Last week, the FDA and CDC presented their recommendations for the newest round of COVID-19 vaccines. As with everything COVID, there are proponents and detractors, or, putting it another way, both knowledgeable experts and disinformation-spreading attention-seekers. The reality is that a group of experts made a judgment based on actual data. We discuss the evidence here so you can make your own informed decision.

The images come mainly from PowerPoint presentations to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Links to our sources are at the end of the article.

Who's at Risk of Severe Disease?

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It is not uncommon for legislators to introduce bills that they know won't pass, but that have symbolic value of some sort, like renaming a bridge or freeway to honor a constituent. Every so often, however, they propose something that is so completely idiotic, anti-social, and authoritarian that it becomes the very personification of irresponsibility. Two examples come to mind, one last February, the other this month.

The first example is legislation making it a criminal misdemeanor to administer a COVID-19 or other mRNA vaccine in Idaho. State Senator Tammy Nichols and State Representative Judy Boyle, both Republicans, cosponsored House Bill (HB) 154, which states simply:

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​​​​​​Diversity, equity, and inclusion has insinuated itself into many aspects of people's lives, from corporate hiring to college admissions. Over much of the past few years, diversity officers have been some of the hottest hires in business , university, and government bureaucracies. But recently, they've begun to feel left out in the cold.

According to the Wall Street Journal , "Companies including Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have said recently that high-profile diversity, equity and inclusion executives will be leaving their jobs. Thousands of diversity-focused workers have been laid off since last year, and some companies are scaling back racial justice commitments."

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Laws based on roadside saliva tests for drug-impaired driving, especially for marijuana, are quietly being implemented[1] in state legislatures across the country.[2] Alabama, Michigan and Kansas already have programs in place, and Minnesota is about to join the fray.[3]

While this may seem to be an admirable effort, it is a classic example of what happens when law enforcement and science clash. Currently, roadside drug DUI laws are not simply lagging behind the science, they actively contradict it.

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I can't believe we're having this discussion in September 2023, just as the fall respiratory virus season commences and we're experiencing a new wave of COVID-19, but the politicizers of COVID won't let up. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) this week introduced legislation that "would prohibit any federal official, including the President, from issuing mask mandates applying to domestic air travel, public transit systems, or primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools."

There was also the ill-timed article by John Tierney in City Journal on August 27th claiming that "maskaholics are incorrigible" and everyone should reject masks because "we're rational."

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