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Who Can Opt Out of School COVID Vaccine Mandate? California Lawmakers Eye Crackdown + More
Who Can Opt Out of School COVID Vaccine Mandate? California Lawmakers Eye Crackdown
Los Angeles Times via Yahoo!News reported:
When Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that California would require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a critical caveat was tucked within the nation-leading announcement: Parents can opt their children out of inoculation based on personal beliefs.
Newsom did not define the criteria for obtaining those exemptions, leaving the task to state public health officials. Now, lawmakers are expressing concerns that allowing broad exemptions in the mandate will undermine the state’s effort to protect schools if too many families decide against vaccination.
Exclusive: Government Secretly Orders Google to Identify Anyone Who Searched a Sexual Assault Victim’s Name, Address and Telephone Number
The U.S. government is secretly ordering Google to provide data on anyone typing in certain search terms, an accidentally unsealed court document shows. There are fears such “keyword warrants” threaten to implicate innocent Web users in serious crimes and are more common than previously thought.
“Trawling through Google’s search history database enables police to identify people merely based on what they might have been thinking about, for whatever reason, at some point in the past. This is a virtual dragnet through the public’s interests, beliefs, opinions, values and friendships, akin to mind reading powered by the Google time machine,” said Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Man Behind COVID Licking Hoax Sentenced to Federal Prison
A San Antonio man on Monday was sentenced to more than a year in prison for claiming on social media that he paid someone with COVID-19 to go to area grocery stores and lick products.
A federal jury found 40-year-old Christopher Charles Perez guilty on two counts criminalizing false information and hoaxes related to biological weapons, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Perez said the two messages he posted on Facebook were meant to deter people from shopping as he believed there were too many people at grocery stores. An FBI investigation determined that the threats were a hoax.
Coronavirus Update NY: Vaccine Mandate Looms for More Healthcare Workers
The Visiting Nurses Association on Manhattan’s East Side is just one home healthcare agency bracing for possible staffing shortages today, as another vaccine mandate takes effect.
Workers in adult care facilities, home health agencies, long-term home healthcare programs and hospice care across the state of New York have until Thursday night to get their first COVID shot.
There are about 250,000 home health aides statewide. It is estimated about 1 in 5 are not vaccinated.
Mayor de Blasio Indicates COVID Vaccine Mandate for Civil Service Employees Could Be Next
Now that New York City courts have confirmed again and again that the city can mandate COVID-19 vaccines from its employees, Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated that firefighters, corrections officers and police officers could be next.
Currently, civil service employees must either be vaccinated or have a negative COVID-19 test every seven days. Even without the mandate, Commissioner Shea says 68% of the NYPD workforce is vaccinated.
Fired for Refusing a COVID Vaccine? You Likely Can’t Get Unemployment Benefits
As businesses and lawmakers increasingly require workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine, thousands of holdouts are losing their jobs — and they likely can’t collect unemployment benefits.
However, there may be exceptions, depending on a worker’s situation, according to employment experts. Some state legislatures are trying to change their rules altogether.
VERIFY: No, the Federal Government Can’t Mandate Vaccines to the General Public. Here’s Why.
Can the federal government mandate vaccinations for the general public?
The federal government can’t mandate vaccinations for the general public. However, vaccine mandates may be applied to specific groups under the federal government’s jurisdiction.
This is why President Biden’s administration tasked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — or OSHA — with creating and implementing a vaccine mandate for America’s workforce and not the general public.
Maskless and Unvaccinated, Millions of Pupils Have Returned to English Schools
As the debate on masking in classrooms rages in the U.S, England, as with its risky move to fully reopen society in July, is chartering its own course. Despite competing scientific advice, in September millions of mostly unvaccinated children returned to school — with new government guidance. Masks, in the English classroom, are no longer recommended.
The risk of death in unvaccinated children, according to the U.K. government’s vaccine surveillance reports, remains very low. In one study published in July by researchers from University College London, and the Universities of Liverpool, Bristol and York during the first 12 months of the pandemic, 25 under 18-year-olds died from COVID in England, which amounts to a mortality risk of 2 in a million.
Canada Issues COVID Vaccine Mandate for Travelers 12 or Older on Trains and Planes
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday announced a nationwide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for rail and air travelers as well as staff. “Today we are fulfilling two of our main commitments — mandatory vaccination for federal employees and mandatory vaccination for travel,” Trudeau said.
Canada will also have a vaccine mandate for federally regulated workers in place by the end of the month, according to Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Trudeau said that by the end of October all travelers 12 or older on a plane or train within Canada must be fully vaccinated. Trudeau said there will be a short grace period where unvaccinated travelers or staff “can provide a negative COVID-19 test.”
