Unvaccinated Send AZ Hospitals Into Crisis

by

The Trump death cult and its nihilistic anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers sabotaging the recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic because they would rather die than take health safety precautions for the sake of others, including their own family members, have created another health emergency in Southern Arizona heading into the Thanksgiving weekend. Another holiday season Covid-19 surge in Arizona, like last year, is entirely predictable in a state where our GQP political leaders continue to fight vaccine mandates and masking mandates.

The Herald/Review in Cochise County reports, Virus still causing issues in Cochise County (excerpts):

“COVID-19 cases and positivity rate of tests are on the rise in Cochise County,” according to Alicia Thompson, Cochise Health and Social Services director.

That rate has been steadily increasing for six months. Part of the problem, she said, is that the delta variant is much more virulent, “meaning it is better at spreading and making people sick.”

Another issue is there are many people in the community who go about unprotected.

“We still have a large portion of our community members who are not vaccinated and who have not yet gotten COVID-19, so there is a large pool of people who are vulnerable to becoming infected with the virus,” Thompson said.

On Wednesday, the Cochise County Healthcare Alliance met in an emergency meeting to discuss the problems patients in county hospitals are experiencing due to the COVID-19 surge.

“The situation is grim,” Thompson said. “Every person in our community who has chosen not to be vaccinated can help by knowing how to stay out of the emergency room. When you are diagnosed with COVID-19, ask your primary care provider about receiving one of the therapeutics to keep you from experiencing severe disease. Don’t wait until you are so sick you have to go to the ER.”

County hospitals are experiencing an increased number of patients being hospitalized, said Camila Rochin, county public information officer, in a press release received by the Herald/Review Wednesday night.

CCHA is comprised of the Cochise County Health Department, local hospitals and additional community partners. They met to discuss the situation, collaborate on resource needs and find solutions to deal with the increased health care needs of patients, both with COVID-19 illness and non-COVID related medical emergencies.

Rochin said local hospitals are “low on resources, struggling with nurse shortages and are now experiencing long wait times for non-COVID patients to be transferred out to larger hospitals for higher levels of care.

“During the hospitals update portion of the meeting, local hospitals expressed their needs for additional support with patient care and transfers. Wait times for non-COVID patients to be transferred to larger hospitals in Tucson are averaging 48 to 96 hours.”

Copper Queen Community Hospital in Bisbee shut down its operating room on Monday night, said Edward Miller, the facility’s chief medical officer. He said that became necessary to ensure there are sufficient people to staff the medical-surgical unit.

Miller said he hopes to reopen it Monday.

Copper Queen is also struggling to transfer patients, while 40% of their bed utilization is taken up by COVID–19 patients.

Benson Community Hospital is experiencing line holds when trying to initiate a transfer for non-COVID patients.

Rates are rising in Willcox as well, according to Mo Sheldon, CEO of Northern Cochise County Hospital.

“Our community and our hospital have seen an increase in COVID cases recently,” Sheldon said. According to Ansley Wittig, NCCH community relations coordinator, the increase was as much as 30% in the first two weeks of November.

[W]hy is this happening?

“This is my opinion,” Thompson said. “I believe people are tired of the pandemic and are relaxing the use of mitigation measures that protect them from contracting COVID-19.”

She said good mitigation methods include “wearing a surgical or KN95 mask when in public or when visiting with friends and family who are not vaccinated, social distancing, washing hands, staying home when sick, getting tested after an exposure or when you have symptoms (and) staying away from large indoor gatherings.”

Ramanjulu offers this:

“The COVID-19 vaccine is truly our best defense against this pandemic, and if you haven’t been vaccinated yet, please know it’s not too late — particularly with this most recent surge in our community and across the country,” she said.

Sheldon said, “It is recommended that all who are eligible for vaccines, from children to elderly, should get vaccinated, and get a booster if possible. Avoid large crowds of unmasked people and groups that are unmasked or unvaccinated.”

Thompson said, “Get the treatment as soon as possible after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Our hospitals are at the tipping point and need our residents’ help to avoid having to go to crisis standards of care. Please do your part.”

The concern is how bad a surge the county will see as the holidays begin.

CCHS urges residents to continue to follow safety mitigations such as masking up in public indoor settings, physically distancing, frequently washing hands, getting tested and getting vaccinated as soon as possible.

