Trump says whites are at ‘back of the line’ in vaccine equity
Former President Donald Trump falsely declared in a weekend rally that public health authorities are denying the COVID-19 vaccine to white people because of their race.
Trump, speaking Saturday night in Florence, Arizona, accused liberals of “discriminating against and denigrating” white Americans.
“If you’re white, you don’t get the vaccine, or if you’re white you don’t get therapeutics,” Trump said. “In New York state, if you’re white, you have to go to the back of the line to get medical health.”
Vaccines are easily obtained in the U.S., and the government is urging everyone to get vaccinated and boosted. And New York policy allows for race to be one consideration when dispensing oral antiviral treatments, which are in limited supply, in an attempt to steer treatments to people facing the highest risk of severe disease from the coronavirus.
Schools oppose Va. governor’s order revoking mask mandates
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who issued nine executive orders shortly after taking the oath of office Saturday, is getting major pushback to his decision to revoke mask mandates in K-12 schools starting Jan. 24.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the school districts in that capital city and Alexandria, along with Fairfax and Henrico counties, are among jurisdictions already expressing their intention to abide by guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recommend universal masking in schools. Arlington County officials said they would as well.
Youngkin said he wants to give parents the choice to make those decisions, even though having some students opting out may enhance the chances of the virus spreading in schools.
In a statement released Sunday, Youngkin said state law gives parents the right to make educational decisions for their children. “We are going to protect that right and so I just hope that Arlington County schools and the rest of the school systems around the Commonwealth of Virginia use this week to listen to parents and get prepared,” he said.
Omicron variant is closing day care centers in droves
If you’re a working parent with young kids, chances are the new year hasn’t been as happy as you’d hoped. Omicron is raging, guidance is constantly changing, vaccines aren’t approved for children under 5 and coronavirus test kits are in short supply.
Reliable, affordable child care options are scarce. Some centers cancel classes or close altogether as employees call in sick or leave their jobs. COVID-19 cases crop up at day cares, where internal spread used to be somewhat limited.
“You had so many programs that were under the impression that they weathered the worst of the storm,” said Rhian Evans Allvin, CEO of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. “Now they’re back in program-delivery crisis, and they’re back in economic crisis.”
Also in the news
Nursing homes reported a nearrecord of about 32,000 COVID-19 cases among residents in the week ending Jan. 9, an almost sevenfold increase from a month earlier, according to the CDC.
Las Vegas schools are offering retention bonuses of up to $2,000 for fulltime employees who remain at work during the pandemic in response to staffing shortages.
Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 65 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 850,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.