Governments are stepping up their efforts to convince people to get inoculated against COVID-19, with Quebec becoming the first province to announce a special tax on the unvaccinated.
The move, announced by Premier François Legault on Tuesday, mirrors that of European nations that have forged ahead with a form of mandatory vaccination.
Ekstra Bledet, a major newspaper in Denmark, apologized for publicizing government-issued COVID-19 information unquestioningly rather than conducting independent investigations in an article titled “We Failed.”
Roberts voted with 6-3 majority on OSHA rule and voted with 5-4 majority on healthcare rule.
Kavanaugh voted with 5-4 majority on healthcare rule.
Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Barrett voted no on both rules.
What about all the people who were fired for not being vaxed?
The pandemic is now in its 23rd month and a highly contagious new variant is running rampant. Safe and effective vaccines are readily available and unvaccinated citizens are contributing disproportionately to a medical crisis that makes life harder and more dangerous for everyone.
So there are surely some — perhaps many — among the vaccinated who would like to see the unvaccinated suffer significant consequences for their intransigence, up to and including financial penalties. Ideally, such consequences also would minimize the number of people who remain unwilling to get the shot.
Ontario reports 35 new COVID-19 deaths; hospitals caring for record number of patients
Ontario reported 35 new COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, with hospitals reporting a new all-time high for combined acute and ICU admissions in the province.
The Ministry of Health said that there 3,630 people admitted to hospital with COVID-19 on Thursday, up from 2,472 one week ago.
Of those, there were 500 adults in intensive care, up 162 from one week ago.
Individuals who are fully vaccinated represent 78.1% of Ontario’s total population and account for 181 of Ontario's 500 ICU admissions.
There are 9,909 new cases of #COVID19.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) January 13, 2022
Canadian truckers crossing U.S. border now exempt from new COVID-19 rules, feds say
The federal government is backing down from mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for cross-border Canadian truckers just days before the new rule was set to take effect.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Border Services Agency told Global News Wednesday that unvaccinated Canadian truckers crossing from the United States will remain exempt from testing and quarantine requirements after arriving in the country.
We look at a COVID-19 remedy called monoclonal antibodies—or MAB for short. They are basically antibodies made in a lab and they can potentially be life-saving. But this treatment is in short supply in many areas in the U.S. including but not limited to Connecticut, Nevada, and Ohio. NTD spoke with CEO Michael Einhorn who runs Dealmed. He says there are a lot of reasons for the shortage of MABs, but he says government intervention is a main driver.
Following Quebec’s decision to impose a tax on the unvaccinated simply for remaining unvaccinated, Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says they have no intention of “forcibly, physically vaccinating” Canadians.
They also had no intention of vaccine mandates.
The study, which was conducted by Kaiser Permanente Southern California but has not yet been peer-reviewed, also showed that people with Omicron infections are 74% less likely to need to be placed in the intensive care unit (ICU). And the study found a 53% reduction in risk of being hospitalized, said Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Legault’s proposal could further erode trust in government, Black Health Alliance executive director says.
The billionaire gave a weirdly content-free statement to Devi Sridhar
Very few private individuals have had a bigger impact on the global fight against the Covid pandemic than Bill Gates. Through the work of his foundation, the tech billionaire is a major player. What he has to say on the issue is worth our attention.
More children in Canada need to get their COVID-19 jabs, Trudeau says
“Almost half of kids across this country have gotten their vaccine. … We need to get more, so please ask your parents if you can get vaccinated,” Trudeau said, addressing children directly during a regular briefing.
It is not, nor ever will be, rightly called a health tax. It’s a punishment tax. A punishment tax for exercising adult judgment on your own health. Who owns universal health care? Is it the citizens who fund it, or the politicians and bureaucrats who think they are in charge of it? Who, in Quebec and elsewhere, are now using as a bludgeon what was supposed to be a universal solace.
A Quebec Superior Court judge has temporarily suspended a father’s right to see his child based on evidence that the man is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and appears to oppose government anti-pandemic health measures.
In a decision published Dec. 23, Justice J. Sebastien Vaillancourt wrote that continued visitation was not in the interest of the 12-year-old child or the child’s two younger half-siblings, given the state of the pandemic.
Ontario’s top doctor said Wednesday that he would not recommend a tax on those who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 and said that Quebec’s plan seems “punitive.”
Dr. Kieran Moore was asked during an unrelated press conference Wednesday for him comments on Quebec’s planned tax on the unvaccinated and whether Ontario should consider a similar measure.
China has reportedly set up brutal, eerie-looking “quarantine camps” as at least 20 million people are in restrictive lockdowns weeks ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Video posted to Twitter shows staff fully covered in white protective clothing standing near row upon row of small white cubicles lined up on the grounds of what appears to be a sports stadium.
Other footage claims to be from within one of the cell-like temporary buildings, with the occupant showing just a bare-framed bed and small, dirty-looking bathroom.
