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Joe Biden gives an update on federal surge response to Omicron
The Supreme Court has tossed out a Biden administration vaccine mandate that would have required 80 million workers to either get vaccinated or submit to regular testing.
In a blow to the president’s push to get more Americans vaccinated, the ruling comes as health experts believe that the US may be approaching the peak of the latest wave of Covid-19 brought on by the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Fauci has defended remarks made during a recent hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director was heard calling Senator Roger Marshall “a moron” when the senator questioned if he should have a publicly available financial disclosure form on Tuesday.
Dr Fauci told MSNBC on Wednesday that he was stunned to know “that a sitting United States senator doesn’t realise that my financial statement is public knowledge”.
The infectious diseases expert also clashed with Senator Rand Paul during the hearing, who he accused of politicising the pandemic and “kindling the crazies” with his remarks. Dr Paul has since doubled down on his remarks.
Dozens of scientists and medical professionals have signed a letter defending Dr Fauci from criticism that is “inaccurate, unscientific, ill-founded in the facts and, increasingly, motivated by partisan politics”.
Recommended Fauci defends outburst after calling senator a ‘moron’ on hot mic ‘You are distorting everything about me’: Fauci tears into Rand Paul for using ‘pandemic for political gain’ with personal attacks Fauci is showing his teeth. The only question is why he didn’t do so earlier
Key points Supreme Court blocks Biden vaccine mandate Has Omicron peaked in the US? Rand Paul: Fauci ‘ deserves everything he gets’ Scientists and medical professionals rally around Fauci ‘Urgent need’ for super vaccine as other variants emerge
Show latest update 1642113915 NBC News: 1 million new cases of Covid in 24 hours
NBC News reports that the number of Covid-19 cases in the US has now topped 63 million since the start of the pandemic.
There were 1 million new cases in 24 hours from the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 22:45
1642113015 Before mandates there were incentives
Before the White House introduced vaccine mandates in the late summer of 2021, the vaccine had been available for almost nine months.
To encourage take-up, a number of incentive schemes around the country received White House support.
Ben Wakana of the Covid-19 response team provides a few examples:
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 22:30
1642112115 SCOTUS decision doesn’t change reality of pandemic
If you are unvaccinated you are far more likely to get hospitalised and die from Covid-19.
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 22:15
1642111215 Flashback: OSHA — small agency, big job
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t make many headlines. Charged with keeping America’s workplaces safe, it usually busies itself with tasks such as setting and enforcing standards for goggles, hardhats, and ladders.
And then it was directed to write a rule requiring employers with more than 100 workers to require vaccines or produce weekly test results.
Small agency, big job: Biden tasks OSHA with vaccine mandate The Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t make many headlines
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 22:00
1642110015 What did the court decide?
The Supreme Court voted 6-3 along ideological lines to toss out Joe Biden’s mandate for businesses requiring those with more than 100 workers to institute vaccination or regular testing requirements.
A second 5-4 ruling in the court allowed the administration’s requirement for healthcare workers to be vaccinated to remain in place. Conservative justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh sided with the liberal justices on that decision.
However, the first ruling is nevertheless a major blow to the plan the president announced last year.
In their majority opinion, the six justices wrote that although Covid-19 was indeed a hazard faced by many employees at their workplaces, it did not fall under the legal definition of an “occupational hazard” that OSHA, the US government agency which enforces labour standards, could regulate.
Supreme Court tosses out Biden vaccine mandate for businesses Move is latest blow to White House facing scrutiny over Covid-19 strategy
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 21:40
1642109135 Trump issues statement on SCOTUS decision
Former President Donald Trump has released a statement through his spokesperson Liz Harrington”
The Supreme Court has spoken, confirming what we all knew: Biden’s disastrous mandates are unconstitutional. Biden promised to shut down the virus, not the economy but he has failed miserably on both — and mandates would have further destroyed the economy. We are proud of the Supreme Court for not backing down. No mandates!
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 21:25
1642108895 SCOTUS: Most noteworthy congressional action on vaccine mandate was disapproval
Justices note in their decision that the “most noteworthy action concerning the vaccine mandate by either House of Congress has been a majority vote of Senate disapproving the regulation on December 8, 2021.”
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 21:21
1642108475 Ron Klain and Alyssa Farah trade tweets about SCOTUS decision
Mike Pence’s former press secretary Alyssa Farah shared her thoughts on the Biden vaccine strategy and received a response from current White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.
Ms Farah tweeted: “Problem with Biden’s vaccine strategy from the outset: 1) he completely skipped over trying to educate & persuade vaccine skeptics & went straight to mandates, which makes many skeptics dig in their heels 2) Virtually no one thought the mandate would ultimately hold up in Court.”
She added: “So here we are: people are as divided as ever on vaccines. I have to wonder if spending a few months engaging in targeted public awareness campaigns dispelling fears & myths about the vaccine would have done more good in terms of getting shots in arms.”
Concluding: “I know a few smart women who were nervous to get the vaccine before getting pregnant or when getting pregnant. And as much as we’d like to assume everyone’s personal doc is telling them the medical consensus, some aren’t. These people are persuadable.”
Mr Klain responded to her initial tweet, writing: “We didn’t impose ANY vaccine requirements until August, and the one the Court stayed today was not announced until September. These requirements were used only after persuasion, incentives ($100 to get a vax), and final FDA approval were all in place.”
To which Ms Farah responded: “FAIR. But I think we need MORE persuasion. Some people will never budge - but I believe many Americans are scared because they’ve received bad, false info. There’s rampant misinfo on women &fertility-that needs to be combatted.”
She added: “Happy to help however I can.” #GetVaxxed #GetBoosted
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 21:14
1642108201 White House will continue to do hard things
Asked by a reporter about the next steps for the administration in the context that “things just seem like they’re going pretty right now for the White House”, Jen Psaki responds by citing successes and by saying they will continue to do hard things.
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 21:10
1642107746 President Biden’s statement on SCOTUS vaccine mandate decision
My administration began to institute vaccination requirements last July, when after months of making vaccinations free and widely available, 90 million Americans were still unvaccinated. Today, that number is down to under 35 million. These vaccine requirements applied to members of the Armed Forces, federal workers and contractors, health care workers, and employees in large firms. Had my administration not put vaccination requirements in place, we would be now experiencing a higher death toll from COVID-19 and even more hospitalizations.
Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the requirement for health care workers will save lives: the lives of patients who seek care in medical facilities, as well as the lives of doctors, nurses, and others who work there. It will cover 10.4 million health care workers at 76,000 medical facilities. We will enforce it.
At the same time, I am disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees at large businesses that were grounded squarely in both science and the law. This emergency standard allowed employers to require vaccinations or to permit workers to refuse to be vaccinated, so long as they were tested once a week and wore a mask at work: a very modest burden.
As a result of the Court’s decision, it is now up to States and individual employers to determine whether to make their workplaces as safe as possible for employees, and whether their businesses will be safe for consumers during this pandemic by requiring employees to take the simple and effective step of getting vaccinated. The Court has ruled that my administration cannot use the authority granted to it by Congress to require this measure, but that does not stop me from using my voice as President to advocate for employers to do the right thing to protect Americans’ health and economy. I call on business leaders to immediately join those who have already stepped up – including one-third of Fortune 100 companies – and institute vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers, and communities.
We have to keep working together if we want to save lives, keep people working, and put this pandemic behind us.
Oliver O'Connell 13 January 2022 21:02
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