‘Facebook Can’t Keep Its Head in the Sand’: Five Experts Debate the Company’s Future
The congressional testimony of Frances Haugen is being described as a potential watershed moment after the former Facebook employee turned whistleblower warned lawmakers must “act now” to rein in the social media company.
The Guardian spoke to several experts across the tech industry about what could and should lie ahead for Facebook. The interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
LA City Council Approves COVID Vaccine Mandate for Indoor Spaces + More
LA City Council Approves COVID Vaccine Mandate for Indoor Spaces
The city of Los Angeles now has one of strictest vaccine mandates in the country.
The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance on Wednesday that will require people to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination before entering indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, shopping centers, entertainment venues and personal care establishments beginning Nov. 4.
The city now requires full vaccination or a proof of a negative COVID test for “mega events,” which include any events with more than 10,000 people. This includes sporting events, concerts, and all indoor bars and nightclubs.
Kaiser Permanente Suspends More Than 2,200 Workers for Ignoring Vaccine Mandate
Kaiser Permanente has suspended more than 2,200 employees who have not yet gotten vaccinated, according to reports.
The workers, who make up between 1% and 2% of the healthcare company’s nationwide workforce, have been placed on unpaid administrative leave, according to FOX 2 in the Bay Area.
The company announced the vaccine mandate in August and said this week that employees will have until Dec. 1 to get the vaccine or they could lose their jobs.
Workers Face Mounting Pressure to Get Their Shots — Or Get Fired
As many companies impose COVID-19 vaccine mandates, employees who refuse to get jabbed are getting the ax. Employers in the healthcare and aviation industries have already dismissed thousands of workers who declined to get inoculated.
This week, Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider in New York, said it fired 1,400 employees, who make up less than 2% of its staff, for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Both the company and the state of New York have vaccine mandates in place. New York requires its more than 650,000 hospital and nursing home workers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or else lose their jobs.
Hospital System Says It Will Deny Transplants to the Unvaccinated in ‘Almost All Situations’
The Washington Post via MSN reported:
A Colorado-based health system says it is denying organ transplants to patients not vaccinated against the coronavirus in “almost all situations,” citing studies that show these patients are much more likely to die if they get COVID-19.
The policy illustrates the growing costs of being unvaccinated and wades into deeply controversial territory — the use of immunization status to decide who gets limited medical care. The mere idea of prioritizing the vaccinated for rationed health resources has drawn intense backlash, as overwhelmingly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients push some hospitals to adopt “crisis standards of care,” in which health systems can prioritize patients for scarce resources based largely on their likelihood of survival.
Louisiana Health System Charging Workers $200 for Unvaccinated Spouses
It could pay to encourage your spouse to become vaccinated against COVID-19, especially as the financial cost of refusing to get the jab rises.
Ochsner Health, the largest nonprofit health care system in Louisiana, announced it will charge workers an additional $200 per month to insure their unvaccinated spouses or partners covered by the hospital group’s insurance policies, citing the high cost of caring for and treating patients with COVID-19.
The company referred to the new surcharge, which will take effect in 2022, as a “cost adjustment for adult dependents (spouses and domestic partners) who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.”
What’s Good, Bad, and Missing in the Facebook Whistleblower’s Testimony
“This is not simply a matter of certain social media users being angry or unstable, or about one side being radicalized against the other,” Haugen told Congress. “It is Facebook choosing to grow at all costs, becoming an almost trillion-dollar company by buying its profits with our safety.”
The Senate largely ate it up. Long frustrated by Facebook’s size and power — and, one suspects, by its own inability to address those issues in any constructive way — senators yielded the floor to Haugen to make her case. During the hearing titled “Protecting Kids Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower,” Haugen walked senators through most of The Wall Street Journal’s Facebook Files, touching on ethnic violence, national security, polarization, and more during her testimony.
French Senate Introduces Bill to Mandate COVID Vaccinations for All Beginning January 1, 2022
Following in the footsteps of much of Europe, France has introduced several stringent vaccine mandates that have irrevocably changed the landscape of life in the nation. The city of lights has been illuminated with the allegorical ambiance of pitchforks and torches as massive protests have taken to the streets of Paris since President Emmanuel Macron announced measures on July 12th that require proof of vaccination to enter cafés, restaurants, and even hospitals.
