Texas veers away from national vaccination guidelines, will prioritize over 65 age group before essential workers
December 21, 2020
Texas does not plan on following a federal advisory panel s recommendation that essential workers and people over age 75 should be next in line to receive COVID-19 vaccines after health care workers and long-term care facility residents, the state s health and human services department announced Monday.
Instead, people in Texas who are over 65, as well as adults of any age with certain medical conditions considered coronavirus co-morbidities will receive priority. The department s announcement says the decision was reached after a state-level expert panel decided the most vulnerable populations should be protected as soon as possible, though it will likely be a few weeks before the state is done with the initial phase of vaccinations.
Fauci to receive Moderna s COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday
President-elect Joe Biden has received a COVID-19 vaccine dose, and Dr. Anthony Fauci is among the health officials next in line.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Tuesday will receive a dose of Moderna s COVID-19 vaccine, as will Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, and frontline workers,
Azar confirmed the plans in a tweet, saying we believe it s important to publicly receive the vaccine as part of our efforts to demonstrate that these vaccines are safe and effective. Numerous officials have previously received a vaccine dose in public including Vice President Mike Pence and Biden. Biden received the Pfizer vaccine on Monday, afterward telling Americans they have nothing to worry about and should get the vaccine when they can.
Kansas City Star apologizes for racially biased coverage: The sins of our past still reverberate today
The editor of Missouri s
Star s early history, through sins of both commission and omission, it disenfranchised, ignored, and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians.
In his Sunday article, Mike Fannin decried the role the 140-year-old newspaper played in reinforcing Jim Crow laws and redlining, saying that for decade after early decade it robbed an entire community of opportunity, dignity, justice, and recognition. It is well past time for an apology, he added, and the
Star s staff acknowledges that the sins of our past still reverberate today.
5 surprising things tucked into Congress nearly 6,000-page spending bill
December 21, 2020
The most significant aspect of Congress omnibus spending bill is the $900 coronavirus relief package embedded within it, but there are a few surprising add-ons â as there usually are in such legislation â tucked into the nearly 6,000-paged text.
One item that snuck in there was the proposed creation of two new Smithsonian museums, one focused on women s history, and the other for the proposed National Museum of the American Latino. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) had previously blocked standalone bills that would have funded them.
Tucked into the stimulus bill: two new Smithsonian museums pic.twitter.com/vVwVkcXZIR
Anti-lockdown protesters attempt to break into Oregon statehouse
December 21, 2020
Protesters demonstrating against pandemic restrictions and closures gathered outside the Oregon Capitol building in Salem on Monday, with some individuals attempting to break through a glass door after police declared an unlawful assembly as state lawmakers met inside for a special legislative, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
Footage captured by Sergio Olmos, a reporter for OPB, showed a mid-sized crowd gathered around a side entrance to the statehouse. A few people tried to bust through the glass either by kicking it or driving a metal instrument through it. Some of their fellow protesters can be heard urging them to stop, while others egged them on.