From the Daily Independent report, Arizona governor: No mask, vaccination requirements coming:

Gov. Doug Ducey remains adamant he’s not going to force anyone to get inoculated or even wear a mask as COVID cases in Arizona rise to the highest level since before the vaccine was available.

“Let them die … because freedom!”

The governor said Monday he believes that these decisions should be made by individuals in consultation with their doctors [or their Facebook groups, whatever.] But he did acknowledge that some people are not checking with medical professionals but instead self-medicating with things like a drug designed to treat parasites in horses [ivermectin]. Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19. Or Hydroxychloroquine, you morons. FDA cautions against use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems.

“Well, I think you do everything you can to get the facts out there,” he said [but he is not]. “You want to go to a physician versus Facebook, that’s what I would say.”

The governor’s comments come as the number of cases in the state has trended upwards in the past month. More notable is the fact that the daily cases are hitting levels not seen since January, before the vaccine was available.

At the same time, the most recent figures showed just 545 vacant inpatient beds at Arizona hospitals, the lowest since the pandemic began.

But the governor, who has been a proponent of people getting vaccinated — but only if they want — rejected the idea that whatever the state is doing is not working.

The numbers don’t lie. New report shows COVID-19 is now leading cause of death in Arizona. Gov. Ducey’s criminally negligent mismanagement of the pandemic is responsible for thousands of unnecessary deaths.

“Listen, the virus is transmissible, it’s contagious, it comes in waves,” he said. “It does appear seeing the data over the past several weeks that there’s another wave on its way,” the governor continued. “I would encourage people to talk to their local health care provider or to their family doctor on what they should do in terms of next steps.”

The governor did not disagree that there are people instead are self-medicating, using non-proven alternatives — like ivermectin which is generally used to fight parasites in horses and is not recommended as a treatment or preventative for COVID.

That, Ducey said, come back to his point about doing what can be done “to get the facts out” and not using social media for medical advice. But the decisions on the vaccine and even more passive prevention methods like masks, the governor said, are beyond what government should be doing.

Not everyone agrees.

Some school districts are requiring faculty and students to wear face coverings while on campus. And cities like Tucson and Phoenix have told employees they need to be vaccinated.

Ducey, who at one time tried to curb those practices with executive orders, noted they can do that, legally, as state laws that sought to them were declared void.

But the trial judge never ruled that the edicts themselves were illegal. What was, said Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper, was the fact they were improperly enacted.

The governor appears interested in revisiting the issue — presumably trying to have the restrictions reenacted, this time in a way that is legal. But that is not likely to happen until the legislature reconvenes in January, with Ducey saying Monday he still is “reviewing” a request by Attorney General Mark Brnovich for a special legislative session before then.

Your Trump death cult Republican led government at work. Brnovich asks Ducey to call special session:

With his legal challenges to vaccine and mask mandates rejected by a federal judge, Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Brnovich now wants Gov. Doug Ducey to order lawmakers back to the Capitol in hopes of a legislative fix.

The attorney general wants a special legislative session to restore four statutes restricting the powers of local governments, public schools and universities to mandate that employees, staff and students be vaccinated against Covid or wear face coverings. In a letter to the governor, he called the situation “most pressing,” saying he has received complaints in particular from government workers who face the prospect of either submitting to a vaccine or being fired. [People being hospitalized and dying from COVID-19, and overtopping hospital capacity is the most pressing need right now, you imbecile.]

Brnovich, engaged in what could be a tight race in his bid to be the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, also is pressuring Ducey to use what the attorney general contends are his powers to block what the schools and local governments are doing, even if the legislature cannot or will not.

“It is my opinion that your office has clear authority to stop such government mandates immediately by instructing the Department of Health Services to exercise its primary jurisdiction under (state health laws) and issue an emergency rule that implements the directives articulated in the struck-down laws, thereby preempting contrary requirements from political subdivisions,” Brnovich wrote to the governor in a letter he made public.

“Our constituents are expecting — and deserve — immediate attention to these substantial issues facing our state,” the attorney general told Ducey.

In other words, our partisan hack attorney general wants the Trump death cult and its nihilistic anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers to have a license to kill, because “freedom!” This is collective insanity. It is exactly the opposite of the powers of the state to regulate for the health, safety and welfare of its citizens.