The forewarning of the outcries of those protesters has now reached its apotheosis as the Social Affairs Committee of the French Senate has introduced a bill that will require mandatory vaccinations against COVID-19 for all citizens beginning on January 1st, 2022. The proposed vaccine mandate was introduced by Senator Bernard Jomier on October 4th.
Senator Brad Hoylman Introduces Legislation to End Vaccine Mandate Loophole Used by Joe Rogan
The New York State Senate reported:
Yesterday, Senator Brad Hoylman introduced the Fairly Applying Individual Requirements (“FAIR”) Vaccine Mandates Act which would prevent unvaccinated non-NYC based performers and professional athletes from exploiting a loophole in NYC’s vaccine mandate that allows them to evade local vaccine requirements.
Senator Hoylman said: “If New Yorkers attend an entertainment or sporting event they must provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccine. But New York City grants special privileges to out-of-town anti-vaxxers like Joe Rogan and NBA star Bradley Beal. This loophole puts the health of New Yorkers at risk, so I’ve introduced the FAIR Vaccines Mandate Act to close it. Our message is simple: Get jabbed or get outta town.”
Why You Suddenly Need to Delete Google Chrome
An alarming new update from Google that hasn’t yet made headlines has suddenly put Chrome’s 2.6 billion users at risk of “surveillance, manipulation and abuse.” If you’re one of those users, this nasty new surprise just gave you a reason to quit.
Chrome has serious issues when it comes to protecting your security and your privacy. The world’s leading browser has issued one urgent fix after another this year, as high-risk exploits have been found in the wild; and just a few weeks ago, Google finally admitted it had “accidentally” allowed millions of users to be secretly tracked.
Google says it wants to change, to put your privacy first, that web tracking is now out of control and has resulted in “an erosion of trust.” But as DuckDuckGo warns, “it’s all noise until Google actually agrees to collect less data and do less behavioral targeting.”
Vaccine Passports Mandated in the New World Order
At this moment in western democracies, we are passing into a period of great unrest — social, political, and corporate — where governments are enabling and exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to justify the suppression of civil rights. We became prone to think by merely reciting The Constitution, a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, or great acts of past patriotism that the future liberties are forever secure to us because we simply inherited the fine qualities of common descent and live in the same democratic territories.
This is not about whether one should take the COVID-19 vaccine to protect themselves from illness but rather the dangers of the health crisis becoming the vehicle where totalitarianism has invoked a state of emergency where vaccine passports are compulsory to quell a global and national threat.
‘Dystopian World’: Singapore Patrol Robots Stoke Fears of Surveillance State
Singapore has trialled patrol robots that blast warnings at people engaging in “undesirable social behaviour”, adding to an arsenal of surveillance technology in the tightly controlled city-state that is fuelling privacy concerns.
Officials have long pushed a vision of a hyper-efficient, tech-driven “smart nation”, but activists say privacy is being sacrificed and people have little control over what happens to their data.
Singapore is frequently criticised for curbing civil liberties and people are accustomed to tight controls, but there is still growing unease at intrusive tech.
New York’s Largest Healthcare Provider Fires 1,400 Unvaccinated Workers + More
New York’s Largest Healthcare Provider Fires 1,400 Unvaccinated Workers
New York State’s largest healthcare provider, Northwell Health, has fired 1,400 employees who refused to get COVID-19 vaccinations, according to a spokesman, Joe Kemp.
As with other healthcare companies that have recently terminated workers for not complying with vaccine mandates, the fired employees represent a small percentage of Northwell’s workforce of more than 76,000, all of whom are now inoculated.
Every Airline to Mandate COVID Vaccines for Their Employees
Many airlines fall under President Joe Biden‘s sweeping order that companies with more than 100 employees must ensure workers are vaccinated or undergo weekly testing for the virus.
Many airlines are also government contractors that must meet a December 8 deadline set by Biden to enforce vaccination requirements, without the testing option.
Among the major U.S. carriers, only Delta Air Lines has held off on mandating vaccines for employees, but the airline has said unvaccinated employees enrolled in the company’s health care plan will face a $200 monthly surcharge.
Andrew Wiggins Says He Was ‘Forced’ to Get COVID Vaccine ‘Or Not Play in the NBA’
Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins explained why he got the COVID-19 vaccine, saying he felt “forced” to receive the shot.
Wiggins had been hesitant to take the shot, and risked forfeiture of half his $31.5 million salary for the 2021-22 season if he didn’t.
Where Does Natural Immunity Stand in Fight Over Vaccine Mandates?
With the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate deadline fast approaching, and many states and private employers continuing to require vaccination, many unvaccinated American workers could soon lose their jobs if they don’t comply with these inoculation requirements. That has already been the case for hundreds of health care workers and airline workers across the country who have refused the vaccine.
