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Booster Mandates Begin

Axios reported:

Businesses, employers and universities are taking the data into their own hands and requiring booster coronavirus shots.

Booster requirements are steadily rolling out across the country, even though the federal definition of “fully vaccinated” hasn’t yet changed from two shots of Moderna or Pfizer and one of J&J.

Americans are split on what they think the definition of fully vaccinated is, according to Harris polling provided exclusively to Axios. 49% of adults said that “fully vaccinated” means two shots of Pfizer or Moderna or one shot of J&J, and 51% said that “fully vaccinated” now includes a booster.

When asked by a reporter yesterday about changing the official definition of fully vaccinated, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky didn’t give any hints about when that may happen.

Metropolitan Opera Requiring Audience Members to Have COVID Booster to Attend Performances

Newsweek reported:

The Metropolitan Opera in New York City will require all audience and staff members have a COVID-19 booster shot starting on Jan. 17.

The opera house clarified that those not yet eligible for a booster shot “will be able to continue to enter provided they are two weeks past their second dose in a two-dose vaccine series or two weeks after receiving a single-dose vaccine.”

Although booster shots have not yet been approved for children, fully vaccinated kids ages 5 to 11 will continue to be allowed into the Met two weeks after their second vaccine dosage.

Those who are not vaccinated but are able to provide negative test results will not be able to enter the opera.

YouTube Censors Bombshell Joe Rogan Interview With Cardiologist Peter McCullough

Summit News reported:

In a move that will come as a shock to absolutely no one, YouTube is censoring clips of Joe Rogan’s interview with cardiologist Peter McCullough wherein the doctor laid out how early treatment of COVID is being actively suppressed by governments and big-pharma in favour of a blind pursuit to vaccinate everyone.

Texas-based McCullough urged that treatments including ivermectin and monoclonal antibodies are being sidelined in order to “create acceptance for, and then promote, mass vaccination.”

During the three hour long exchange, McCullough also spoke at length about vaccine side effects, including myocarditis in young people. McCullough tweeted out a link to a YouTube video of the interview, which has since been pulled down.

Texas Gov. Abbott Refuses Pentagon Vaccine Mandate: ‘Have Only President Biden to Blame’

Fox News:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott informed the Pentagon that he will not impose the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the Texas National Guard.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Aug. 25 directed all military branches to ensure service members receive the vaccine as numbers surged over the summer. Each branch of the military observed a different deadline, with the Air Force and Navy required to comply by Nov. 2 and Nov. 28, respectively.

As Fox reported Wednesday, five state governors called on the Pentagon to rescind the vaccine mandate for National Guard members, but Abbott on Thursday sent a letter to Secretary Austin clearly stating he will not enforce the mandate on his state’s service members.

Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Will Decimate Our Military

Fox News reported:

President Biden is threatening to discharge every member of the military who expresses a religious exemption or nothing more than a cautionary reluctance to immediately obey his sweeping vaccine mandate. This would be as unnecessary as it is unjustified.

As many as 50,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are on the brink of being dismissed from service for disagreeing with the Biden mandate or seeking a religious exemption. Some have informed me that instead of being thrown out, they will quit the duty they love, give up the mission they have trained for, and separate from their brothers in arms whose lives they swore to protect — and who swore to protect theirs.

Think about the myriad Biden vaccine mandates on private sector employees, healthcare professionals, the federal workforce and its contractors. All were challenged successfully by a union, a lobby, a business interest, even attorneys general from more than a dozen states. All were stayed, delayed or halted.

Only the military vaccine mandate remains unchanged, barreling toward its devastating toll.

Army Has Over 3,800 Refuse to Get COVID Vaccine, Could Be Removed From Military Next Month

Newsweek reported:

More than 3,800 members of the Army have refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine by this week’s deadline, setting them up for a potential ouster from the military beginning in January.

Six soldiers resisting the mandate were fired from leadership roles and more than 2,700 others have already been issued written reprimands, according to Army data.

The Army, the largest U.S. military service, also reported the lowest number of members requesting religious exemptions. While 1,700 Army soldiers applied for exemptions, about 4,700 in the Air Force, 3,000 in the Marine Corps and 2,700 in the Navy made the requests, according to recent data from the services. No religious exemptions have been authorized yet.

Five Governors Call on Pentagon to Rescind COVID Vaccine Mandate for National Guard Members

Fox News reported:

Five Republican governors have sent a letter to the Pentagon asking the Department of Defense to remove its coronavirus vaccine mandate on National Guard members.