That’s right, Phoenix Police and Fire unions, who are big campaign contributors to Republicans, do not want to protect public safety by getting vaccinated. So they are using their campaign contribution leverage to force the state to put everyone elses life at risk. They ought to be fired. Public safety unions join Arizona’s lawsuit after Phoenix announces vaccine requirement:

Unions representing Phoenix police officers and firefighters have joined a lawsuit protesting the federal vaccine mandate for federal contractors after Phoenix’s recent announcement that the mandate applies to all city workers.

The lawsuit is one of three that Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has filed against the Biden administration after the president issued executive orders requiring all federal workers, contractors and private employers with more than 100 employees to require all employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Those working for private employers can get tested weekly instead of getting vaccinated.

Brnovich refiled a complaint related to the federal contractor lawsuit on Friday in federal district court, with the unions joining in, after a judge last week denied his initial request to halt the mandate. The case now awaits a hearing.

Phoenix announced Thursday that workers who refuse to get vaccinated by Jan. 18 are at risk of being fired, stating that because of the city’s numerous federal contracts, the city is considered a federal contractor and subject to the mandate.

Phoenix Fire Captain Bryan Willingham, vice president for United Phoenix Firefighters Local 493, said at a news conference on Monday that the association’s members believe it is a personal choice [a political statement] to get vaccinated, and many see the mandate as forcing them to leave their long careers at the department.

Williamham and Yvette Bro, vice president of the union representing many Phoenix police officers, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, said they are facing staffing shortages and the mandate will exacerbate that problem.

“We can’t afford to lose one officer,” Bro said.

a totally asinine statement, given that COVID-19 is the leading cause of death among law enforcement personnel. Apparently these union leaders are perfectly OK with losing their members to COVID-19. That’s just insane.

Local public safety workers, who often respond to medical calls related to COVID-19, have been more likely to contract COVID-19, and COVID-19 is by far the leading cause of death among law enforcement officers nationally this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit that tracks officer deaths.

But as mandates arise, public safety unions across the country are pushing back.

Because these unions tend to be big Republican campaign contributors. They reflect the political views and attitudes of the party to which they contribute, i.e., nihilistic anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers sabotaging the recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Phoenix police and fire unions say they don’t know how many of their members are vaccinated. But city statistics show they may be less likely to be vaccinated than other city staff.

More than half of all city staff have so far submitted proof of vaccination to get a $75 award, compared to 37% of employees in the police department and 33% in the fire department. This may not represent all staff who have been vaccinated, as the city did not previously require employees to report their vaccination status.

Brnovich says he supports the unions’ fight against the mandate. He said he believes the mandates violate the Constitution, federalism and separation of powers.

This partisan hack is wrong, and the courts have already said so (and there is longstanding Supreme Court precedent which also says he is wrong).

The vast majority of Americans have had enough of the Trump death cult and its nihilistic anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers sabotaging the recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic. They are the saboteurs responsible for the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” and they are responsible for the latest surge in COVID-19 cases in Arizona, putting the state’s hospitals in crisis care mode for yet another holiday season.





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23 thoughts on “Unvaccinated Send AZ Hospitals Into Crisis”

  1. Were you going to admit you were wrong after AZ showed actual proof, John the blog troll, or are you not man enough to admit it?

  3. While I do enjoy pointing out how poorly thought out John Kavanagh’s comments here are, and holding him accountable when he just makes up stuff, I’d like to propose a more useful real world response to JK’s racism.

    Every time Troll Boi/Johnny the Blog Jester/Clown Boy/Phony John posts something racist we all donate a few dollars to RAICES in John’s name.

    https://www.raicestexas.org/

    Let’s call it the Help John Kavanagh Help an Immigrant Challenge.

    Johnny, the ball is in your court. Please help us help migrants with the challenges of the US immigration system, and make America a better place.

    Post something that shows your true colors again. I dare ya’.

    I just gave 100.00 In Honor of Arizona State Senator John Kavanagh.

  4. Jason Miciak makes an excellent point, “Omicron May Define Presidency: MAGAs May Hold all Negative Impacts Against Biden, Even While Spreading It”, https://www.politicususa.com/2021/11/27/omicron-may-define-presidency-magas-may-hold-all-negative-impacts-against-biden-even-while-spreading-it.html

    If all the wrong things came together, and there are worrying signs that feel very familiar, the [omicron] variant could come to define the Biden presidency. He could handle it masterfully, with the least impact on both health and the economy possible, and at least half the country wouldn’t know or care. Ironically, it is likely the same half of the country most at risk.