Among some of the arguments against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates is that immunity from a previous coronavirus infection should count as an alternative to vaccination. This topic has received a lot of attention of late, with NBA players and healthcare workers speaking out and citing “natural immunity” as what they believe to be a valid reason for refusing to get the shot.
How Mass Tech Surveillance Could Turn Us All Into Britney Spears
News reports about Britney Spears being a one-woman surveillance state are troubling on many levels. A recent New York Times investigation uncovered the details. According to a whistleblower, the pop star’s father monitored her every move, then used that information to manipulate or directly control her. This was done under the guise of a court-ordered conservatorship and implemented by Black Box, a private security firm.
The public was shocked by the degree of invasion Spears endured. But considering how thoroughly each of us is digitally tagged, tracked, and fed into the algorithmic mill, her story should be all too familiar. The only difference is, for the moment we still have a choice.
Thousands Protest Washington State’s Vaccine Mandate, Sing National Anthem
Thousands gathered outside of Washington state’s Capitol Building to protest the state’s vaccine mandate, and were heard belting out the national anthem at one point.
“We’re adults and we know how to take care of ourselves,” Kelly Coyle, former state Department of Transportation employee, told The Olympian. “I don’t believe you should force someone to inject something in their body that they don’t want and lose your livelihood.” Coyle said she was forced into early retirement over Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate for state workers.
Between 2,500 and 3,000 people attended what was dubbed the “No, you move” Rally Against the Mandate, on Sunday to protest Inslee’s vaccine mandate for the roughly 63,000 state workers in Washington. State workers are required to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18.
Five-Year Breach Gave Hackers Access to Billions of Text Messages
A company that handles text messaging and general telecommunications infrastructure for carriers around the world has confirmed it has been hacked, with introducers potentially gaining access to some sensitive customer information for years.
Disclosed in an SEC filing on September 27, Syniverse advises an “individual or organization gained unauthorized access to databases within its network” and that its systems accessed by 235 customers had been compromised.
COVID Vaccine Mandate for CT State Workers Goes Into Effect
NBC Connecticut News reported:
As of this morning, Connecticut state employees have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or those who are exempt need to begin getting tested weekly.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 23,600 employees, or 78%, of state employees were are fully vaccinated and 5,500, or 18%, will receive weekly testing, state officials said.
That leaves around 1,200 workers, or 4%, who are still non-compliant with the order.
“Some of those are inadvertent and we treat them with leniency. Some of those are defiant just won’t do it and they’ve gotta go home,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.
Why Are Americans Still — Still! — Wearing Cloth Masks?
The Atlantic via MSN reported:
At this point, cloth masks are so ubiquitous in the United States that it can be easy to forget that they were originally supposed to be a stopgap measure. In April 2020, when surgical masks and highly coveted N95s were first in short supply, the CDC released its initial mask guidance and said cloth masks were the way to go for most people — noting that they could be sewn at home from old T-shirts.
Even at that point, when the pandemic was full of unknowns, we knew that cloth masks, although far better than going maskless, weren’t as protective as other types.
Colorado Officials May Weaken Coronavirus Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers
Colorado health officials have proposed weakening the state’s coronavirus vaccine mandate for health care workers, meaning some employees at hospitals and nursing homes might be able to remain on the job while unvaccinated even if they don’t have a valid exemption.
The proposal comes after the deadline has already passed for workers to receive their first dose of vaccine, and it is causing chaos at some health facilities that have been having difficult conversations with workers who refused vaccination and would have to leave their jobs as a result.
California Doctor Sounds Alarm on Newsom’s Vaccine Mandate for School Kids + More
California Doctor Sounds Alarm on Newsom’s Vaccine Mandate for School Kids: ‘Not Based on Clinical Evidence’
A California doctor sounded the alarm Monday on Governor Gavin Newsom’s new vaccine mandate targeting school-age children, saying his decision was “not based on clinical evidence” but fueled by politics.
“As a physician, the one thing that I’m taught, the one thing that we should all practice is evidence-based medicine, and the evidence-based decisions need to not just extend to the doctor-patient relationship, but also to policies that are made by politicians and public health boards.”
Newsom announced last week all children over 12 years old who are eligible must receive the vaccine in order to attend class. It will not allow a testing alternative.
Justice Sotomayor Denies Appeal From Teachers to Block NYC’s COVID Vaccine Mandate
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday denied an emergency appeal from a group of teachers to block New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public school teachers and other staff from going into effect. The teachers had filed for the injunction with Sotomayor on Thursday, in an effort to keep the mandate from going into effect Friday.
