectiveness for children age 12 to 15 and 94% effectiveness for those age 16 to 18.

The study included 464 patients -- 179 hospitalized with Covid-19 and 285 hospitalized for other reasons -- across 19 pediatric hospitals in 16 states between June and September 2021, a time period when the Delta variant was dominant. The majority of patients had at least one underlying condition (72%) and attended in-person school (68%), and most patients were from southern states, as Covid-19 transmission was high in that region during this timeframe.

Patients were considered fully vaccinated against Covid-19 if they had received their second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at least 14 days before illness onset. Those partially vaccinated -- with only one dose or with less than 14 days since the second dose -- were excluded from the analysis.
Among the 179 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in the study, 97% were unvaccinated. All of the critically ill patients were unvaccinated, including about 43% (77 patients) were admitted to an intensive care unit, 29 received life support during hospitalization and two died.
Clinical trial data from Pfizer/BioNTech found the vaccine to be 100% effective against hospitalization among children age 12 to 15, and this real-world analysis also found vaccination to be highly effective in reducing the risk of hospitalization among those age 12 to 18.

Currently, 46% of children age 12 to 15 and 54% of those age 16 to 17 are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data, a smaller share than any adult age group.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/19/health/p ... index.html
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3408
Despite vaccination rollouts, several states, particularly those in colder climates, are beginning to see a rise in infections.

"You're starting to see an uptick in cases in the colder parts of the country and as people are driven indoors without masks on," former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNN earlier this month. "The delta wave has not run through the United States... I think we have a couple of months to go."

Experts have been warning for weeks that colder areas may see an uptick in cases this winter.

"We may be starting to see the delta surge in the northern parts of the country that were relatively spared over the summer," said John Brownstein, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News contributor.

In recently released forecasts, the PolicyLab at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reported that infection rates in parts of the Midwest and Mountain states remained "stubbornly high," and that despite declining transmission in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and in California, a period of resurgence may be on the horizon for northern regions of the country.

"We can take some comfort this week in the fact that national daily case counts have dropped below 100,000 and national adult and pediatric hospital censuses have declined by 50% since late summer," the group wrote, adding that the country must still be prepared to see a resurgence.

In the Midwest, many counties throughout Minnesota and Michigan have had a significant rise in cases, while other states (Delaware, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming) are reporting high transmission in nearly every county, according to federal data.

"Coronaviruses tend to thrive in winter months and colder weather," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said. "Right now is not the time, as cases are coming down to become complacent because we do know colder weather is ahead of us."

These local increases in cases are being accompanied by an uptick in hospitalizations. Ten states (Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wyoming) are already seeing a higher number of hospital admissions.

In Montana, forecasters noted that cities are experiencing the highest rates of case incidence and hospitalizations they have seen throughout the pandemic, mirroring what happened in Idaho last month. Similarly, in Utah, the outlook continues to worsen, specifically in the Salt Lake City region, as resurgence spreads to a wider geographic area.

According to the PolicyLab, the regional variation across the country makes predicting the trajectory of this period of the pandemic challenging. While the team wrote that the likelihood of a fall and winter resurgence in northern areas "seems more probable," there is "uncertainty about the magnitude, duration and breadth of geographic regions that will be impacted."

"We need to expect that, as we enter a season of shorter, colder days that will push more people to gather indoors, we will soon see a widening geographic distribution of resurgent transmission in many locations," forecasters wrote.

The group noted that the Northeast did not experience a significant surge last year, until the holiday season in November and December, and added that nationally, case incidence increased rapidly just after Halloween last year, surging through the New Year.

"As winter approaches, indoor mixing, especially among the remaining unvaccinated populations, means that we will likely continue to see increases in cases. The biggest remaining question is whether we have vaccinated enough of the population to see a decoupling with hospitalizations and deaths," added Brownstein.

People who have not been fully vaccinated are 6.1 times more likely to test positive with the virus and 11.3 times more likely to die from it, compared with people who are vaccinated, according to federal data.

Although nearly two-thirds of Americans have now received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, more than 112 million Americans remain completely unvaccinated. Approximately 64 million of those unvaccinated Americans are people over the age of 12, and thus, are currently eligible to get the shot.

PolicyLab experts say it is therefore critical for communities to act now in order to "maximize vaccinations among children and adults so that we can prevent local surges in all regions this winter and finally move toward the waning days of the pandemic."
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/northern- ... d=80653281
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3409
U.S. health officials are keeping a close eye on an emerging Covid-19 subvariant, dubbed "delta plus," that some scientists say may be more contagious than the already highly transmissible delta variant.