    Worst still, if it isn’t understood or appreciated, we could go right back to the type of leadership that make the first wave so utterly devastating.

  5. While this state representative spent the day trolling this blog with his anti-immigrant hysteria, “Arizona reported 3,655 additional COVID cases, 47 more deaths”, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-arizona-7ac22704a38db00291422327a44520e7

    This is from the Delta variant, before the new far more dangerous Omicron variant has been identified in Arizona. It’s coming.

    His time would have been better spent trying to convince his anti-masker anti-vaxxer Republican tribe to get vaccinated and to wear a mask in public settings to prevent the spread of this deadly disease, but public service is not his thing.

    Some thoughts from Patrick Skinner, a cop in Georgia and former CIA counterterrorism expert, https://twitter.com/SkinnerPm?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

    The time to stop the Omicron variant was getting the vaccine six months ago.

    Only in our deliberately & proudly & profoundly angry ignorant age is it controversial to note that enough vaccinations months and months ago would have limited the now unlimited mutation pool the virus has and therefore would have cut down the odds of omicron.

    We’ve gone from people proudly saying Covid only kills the elderly or the already sick so who cares to now just saying who cares about any preventable deaths if I’m inconvenienced. And so the preventable deaths keep on coming. We are a sick society. And it’s killing us literally.

    I mean seriously what kind of person says ‘it’s only really killing older people or anyone with a pre-existing condition, so I don’t care and I won’t take basic public health precautions’. I’ll tell you what kind of person. Millions of our neighbors. They don’t care. Never will.

    Officially about 800,000 of our neighbors have died of a disease that vaccines have now made almost 100% survivable. (Look at excess mortalities in 2020 & you’ll see it’s actually a lot more dead). Public health is a public responsibility, but it’s too much for The Ugly American.

    We are not going to ‘fact’ our way out of this. Not with elected officials openly calling for civil war and murdering our neighbors. Not with the ugly selfish society we’ve spent generations perfecting. Where sacrifice is for slogans and fund-raising platitudes, not for doing.

  7. “everybody knows”

    There it is. Troll Boi has no evidence to back up his claims.

    This is what he does, make things up that “just sound right” or that “everybody knows”, and when he’s not making things up, he’s making threats, like the implied threat of harm to me if he knew my real name in comments he made last week.

    He makes up stuff and makes threats because losing the debate.

    To clownboy’s other made up issue, please show me where someone said unvaccinated ANYONE is not an issue?

    You can’t.

    You made that up.

    I reply to this clown because I don’t want his made up stuff to go unanswered, because other people may stumble upon his comments and believe him.

    Hey, Johnny, lots of people are upset with Biden for keeping some of T4ump/Miller’s rules on the border, but you knew that, right?

    Because that’s something “everybody knows”.

    Tiresome clown.

  8. AZBlueMeanie, While I oppose vaccine mandates for covid, I agree that vaccines work. But how are we going to convince Sharpie of this because he seems to think that unvaccinated migrants are no threat. How strange that we are allies against Sharpie

  9. John, go back and read my comment again.

    There is no evidence that migrants are spreading covid. Please show your work.

    Please show us where Biden is letting migrants in to spread disease.

    I keep asking you to back up your words and again you weasel out.

    You don’t get to just make stuff up and then expect to be taken seriously.

    As far as the rest of your complaints, we know you, we know who you are, we know why you’re going down this path, and in the past your racism has hurt families and cost Arizona jobs and money.

    Turning a pandemic into a racial issue you can rally your base on is something you should be ashamed of.

    • First of all, this has nothing to do about race. Secondly, everybody knows that Biden is allowing migrants into the country even if they decline to be vaccinated. That’s all over the news. I don’t have to quote you a source, just read.
      But more to the point, would you explain how unvaccinated Americans are a threat but unvaccinated migrants aren’t?