Under the mandate rules, the roughly 148,000 school employees had until 5 p.m. Friday to get at least their first vaccine shot. Those who didn’t face suspension without pay when schools open on Monday.
Critics Slam Twitter Fact Check of Obituary Attributing Young Mother’s Death to Vaccine
Critics are slamming Twitter after the social media company fact checked an obituary of a young mother that attributed her death to a rare blood disorder induced by the coronavirus vaccine.
“This obituary is ‘misleading,’” says Twitter. “For [on Twitter] we are not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead,” unless of course it contradicts what Dr. Fauci or the enlightened government and tech overlords say you must do for your healthcare,” Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy tweeted in response to the fact-checked obituary.
The fact check came after an unverified Twitter account posted a link to the obituary, accompanied by the caption: “Seattle, WA — Jessica Berg Wilson, an ‘exceptionally healthy and vibrant 37-year-old young mother with no underlying health conditions,’ passed away from COVID Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia. She did not want to get vaccinated.”
Facebook Whistleblower Revealed on ‘60 Minutes’ Says the Company Prioritized Profit Over Public Good
The identity of the Facebook whistleblower who released tens of thousands of pages of internal research and documents — leading to a firestorm for the social media company in recent weeks — was revealed on “60 Minutes” Sunday night as Frances Haugen.
The 37-year-old former Facebook product manager who worked on civic integrity issues at the company says the documents show that Facebook knows its platforms are used to spread hate, violence and misinformation, and that the company has tried to hide that evidence.
3 Swiss Guards Who Refused Vaccination Return to Switzerland
Three Vatican Swiss Guards who have refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 upon Holy See orders have voluntarily left the storied corps to return to Switzerland, a Swiss Guard official said Sunday.
Three other guardsmen are temporarily suspended from duty while they await vaccination, he said.
Internet Archive: Forget the Wayback Machine, There’s Now a Wayforward Machine, Too
Unlike its Wayback Machine, which is able to teleport users back in time to see how websites looked in the past, the Wayforward Machine predicts what sites will look like in 2046.
Providing a glimpse into the possible future of the World Wide Web, Internet Archive says its new initiative highlights several issues that could arise in the future, particularly concerning censorship, regulation and governmental interference.
COVID Vaccine Mandates: The Key Question Challenging United Airlines’ Policy
United Airlines (UAL) began firing some unvaccinated U.S.-based workers on Tuesday. However, the airline agreed to postpone plans to put another group of unvaccinated workers on mostly unpaid leave after they’d applied for medical or religious exemptions to its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
Six of those exempted workers are challenging United’s policy in a federal lawsuit in Texas, which employment lawyers say is likely to turn on the nature of the alternatives that United offered to employees who sought exemptions.
The lawsuit, a purported class action that the plaintiffs estimate to include more than 2,000 workers, is being brought by two captains, a flight attendant, a customer service representative, a station operations representative, and an aircraft technician. The group seeks a preliminary injunction and a permanent injunction that would stop United from carrying out plans to place them on indefinite periods of paid or unpaid leave.
House Votes to Create Office for Medical Intelligence to Get Earlier Pandemic Warnings
The House Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to create a new office — and new authorities — to push U.S. intelligence agencies to provide earlier warnings about disease outbreaks and pandemics.
A provision that committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D.-Calif., inserted into the bipartisan annual intelligence authorization bill — which was voted out of committee in a classified session late Thursday afternoon and is likely to become law — would create authorities to counter foreign biological threats, a committee official said on the condition of anonymity.
The Latest: Fauci Addresses Vaccine Hesitancy
Dr. Anthony Fauci says he’s worried that people resisting COVID-19 vaccine shots based on religious grounds may be confusing that with a philosophical objection.
Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, says getting the COVID-19 vaccine is no different in concept than receiving other vaccines such as for measles, which have been done for many years. He says a public health review found “very, very few, literally less than a handful” of established religions which actually oppose vaccinations.
Jithin Muhammed’s Short Film ‘Badar’ Discusses the Impact of Lockdown on Children’s Mental Health
‘The names are made up, but the problem is real.’ Jithin Muhammed’s short film, Badar, begins with this disclaimer. The first-time director talks about a subject that was widely discussed during lockdown — children’s mental health.
Badar, the titular character, is a young boy who lives with his parents in an apartment. Due to lockdown, he is forced to be indoors and his world now revolves around online classes and playing video games on the laptop and his father’s phone.