(Trends Wide) — The Covid-19 vaccine debate is getting weird. On Twitter, Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz accused Big Bird of promoting “government propaganda … for his 5-year-old son!” After the Muppet tweeted about applying the vaccine to his wing.
Trends Wide aired on Saturday a special with “Sesame Street” (Sesame Street in Latin America and Sesame Street in Spain) to explain the vaccine to children between 5 and 11 years old, who can now be vaccinated.
See how Rosita, a green colored Muppet, overcomes her fear and bravely receives her first dose of the covid-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers quarterback, did not. Then he lied about it. And now try to explain it.
Rodgers seemed pretty smart when he guest-hosted “Jeopardy” in the spring. He didn’t seem very smart when he spewed out COVID-19 conspiracy theories on a podcast on Friday and said he had done his own research rather than relying on advice from the medical community. He used to be known for speaking out on social justice, but now he is talking about conservative issues and complaining that a “rousing mob” is coming for him.
There are people who are not convinced. Rodgers bought into the false and viral fear that the vaccine could affect fertility. He’s getting advice from anti-vaccine podcast host Joe Rogan, who isn’t a doctor but debated vaccines for more than three hours with Trends Wide’s chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta last month.
Space for discussion
The vast majority of physicians and the public health community agree with vaccines. But the support is not unanimous. It’s not completely decided within the National Institutes of Health, which includes Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to a report published Sunday in The Wall Street Journal.
The article describes NIH Principal Investigator Dr. Matthew Memoli, who disagrees with the country’s current global approach to vaccines. He has applied for a religious exemption for himself and believes that the country should promote the vaccine among at-risk communities, such as the elderly, rather than administering it to as many people as possible.
He will participate in a debate relayed to National Institutes of Health (NIH) employees, according to The Wall Street Journal, and is apparently willing to quit his job rather than receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The borders of the United States are reopened
As the debates continue, travel policies evolve. See: Fully booked flights from Europe and traffic that stretches for miles to Mexico. The U.S. borders were opened to vaccinated international travelers on Monday, ending an 18-month moratorium and marking a positive change in the pandemic’s lifestyle as cases in the U.S. decline. this comes just as the virus reappears in Europe.
These are some of the points that emerge from the Trends Wide report:
- Who can enter the US? Fully vaccinated travelers from 33 countries – including the UK and much of Europe – can now enter the US without going through quarantine, provided they have proof of vaccination and a negative viral test.
- Where is the virus emerging? Large areas of Europe are struggling to combat the waves of the delta variant, amid relaxation of restrictions and difficulties in the deployment of vaccines in some countries, with the WHO warning that half a million Europeans could dying from covid-19 in a potentially devastating winter.
Germany on Monday recorded its highest incidence rate in seven days since the pandemic began …
… neighboring Austria has banned unvaccinated people from restaurants and hotels amid a surge in cases.
Iceland has also reintroduced masks and social distancing rules following the increase. And cases are at record levels in Russia, Ukraine and Greece.
The vaccine rule stops for now
A federal appeals court temporarily halted the Biden Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that requires most workers to be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19. The court said it would expedite its review of the lawsuit filed by states and private companies challenging the rule, which is supposed to go into effect on January 4.
Republicans interested in running for president are joining the lawsuit. More than half of the US states (26) have opposed the rule.
Going from pandemic to endemic
I liked this phrase in a Trends Wide report, because with the opening of borders, the start of classes and the vaccination of children, it seems that we are in a new place. Maybe that’s the “endemic” part.
Endemic means that a disease has a constant presence in a population, but does not affect an alarming number of people as is often the case in a pandemic. Even in early 2020, when the pandemic was on the rise, World Health Organization officials predicted that the new coronavirus “may become another endemic virus in our communities” and never go away.
Reactions to covid-19 policies could last for years
Trends Wide’s Pamela Brown sat with a group of Virginia women who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but supported Republican Glenn Youngkin in the state gubernatorial race last week.
His reasoning had everything to do with the covid-19 restrictions: anger that his children were left out of classrooms last year and frustration that more is not being done to bring children up to speed.
“I had to think about what I can do to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Shawnna Yashar said of the school closings.
A warning to Biden and the Democrats
Although vaccines are the subject of current debates, voters are more focused on the economy than the pandemic, according to a new Trends Wide poll conducted by SSRS.
As the election year approaches, the nation’s thematic landscape appears to be changing. With the latest wave of covid-19 infections and rising prices, the economy (36%) overtakes the coronavirus pandemic (20%) as the most important issue facing the country. Immigration (14%) and climate change (11%) are the only other issues to reach double digits, followed by national security (8%), racial injustice (5%), and education (3%).
Biden’s approval rating is below 50%, a dangerous political position similar to that of previous presidents like Donald Trump and Barack Obama, who suffered losses in the midterm elections and lost a majority on Capitol Hill.