Formally known as AY.4.2, delta plus includes two new mutations to the spike protein, A222V and Y145H, which allow the virus to enter the body. Those mutations have been found in other Covid variants, so it's unclear how dramatically those changes affect the virus.

Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, said it could be 10%-15% more contagious than delta, which first appeared in India and spreads easier than Ebola, SARS, MERS and the 1918 Spanish flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Delta has an R-naught, or reproductive rate, of eight or nine, according to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, meaning that every person who has Covid will spread it to up to nine other people. The "wild type" or original strain of Covid had an estimated R-naught of about three. Someone infected with the delta variant carries 1,000 times the viral load of the original Covid strain.

India's Ministry of Health reported in June that delta plus was more transmissible than the delta variant, adding that the subtype binds more strongly to lung cell receptors and could even reduce the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody treatments.

The mutation has been detected in the U.S., but there hasn't been a noticeable uptick in delta plus cases nationwide, Walensky said at a White House Covid briefing Wednesday.

"We particularly monitor for sublineages that could impact therapeutics, such as monoclonal antibodies and vaccines," Walensky said. "At this time, there is no evidence that the sublineage AY.4.2 impacts the effectiveness of our current vaccines or therapeutics."

The AY.4.2 subvariant has been detected in at least five cases in the U.S. since August: in Washington, D.C., California, North Carolina, Washington state and Massachusetts, according to Outbreak.info. The website collects data from GISAID, a global genomic database on Covid and influenza cases.

Top health authorities have cautioned for weeks that more powerful and potentially vaccine-resistant Covid variants could develop as long as widespread outbreaks continue to occur, fueled by billions of people worldwide who remain unvaccinated. White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said in August that the U.S. could be "in trouble" if another mutation surpassed delta, asking the unvaccinated to get their shots in hopes of curbing a surge that crushed the nation's health-care systems this summer.

Delta plus could also eventually affect the age groups eligible to receive Covid booster doses, Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration's lead vaccine regulator, said Wednesday night. The FDA and CDC have authorized Covid boosters for a wide array of adults in the U.S. from all three manufacturers in the U.S.: Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.

"The exact age of that will be based on what we see of the emerging situation, which is quite dynamic right now because we continue to see reports of new variants coming up," Marks said. "And we're also seeing changes in the epidemiology of Covid-19 in our country right now with new hotspots coming up even as certain places die down."

Concerns over delta plus are running high in the U.K., where officials are battling a surge in cases and facing a renewed health crisis. Delta plus cases represented roughly 6% of all sequenced Covid cases as of the week beginning Sept. 27, according to the latest data from the country's Health Security Agency. The sublineage is "increasing in frequency" in the U.K., the agency noted, and doctors from the National Health Service Confederation in London are calling for a return to stricter Covid protocols heading into the winter.

But global health leaders are urging the public not to panic. Though the emergence of a Covid subtype isn't the same as an entirely new variant evolving, keeping track of delta's progression could allow the medical community to better understand the mutation, Dr. Sylvain Aldighieri, Covid-19 incident manager at the World Health Organization's regional branch for the Americas, said at a briefing Oct. 6.

"Looking to these additional changes, it may help researchers to track the variants on a fine scale," Aldighieri said. "But they do not imply any functional or biological difference."
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/22/covid-u ... he-uk.html


One news report said the CDC is looking at redefining what "fully COVID vaccinated" means. Dr Fauci has said that fully vaccinated could mean 3 doses of an approved vaccine.


UWash pandemic projections.
https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-s ... &tab=trend
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3411
Very smart featureless, I'm doing the same.

Reading UK articles, their infection rate is going back up and UK's National Health Service officials are warning that the government needs to bring back COVID restrictions. BoJo washed his hands of COVID restrictions when they fully reopened, he doesn't want to go there again.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3412
Texas universities with federal contracts are caught between Greg Abbott and Joe Biden over COVID-19 vaccine mandates

Many Texas universities — which collectively hold billions of dollars in federal contracts — are wrestling with how to navigate the Biden administration’s mandate that all federal contractors be vaccinated by Dec. 8 in a state that bans vaccine mandates.

While more public universities across the country are announcing that all employees must be vaccinated to comply with the federal requirement, several Texas public universities — all managed by Gov. Greg Abbott appointees — told The Texas Tribune they are still evaluating the executive order, which applies to new federal contracts of $250,000 or greater and awarded as of Nov. 14 or existing contracts that have been renewed as of Oct. 15.

“This is unprecedented,” said Michael LeRoy, a labor law expert at the University of Illinois College of Law. “There have been conflicts between the state and federal government, but not at this magnitude with this kind of money on the line.”