  11. Should we also start criticizing the President Biden as a death cult leader? After all, he is allowing “migrants” to enter the country unvaccinated. Now I know that it is currently illegal to mandate that anyone be vaccinated against their will. However President Biden could be isolating them until they agree to be vaccinated and he could also be introducing legislation to require vaccination as a condition of entry into the country for migrants. While I would not support mandatory vaccinations, that does seem to be something the Democrats are more comfortable with as a condition for work, so why not for entry?

    • Your anti-immigrant racist xenophobia is legendary, and disgraceful. From 2016, “Our View: Arizona’s immigration bad boy needs a new act”, https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/editorial/2016/01/11/john-kavanagh-immigration/78436104/

      “For years, Arizona lawmakers have sought the spotlight with radical immigration bills.

      Sen. John Kavanagh is gearing up with another “look at me” effort.

      But if this is about getting attention, we have a better idea. A far more radical one.

      [W]ell, now. We’ve reached the heart of the matter. This is the “look at me” part.

      But it’s so darned predictable. Can we give it a rest?

      Kavanagh was a prime sponsor of 2010’s infamous SB 1070 immigration law, which was rooted in the strategy of making undocumented workers and their families so fearful they would leave.

      This spiteful approach denies the reality that a great many undocumented families have lived and worked here for many years and include U.S.-born children. Those families have paid taxes and contributed to Arizona’s economy.

      They are part of Arizona’s economy.

      If Kavanagh really wants to play the bad-boy on immigration, he ought to try something new.

      [I]t’s the tired, old game of Blame the Immigrant that misses the mark.

      If Kavanagh is the daring fellow he pretends to be, he ought to actually address the problem.

      He should sponsor a resolution asking Arizona’s congressional delegation to support comprehensive immigration reform.

      That’ll get him plenty of attention.”

      You are still the racist xenophobic demagogue you have always been. Your “immigrants are bringing disease” is one of the oldest racist tropes in human history. “For centuries, migrants have been said to pose public health risks. They don’t.”, https://theworld.org/stories/2019-05-23/centuries-migrants-have-been-said-pose-public-health-risks-they-don-t

      “The trope that migrants bring diseases that threaten immigrant-receiving countries is among the most pervasive myths touted in anti-immigrant discourse, and one justification of racist and humiliating policies directed toward immigrants throughout history.

      [D]ecades of research have debunked the idea that modern immigrants writ large pose an extreme health risk. But the rhetoric remains prevalent.”

      From the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “The Foreignness of Germs: The Persistent Association of Immigrants and Disease in American Society”, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690128/

      “During the 20th century the united states witnessed sweeping social, political, and economic transformations as well as far-reaching advancements in medical diagnosis and care. Despite the dramatic changes in demography, the meaning of citizenship, and the ability to treat and cure acute and chronic diseases, foreigners were consistently associated with germs and contagion. In this article we explore why, at critical junctures in American history, immigrants have been stigmatized as the etiology of a wide variety of physical and societal ills. Anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy have often been framed by an explicitly medical language, one in which the line between perceived and actual threat is slippery and prone to hysteria and hyperbole.”

      Anti-immigrant rhetoric, hysteria, hyperbole … that describes you to a tee. Your utter ignorance knows no limits.

      Your political party is in thrall to anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers, and anti-science kooks who push dangerous and potentially deadly “cures” like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. And who could ever forget your boy Donald Trump suggesting to inject bleach and shine a bright light up your ass? The MAGA/QAnon cult is the greatest public health threat to America, not immigrants seeking asylum from people like you in their countries.

      Since you are against mandatory vaccinations, do you also intend to repeal Arizona’s “ARIZONA GUIDE TO IMMUNIZATIONS REQUIRED FOR ENTRY Grades K-12 (School year 2021-2022)”?, https://www.azdhs.gov/documents/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/immunization/school-childcare/school-immunization-requirements.pdf

      Yes, let’s bring back deadly outbreaks of measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis and chicken pox in the name of your “personal freedom” to have a license to spread deadly diseases to your fellow citizens with your anti-science ignorance. Let’s see just how many children you can kill with your anti-science ignorance.

      • Was Johnny the Blog Troll going to show some evidence that migrants are spreading covid?

        Because that’s been debunked.

        Or is this another “billions of dollars” made up deal like he did with the protests from last year?

        He ran away when asked to show his work on that one, I suspect he’ll do the same here.

        The dude just makes up stuff to fit his narrative, then hides when questioned.