The letter was signed by Governor Mark Gordon of Wyoming, Governor Mike Dunleavy of Alaska, Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi, and Governor Pete Ricketts of Nebraska.

National Guard members answer to the governor of their respective state unless activated for federal servers which has put governors at odds with the Biden administration regarding his vaccine mandate for members of the military.

NYC Shares Details, Exceptions for Private-Sector Vax Mandate; State COVID Rates Soar

NBC New York reported:

City Hall released comprehensive guidelines Wednesday on the looming private-sector vaccine mandate set to take effect later this month, a strictest-in-the-nation order Mayor Bill de Blasio has called a preemptive strike against the triple COVID threat posed by Omicron‘s emergence, Delta‘s severity and the holiday season.

Starting Dec. 27, all private-sector workers who have not filed for reasonable accommodations must provide proof of full vaccination or at least one dose to their employers. If an employee is not fully vaccinated, the individual must submit the date by which proof of the second dose will be provided. That date must be within 45 days of the date they submitted proof of their first dose, according to the city.

All employers will keep a record of each worker’s proof and the exemption requests and should be prepared to make their records available for inspection.

New California Rules End Distinction for Vaccinated Workers

Associated Press reported:

Workplace regulators are poised on Thursday to extend California’s coronavirus pandemic regulations into next year with some revisions that business groups say could worsen the labor shortage.

The main change to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s revised temporary rule is that it would erase current distinctions between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees.

Both would be barred from the workplace if they come in close contact with someone with the virus. “Treating vaccinated and unvaccinated people similarly really denies the scientific value of the vaccine and disincentivizes vaccination,” said Rob Moutrie, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce.

Factbox: Countries Making COVID Vaccines Mandatory

Reuters reported:

Governments have been making COVID-19 shots mandatory for health workers and other high-risk groups, pushed by a sharp upturn in infections caused by the Delta variant and a slowdown in vaccinations as well as the new Omicron variant.

A growing number of countries are also making shots compulsory for public servants and other workers.

Here are some countries’ vaccine mandates, listed according to categories of people affected:

Thousands Protest COVID Rules as New Zealand Marks 90% Vaccine Rates

Reuters reported:

Thousands marched in New Zealand’s capital Wellington on Thursday to protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and lockdowns, as the country reached the 90% fully vaccinated milestone.

New Zealand’s tough lockdown and vaccination drives have helped keep coronavirus infections and related deaths low, but it has also drawn criticism from some calling for more freedoms and an end to mandatory vaccine requirements.

The government has mandated vaccinations for teachers, workers in the health and disability sectors, police and other public service sectors.

South Korea Bans Gatherings of 5 or More People Amid Virus Surge

Associated Press reported:

South Korea will prohibit private social gatherings of five or more people nationwide and force restaurants to close at 9 p.m., rolling out the country’s toughest coronavirus restrictions yet as hospitals grapple with the deadliest month of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Thursday that the new measures will be enforced for at least 16 days after taking effect on Saturday, saying there’s an urgent need to bring the country to a “standstill” with the delta-driven surge overwhelming stretched hospitals and exhausted medical workers.

Schools in the densely populated capital Seoul and nearby metropolitan areas, where the virus has hit hardest, will also go back to remote learning after fully reopening in November.

Ad Exchange OpenX Slapped With FTC Fine for Collecting Location Data on Children

TechCrunch reported:

OpenX, an advertising tech company, will pay $2 million to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to settle allegations that the company violated federal children’s privacy law.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the FTC alleges that OpenX violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children under 13 without obtaining parental content.

The California-based company is also accused of knowingly collecting information from hundreds of apps marketed for children, toddlers and for preschool learning, before passing this data — including granular location data, IP addresses and unique device identifiers — to third parties that used the data for targeted advertising.

9 Movies That Warn You to Steer Clear of Zuckerberg’s Metaverse

Gizmodo reported:

Mark Zuckerberg is all about the metaverse these days. By metaverse we mean a hypothetical future version of the internet that functions as a persistent, three-dimensional virtual world enabled by technology like VR and AR headsets.

One may notice that virtually all fictional versions of the metaverse are kind of dystopian — either imagining it as a form of escape from a crumbling physical reality ravaged by unchecked capitalism or an entry to a dangerous new one, privy to manipulation and new forms of control by powerful mega-corporations, malicious hackers, and demonic artificial intelligence.

These nine old movies (we’re defining “old” as released prior to the turn of the millennium) are a flashing warning sign to steer clear of Facebook’s forthcoming Metaverse.