LeRoy believes the issue will be resolved in the courts because of the two conflicting issues at the center. State universities receive funding from the state and federal level but they are run by a board of regents appointed by the Texas governor.

While LeRoy said it’s unlikely the federal government will immediately terminate a grant if universities don't comply, he said a university’s actions could impact future bids for federal grants. The federal government could begin to give notice to rescind a grant, he speculated, but that is a lengthy process. For now, universities are awaiting guidance from their own lawyers.

“... [T]he White House has been clear that noncompliance will not be excused, even in situations where state law contradicts the federal directive,” University of Houston spokesperson Shawn Lindsey told the Tribune in a statement. “It’s an extremely complicated situation that requires further analysis.”

Texas Tech University is working with its lawyers to determine if there are contracts that would trigger the vaccination requirement, school officials said in a statement. Texas Tech is also requesting guidance from the Texas attorney general’s office.

A Texas A&M University System spokesperson said they are also still evaluating the order. The A&M system has about 500 contracts with the federal government worth $2 billion, most of which are tied to the flagship university in College Station.

A statement from the University of Texas System revealed how universities are trying to appease both federal and state leaders.

“We will endeavor to comply with federal vaccine requirements for specific, covered individuals to protect these investments in our state,” spokesperson Karen Adler said in a statement. She then went on to say the system would provide exemptions for those with religious beliefs and “we will make every effort to accommodate employees’ personal situations.”

Adler did not immediately respond to follow-up questions clarifying if the university will require all employees to be vaccinated. President Joe Biden’s executive order already allows for exemptions for disability or religious beliefs.

Baylor University, Texas State University and Southern Methodist University, which have received federal contracts as recently as 2018, according to a federal website tracking public money given to universities, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

Through a spokesperson, Abbott criticized Biden’s vaccine mandate.

“The Biden Administration left Texans in the impossible position of having to choose between providing for their families or being fired for not getting the COVID vaccine because of their religious belief, medical condition, or personal conscience,” Renae Eze, a spokesperson for the governor, said in a statement. “And they left employers with the unfair choice of either violating federal regulations or losing their valued employees. Having spent his entire time in office fighting for the rights and freedoms of all Texans, the Governor will not abandon Texans worried about putting food on the table, and our office continues working with the Office of the Attorney General to do just that.”

Outside of Texas, several universities have opted to comply with Biden’s vaccination mandate for federal contractors. On Friday, the University of Kansas and Auburn University in Alabama announced they would implement vaccine requirements for all employees, joining Arizona’s largest public universities, Penn State University and the University of Delaware.

“KU participates in millions of dollars in federal contracts that fund research, employment and educational efforts — all of which are at risk if we are not aligned with the executive order,” Chancellor Douglas Girod wrote in a letter Friday. “For this reason, we cannot be flexible with employees who choose not to comply with the vaccine requirement.”

More than 1,000 public and private colleges and universities across the country have required vaccines of at least some students or employees, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

According to Sept. 24 guidance released by the Biden administration, those who are included in the order are broad, including employees who work in human resources, billing, legal review and perform work “in connection with a Federal Government contract” must be vaccinated.
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/25 ... -mandates/

He that pays the piper get to call the tune.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3415
Wow. I had my Moderna booster yesterday. Felt fine all day, then rigors at like 1 am. My body was shaking uncontrollably and my teeth were rattling. I had to wake up my wife because I was so scared--I thought I was going to have a seizure.

This morning, there isn't a muscle cell or skin cell that doesn't hurt. I can barely walk to the bathroom.

What the hell? I'm not used to feeling ill, and I don't like it. It's a waste of a good day.

Anyone else react like this?

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3419
Wow that was a quite a reaction and it's only half of the dose given in the first and second shots.
As for the dose, initial Moderna vaccination consists of two 100-microgram shots. But Moderna says a single 50-microgram shot should be enough for a booster.
https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus- ... 67fd5d8617

Back in January when I got my first dose of Pfizer I was given a CDC flyer about "V-Safe" their after vaccination health checker. They've followed up with me after 1st and 2nd doses and started back up after my booster in September. I don't know if you had any time after your initial doses to sign up but they should know about this reaction.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... vsafe.html

Hope you're resting and feeling better today cooper.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: New SARS type virus spreading in China

3425
sikacz wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:50 am I need to see about getting boosters for us.
I had a really sore arm at the shot location for about three days, was more tired than normal for a few days and had a bodacious headache for two days. Nothing though that really was an issue and we were in classic Valley plants having sex in public times so that was most likely the headache. Plant just need to get a motel.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

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