        • Sharpie: Take Winston Churchill’s advice, “Never engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed man.” Updated: do not feed the trolls.

      • Typical Blog for Arizona responses. First, levy an ad hominem attack that has little to do with what I said and then totally evade addressing the issue I raised about President Biden’s duel standard on vaccinations. I even avoided using the terms “illegal immigrant” or “illegal alien” in the hopes that I would not trigger AZBlueMeanie into a rant that had nothing to do with my post. However, since he has an ideological hairpin trigger, I guess readers will never see his answer to the question of President Biden’s dual standard. So the accusation against the president goes undefended. Probably a good idea, since you really can’t defend that kind of a double standard.

        By the way, President Biden just announced that he is stopping entry of people from six African nations due to the existence of a new Covid variant, does that make him a racist xenophobe like me?

        And to Sharpie, how could it be that unvaccinated Americans are spreading Covid but unvaccinated migrants aren’t? I would love to hear your explanation for that one but I suspect if this query generates anything, it’ll be just another ad hominem attack or irrational irrelevant comment. You all are so predictable.

        • You disingenuous troll. The New York Times reported on September 15, “The U.S. makes coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for new immigrants.”, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/us/politics/us-immigrants-covid-vaccine-requirement.html

          Beginning Oct. 1, new immigrants to the United States must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a news release on Tuesday.

          People seeking to become “lawful permanent residents” — or green card holders — have permission to live in the United States and eventually seek citizenship. Applicants for permanent residency must undergo a medical examination.

          The Covid vaccine joins a list of others that applicants must have, including inoculations against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and hepatitis A and B, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some people may be exempt from the new rules, including those who are too young to be vaccinated and those who have medical conditions that make the shots dangerous for them.

          The new requirement for those seeking permanent U.S. residency is in line with President Biden’s new vaccine mandates for federal workers and contractors. The Pentagon has announced that active-duty military personnel also must be vaccinated.

          The global effort to restrict travel in response to the emergence of the omicron variant is based upon science, and a desperate attempt tp contain the spread of a variant which potentially evades immunity from current vaccines. “Omicron Covid-19 variant prompts these countries to impose travel restrictions”, https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/new-covid-variant-south-africa-11-27-21/index.html

          “The discovery of a new Covid-19 variant first detected in South Africa prompted multiple countries to impose travel restrictions on at least six African nations.

          The newly identified variant appears to be spreading rapidly in parts of South Africa, and scientists are concerned that its unusually high number of mutations could make it more transmissible and result in immune evasion.

          Cases have so far been detected in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium. The World Health Organization classified it as a “variant of concern” on Friday.

          [P]resident Biden announced that the United States will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting Monday as a new coronavirus variant has emerged, administration officials tell CNN. Acting on advice from Dr. Anthony Fauci and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Biden administration will restrict travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. Officials, who are still learning more about the variant, said the policy was implemented out of an abundance of caution.”

          BTW, international air travelers are not immigrants, they are tourists.

          Your anti-immigrant racist xenophobia has been well documented by the media, and predates the Coronavirus pandemic by more than a decade. Your record of anti-immigrant legislation in the Arizona legislature speaks for itself.

          As does your self-evident trolling.

  12. The Pandemic of the Unvaccinated is also to blame for a shortage of crude oil and high gas prices. “US futures and oil plunge as new Covid variant fears slam global markets”, https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/26/investing/global-markets-oil-covid-variant-intl-hnk/index.html

    Dow futures plunged and oil fell more than 6% on Friday as the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant rattled global markets.

    Asian stocks led the way, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) dropping 2.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 (N225) was down 2.5%. European markets sold off heavily, with major indexes including the FTSE100, France’s CAC40 (CAC40) and Germany’s DAX (DAX) all down by between 2.5% and 3%.

    US markets, which were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, were slammed before the start of Friday’s shortened trading session. Dow (INDU) futures fell more than 800 points, or about 2.3%, at 6.45 a.m. ET. Futures for the S&P 500 (INX) and Nasdaq (COMP) were down around 1.8% and 1% respectively.

    US oil sank 6.8% to around $73 a barrel. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 6% to around $77.

    UK Health Minister Sajid Javid said the [new South Africa] variant “may be more transmissible” than the Delta strain and that “the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective.” The new strain has already prompted the UK government to ban flights from six African countries. Some EU countries are taking similar measures.

