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Her Doctor Advised Her to Skip the Booster Shot Over Possible Side Effects. So Her College Expelled Her.
A New York college student who became ill after receiving her second COVID-19 shot has been expelled from school after she refused to take a booster shot on the advice of her primary care physician.
Diamond Ellie Puentes, 20, always had reservations about the COVID-19 vaccine, citing her age, worries about adverse effects, and how quickly the vaccine was developed and put to market. So, she applied for a religious exemption. The school denied her, and in August, Puentes reluctantly received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. She had no reaction, and in September received her second dose.
That’s when Puentes became sick with a sore throat and other symptoms. She later suffered from extreme abdomen pain and vomiting. “These health problems culminated in her going to an emergency room, where she stayed for six hours and was diagnosed with gastritis,” reported The Chicago Thinker, which first broke the story. “Seven months later, she continues to have symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.”
Puentes subsequently provided a doctor’s note and asked for a medical exemption. She received a denial on April 11, 2022.
Big Cash Payment Boosted COVID Vaccination in the Workplace — $1,000 Payment Led to More Vaccinations Among Employees of a Large Private Company
A large cash incentive in exchange for receiving a full COVID-19 vaccination series proved successful among employees of a large private company, a cross-sectional study showed.
Among more than 2,000 employees, 75.7% were fully vaccinated before the incentive announcement, which increased to 86.1% after the announcement, reported Archelle Georgiou, MD, of Starkey Hearing Technologies in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and colleagues.
Cash-based or vaccine lottery incentive programs are not always successful. While one small study found that giving cash cards to underserved communities helped boost vaccination uptake, mixed outcomes were reported in a larger study, Georgiou’s group noted.
‘We Were Terrified’: Family Believes AirTag Used to Track Them at Orlando Theme Park
A family said they were tracked using a device while at an Orlando theme park. Jennifer Gaston said while they were on the monorail on their way back to their car after visiting Walt Disney World, they got a notification saying the owner of an AirTag device was tracking them.
Her daughter said it showed that the device had been tracking them for several hours as they were walking through the theme park. When they got to their car, they quickly looked for it and when they didn’t find it, they jumped inside the car, locked the doors, drove away and called the police. Madison continued to look at the devices’ location on her phone.
AirTags are small, coin-sized Apple devices that people put on things like their keys, so if you lose them you can track them down using your phone. However, some criminals use the devices to follow people.
In fact, in response to growing concerns about how others have misused the devices, some privacy groups have called on the tech giant to permanently pull the gadgets from store shelves.
Twitter Page Mocking Biden Admin’s New Disinformation Board Reels in 150K Followers in Two Days
Orwellian allegories continue to pour in after the Biden administration announced plans to create a new “Disinformation Governance Board” aimed at stifling disinformation that allegedly poses a homeland security threat, but one Twitter account took the criticism a step further by employing clever satire.
The account, which takes a jab at the newfound power bestowed on Biden’s Homeland Security Department by referencing the culture from George Orwell’s infamous “1984” novel, reeled in 150K+ followers in just a couple of days.
The account’s bio takes another jab at the Biden administration’s allegedly dystopian move, describing itself as, “The United States Ministry of Truth, established by the Biden Administration to combat disinformation from political dissidents.”
Orange County Battalion Chief Fired for Not Enforcing Vaccine Mandate Files Whistleblower Lawsuit
The former Orange County firefighter who was fired after he refused to follow the county’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement is taking his fight to court.
Former Orange County Battalion Chief Stephen Davis filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the county and is asking a judge to get him his job back. Davis said the lawsuit is to fight what he says was retaliation for doing what he thought was right for his fellow firefighters.
Davis was fired in October for failure to follow a direct order. That order was to write up firefighters who violated the county’s vaccine mandate, but Davis said he didn’t do that because he said some of the firefighters had filed exemptions.
Officials Are Nervous About Mask Mandates — Even in COVID Hot Spots
More than two years after New York became the global epicenter for the COVID-19 pandemic, the state once again finds itself near the top of the list of U.S. hotspots.
Two-thirds of the counties in the United States flagged by the CDC as having high community levels are in upstate New York, and cases and hospitalizations are still rising, albeit at a slower pace in recent days, across the state.
