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Stanford Doc Jay Bhattacharya Calls Vaccine Mandates ‘Unethical,’ Says Patients Can Choose

Newsweek reported:

Stanford University Professor of Medicine Dr. Jay Bhattacharya believes it is “unethical” to mandate people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Bhattacharya joined Newsmax hosts Steve Cortes and Jenn Pellegrino on Tuesday night’s Cortes & Pellegrino to answer their questions about the virus and the vaccine.

Cortes asked the doctor whether he thought it was medically ethical to mandate children and teens to get the virus. He added that young people are not at great risk for serious infections.

Indiana University Students Appeal Federal Judge’s Refusal to Block Vaccine Mandate

The Defender reported:

A group of Indiana University (IU) students on Tuesday appealed a federal judge’s ruling denying their motion to put the university’s COVID vaccine mandate on hold pending the outcome of a federal lawsuit they filed last month.

The students also asked the district court to prevent the university from enforcing the mandate while the appeal is pending.

In a hearing on the preliminary injunction Monday, the district court found the students’ constitutional rights were at issue, but failed to acknowledge these rights were fundamental.

Pediatricians’ Group Says All Kids Should Wear Masks in School, but Some States Block Such Mandates

CNN reported:

As students return to school in the coming weeks, some will be masked and some won’t. With different state laws around what schools can require — and some schools enforcing masks and others not — the ever-changing rules have left some parents, teachers and students confused.

A new CNN analysis has found that at least nine states — Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Vermont — have enacted legislation that prohibits districts from requiring masks in schools. The list of schools banning mask mandates has been constantly changing, but so far they are all states with Republican governors.

No, Delta Doesn’t Mean the Vaccinated — or Children — Need to Mask up Again

New York Post reported:

With COVID cases in the country rising as the Delta variant spreads, the best thing political and public-health leaders can do is encourage the hesitant to get vaccinated. Yet many are instead undermining confidence in the shots, which have proven overwhelmingly effective against the new strain.

That’s the message sent by calling for — and in some cases instituting — a return to mask mandates, even for the vaxxed.

CDC Advises Masks for Unvaccinated Students, Staff but Nashville Schools Won’t Require Them

The Tennessean reported:

New COVID-19 recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics advising unvaccinated students and staff to continue wearing masks inside school buildings won’t be enforced in most Tennessee schools this fall — but some Nashville parents are pushing back.

Metro Nashville Public Schools recently announced that students and staff will not be required to wear masks this fall, joining other districts across the state, including Murfreesboro City Schools, Rutherford County Schools, Williamson County Schools and Wilson County Schools in Middle Tennessee.

New Jersey Hospital Network Fires 6 Supervisors for Not Getting Vaccinated Against COVID

ABC News reported:

A New Jersey hospital network has fired a half-dozen high-ranking employees who refused to comply with a new policy requiring them to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

RWJBarnabas Health, one of the largest health care systems in the Garden State and in the nation, announced in May that it was mandating COVID-19 vaccination for all staff at the supervisory level and above, effective immediately. Those employees were required to have completed their course of vaccinations no later than June 30.

Parler CEO George Farmer: Big Tech’s COVID Censorship — It’s so Much Worse Than We Thought

Fox Business reported:

Over the past year, examples of Big Tech censorship have multiplied, particularly around the topic of COVID-19. Questioning the wisdom of forcing children to wear masks, or even sharing news articles that challenged social distancing rules were enough to engage the social media giants’ censors. Facebook, Twitter, and others flagged posts, blocked certain content, and even banned some users for daring to question the established positions.

What has become apparent only in the last few weeks, however, is the involvement of the Biden White House in calling the shots on Big Tech’s COVID censorship. The White House has now admitted to monitoring private citizens’ Facebook pages, and asking Facebook to block content it finds objectionable.

Biden’s Attempt to Rope Big Tech Into More Censorship Is Downright Sinister

New York Post reported:

President Joe Biden wants to suppress speech that discourages Americans from being vaccinated against COVID-19. Because the First Amendment doesn’t allow him to do that, he is asking Facebook and other social-media giants to do it for him.

Or at least, that’s the way White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who calls the Biden administration’s demands for speech restrictions “our asks,” describes the situation. But given the federal government’s power to make life difficult for Facebook and other firms, the line between a request and a command is hazy, and so is the line between private content moderation and government censorship.

NYC to Require Vaccines or Weekly Tests for City Health, Hospital Workers: Sources

NBC New York reported:

New York City will require all workers at city-run health care facilities and hospitals to be vaccinated or take weekly COVID tests, with positivity rates continuing to tick upward as the delta variant spreads, City Hall officials told NBC New York.

Mayor Bill de Blasio will release details regarding the requirement at his regular 10 a.m. news conference on Wednesday, sources said. The plan is aimed at the one-third of all health care and hospital workers in the city still not vaccinated.

Mark Cuban Offers Cole Beasley Vaccine Proposal With Financial Incentive

Yahoo!Sports reported:

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban presented Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley with an offer on Tuesday morning that he may not be able to refuse: a share in Pfizer stock for his wife.

That’s only if Beasley follows through on the promise of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and encourages others to get the vaccine on his social media accounts.

SIAC Makes Vaccination Mandatory for Athletes

Albany Herald reported:

The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced Tuesday that a mandatory vaccination policy will be in place for student-athletes competing in the conference beginning in the 2021-22 school year.

Pursuant to this policy, all SIAC student-athletes, athletic related staff, coaches, officials and auxiliary groups (e.g., coaches, officials, marching bands, dance and cheer) participating in SIAC-sponsored sports are required to be fully vaccinated with a CDC-authorized COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with CDC guidelines. Albany State is a member of the SIAC.

Hawley Says Biden Claims 12 People Responsible for COVID Misinformation Comes From ‘Foreign Dark Money Group’

Fox Business reported:

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said a “foreign dark money group” is behind the research cited by the Biden administration that 12 social media personalities are responsible for the majority of vaccine misinformation online.

“For days now, the Biden’s Administration has said 12 people are ‘guilty’ of spreading #COVID19 ‘misinformation’ on social media. Who compiled this list for them? The Center for Countering Digital Hate. A foreign dark money group,” Hawley tweeted on Tuesday, accompanied by a Guardian article titled, “Majority of COVID misinformation came from 12 people, report finds.”

France Forced to Soften Rules After Coronavirus Green Pass Backlash

Politico reported:

The French government, which last week introduced some of Europe’s toughest measures against COVID-19, has been forced to row back on some restrictions following a pushback from industries and street protests.

Among the new rules, French President Emmanuel Macron sought to turbo-drive vaccinations by making proof of vaccination or immunity mandatory to enter cafés, restaurants and a range of other venues this summer.The scheme, which goes further than other big EU countries, was introduced to help break a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in France, driven by the more contagious Delta variant. On Monday, the government spokesperson Gabriel Attal warned that the increase in cases was “stratospheric” after France’s incidence rate increased by 125 percent in a week.