    Investors were “spooked” by the discovery of the new Covid-19 variant, Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at Oanda, said in a research note on Friday.

    Economists were already nervously watching a spike in Covid-19 infections in Europe. Some countries have introduced new restrictions to contain the spread, raising the prospect of reduced activity this winter at a time when inflation and supply chain woes are already clouding the outlook for growth.

    Germany reported 76,414 cases on Friday, a new record for a single day. The country’s acting health minister, Jens Spahn, told reporters that the Covid-19 situation in Europe’s biggest economy was “more serious than at any other time in the pandemic so far” and he warned of “drastic measures in the coming weeks” if decisive action is not taken now to reduce contact between people.

    “Beyond the current wave of infections in core Europe, a new variant of the … virus that is spreading rapidly in South Africa is causing serious concerns,” commented economists at Berenberg bank in a note on Friday.

    “If Germany were to impose a national lockdown, we would likely have to downgrade our forecasts for German and eurozone GDP for Q4 slightly further,” they added.

    Travel and airline stocks are among the biggest fallers Friday.

    “With the delta wave in mind from earlier this year, investors are likely to shoot first and ask questions later until more is known about it,” Halley said.

  13. The Pandemic of The Unvaccinated provides the virus a host in which it can mutate, and develop into a new variant of the virus. “A new Covid-19 variant could show immune evasion and enhanced transmissibility, South African scientists warn”, https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/25/world/covid-variant-south-africa-immune-evasion-transmissibility/index.html

    South Africa’s health minister announced Thursday the discovery of a new coronavirus variant that appears to be spreading rapidly in parts of the country.

    “Initially it looked like some cluster outbreaks, but from yesterday, the indication came from our scientists from the Network of Genomic Surveillance that they were observing a new variant,” Minister of Health Joe Phaahla said, stressing that it is currently unclear where the variant — currently dubbed B.1.1.529 — first emerged.

    It has so far been detected in South Africa, Botswana and in a traveler to Hong Kong from South Africa, Phaahla added.

    During a news briefing, genomic scientists said the variant has an unusually high number of mutations, with more than 30 in the key spike protein — the structure the virus uses to get into the cells they attack.

    Professor Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation, said the variant has “many more mutations than we have expected,” adding it is “spreading very fast and we expect to see pressure in the health system in the next few days and weeks.”

    He advised the public to “try to avoid super spreading events.”

    Officials also expressed concern that the mutation could result in immune evasion and enhanced transmissibility of the virus, but added it is too early to tell what kind of impact the mutations will have on vaccine efficacy. More studies also need to be conducted to understand the clinical severity of the variant compared to previous variants, officials said.

    “The full significance of this variant remains uncertain and the best tool we have is still the vaccines,” De Oliveira said. He added that lab studies still need to be carried out to test vaccine and antibody evasion.

  14. Vaccine mandates work, it is the most efficient and effective means to herd immunity, and that is why these two Trump death cult GQP leaders are opposed to it. “More than 9 in 10 federal workers and military personnel are vaccinated, with only a small percentage seeking exemptions, White House says”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-workers-vaccines/2021/11/24/54b438f6-4c88-11ec-b73b-a00d6e559a6e_story.html

    Ninety-two percent of federal employees and military personnel have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, while nearly 5 percent more have asked for exemptions on religious or medical grounds, the White House said Wednesday.

    Among civil servants, vaccination percentages range from 86.1 percent at the Agriculture Department to 97.8 percent at the Agency for International Development (AID). Percentages of employees asking for exemptions also vary, from 10.2 percent at the Department of Veterans Affairs to 1.3 percent at AID and the State Department.

    At the largest federal agency, the Defense Department, 93.4 percent of military and federal personnel combined have received at least one vaccination dose, while another 5.5 percent have asked for exemptions.

  15. Republican sabotage of the economy when a Democrat is in the White House is a decades old tactic. “G.O.P. Fights Covid Mandates, Then Blames Biden as Cases Rise”, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/24/us/politics/republicans-biden-coronavirus.html

    Republicans have fought mask requirements and vaccine mandates for months, but as coronavirus infections again rise, they are blaming the president for failing to end the health crisis.

    The blame lies with nihilistic anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers in the Trump death cult who are sabotaging recovery efforts from the pandemic.

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