But unlike in the early days of the pandemic — or even during the recent Omicron surge — Gov. Kathy Hochul and state health officials aren’t pushing mask mandates or other restrictions.
Instead, the Democratic governor, who is running for a full term this year, is taking a more hands-off approach, merely encouraging vaccinations, boosters and mask-wearing, except on public transit and in certain congregate settings where masks are still required.
ICE Spends $7.2 Million to Increase Facial Recognition and Location Tracking of Migrants
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be paying surveillance software company Trust Stamp $7.2 million annually to develop tech to track migrants processed at the southern border, new federal documents show.
Trust Stamp’s contract, which was renewed in April, has it providing ICE with 10,000 smartphones that include the company’s app with facial recognition and GPS tracking, according to the documents. ICE then gives these smartphones to migrants in order to surveil their whereabouts and behavior daily.
The renewal comes just two months after several US lawmakers, led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, demanded that the Department of Homeland Security reduce its surveillance of migrants through ICE’s Alternatives to Detention program.
COVID: India’s Supreme Court Against Restrictions on Unvaccinated in Public Places
No person can be forced to get vaccinated against COVID-19, India’s Supreme Court said on Monday, while noting that the central government’s COVID-19 vaccination policy “cannot be said to be unreasonable or manifestly arbitrary.”
The apex court has also asked the Centre to make public data on the possible adverse effects of these immunizations public. The court gave the judgment in a plea filed by Jacob Puliyel, who had sought directions for the disclosure of the data on clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines and post-jab cases.
“Till numbers are low, we suggest that relevant orders are followed and no restriction is imposed on unvaccinated individuals on access to public areas or recall the same if already not done,” the bench added.
Mental Health Apps Have Terrible Privacy Protections, Report Finds
As a category, mental health apps have worse privacy protections for users than most other types of apps, according to a new analysis from researchers at Mozilla. Prayer apps also had poor privacy standards, the team found.
“The vast majority of mental health and prayer apps are exceptionally creepy,” Jen Caltrider, the Mozilla *Privacy Not Included guide lead, said in a statement. “They track, share, and capitalize on users’ most intimate personal thoughts and feelings, like moods, mental state and biometric data.”
The apps with the worst practices, according to Mozilla, are Better Help, Youper, Woebot, Better Stop Suicide, Pray.com, and Talkspace. The AI chatbot Woebot, for example, says it collects information about users from third parties and shares user information for advertising purposes. Therapy provider Talkspace collects user chat transcripts.
Twitter’s $17 Million Per Year Censorship Czar Could Get Axe Under Musk
Twitter‘s censorship czar Victoria Gadde — who broke down in tears last week during a conference call to discuss Elon Musk’s purchase of the company — stands to lose her job which paid $17 million last year, as Musk is reportedly planning to cut jobs and executive pay as part of the takeover.
Musk expressed “no confidence” in Twitter’s current management following the announcement of his plans to buy the company.
That said, the 48-year-old Gadde – who was behind decisions such as Zero Hedge’s February 2020 ban for speculating that COVID-19 may have emerged from a Wuhan Lab, and former President Trump’s ongoing ban, has a reported $12.5 million severance package, according to the New York Post.
Amazon Ends COVID Paid Leave for U.S. Workers
Giant online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) will end its paid-time-off policy for employees with COVID-19 from May 2, the company told U.S.-based staff on Saturday.
The change follows the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and revised guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it said.
The U.S.-based staff will now get five days of excused, unpaid leave following a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, Amazon told workers in a message it provided to Reuters.
College Students Don’t Want Elon Musk Running Twitter
Nearly six in 10 college students say they don’t want Elon Musk to own and control Twitter. But compared to other billionaires and other social media platforms, Musk and Twitter get pretty favorable reviews, according to a new Generation Lab/Axios poll.
Asked which mega-billionaires they like, 35% selected Musk — well above all others, including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Still, 53% picked “none of the above.”
Compared to TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, students say they have more trust in Twitter (12%) to make wise decisions about important things — although the bigger picture is still grim. 77% trust none of the companies listed. Twice as many say they have concerns about Facebook and TikTok than about Twitter.
Students don’t appear to share Elon Musk’s view that social media culture inhibits free speech. 76% say people can express themselves freely online. Overall, social media is playing a more negative role in their lives. 48% have enjoyed it less over the past few years, while 21% have enjoyed it more.
