Four Florida teachers working in the same school district died of COVID-19 within one day of each other this week. “Within a 24-hour span, we had an assistant teacher pass away, a teacher at her school pass away, an elementary teacher pass away, and another teacher at a high school,” Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco told CBS. Fusco said three of the teachers were unvaccinated and that the vaccination status of the fourth was unknown.

Trump asks us, ‘Could you imagine if I were president’ amid Covid surge?

The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918.

It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic.

COVID deaths in US: 631,309.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently completed a study that analyzed serum samples from free-ranging white-tailed deer for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). Results of the study indicate that certain white-tailed deer populations in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania were exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

Samples were obtained opportunistically as part of wildlife damage management activities conducted by APHIS Wildlife Services across 32 counties in the 4 states. These samples were tested at APHIS’ National Wildlife Research Center and National Veterinary Services Laboratories. Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 33% of the 481 samples collected from January 2020 through 2021. None of the deer populations surveyed showed signs of clinical illness associated with SARS-CoV-2.

It is important to note that this surveillance was designed to determine exposure of deer to SARS-CoV-2 in their natural environment. It was not designed to determine whether the deer were replicating and shedding SARS-CoV-2.

Some people in MO are betraying their cult.

"They did their own research on it, and they talked to people and made the decisions themselves," Frase told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "But even though they were able to make that decision themselves, they didn't want to have to deal with the peer pressure or the outbursts from other people about them ... 'giving in to everything.'"

In a hospital produced video, Frase said one pharmacist at her hospital told her "they've had several people come in to get vaccinated who have tried to sort of disguise their appearance and even went so far as to say, 'please, please, please don't let anybody know that I got this vaccine.'"

A conspiracy ripping through the anti-vax world may finally drive some anti-maskers to do the unthinkable: wear a mask and keep their distance.

The conspiracy—which comes in several shapes and sizes—more or less says the vaccinated will “shed” certain proteins onto the unvaccinated who will then suffer adverse effects. The main worry is the “shedding” will cause irregular menstruation, infertility, and miscarriages. The entirely baseless idea is a key cog in a larger conspiracy that COVID-19 was a ploy to depopulate the world, and the vaccine is what will cull the masses.

...

Anti-vax influencers are instructing their fellow anti-vaxxers as well as anti-maskers (at this point the two communities overlap to a huge degree) that one of the best ways to defend themselves from this blight is to co-opt…social distancing, the very strategy they have long decried.

It’s not just social distancing that anti-maskers/anti-vaxxers are begrudgingly accepting. Some conspiracy theorists are wondering if perhaps their longtime bane, the mask, could become their salvation. One perplexed poster on the fringe site 4chan asked their fellow anons if they should “wear a mask around the vaccinated, because they shed the mRNA stuff?”

...

“I am going to be watching these vaccine shedding stories like a hawk,” wrote another man on Twitter. “Is my family going to need to wear masks to protect ourselves from the vaccinated?”

LOL

A few months ago I volunteered to do a COVID19 study. I answer a daily health survey and take a C19 blood test every month for six months.

As expected, my first three blood tests were clear - no sign of current or previous infection. My fourth test was a week after my first shot of the Pfizer vaccine, and it also came back clear. My fifth test I did today, two weeks after my second shot and ... it says I have long-term C19 antibodies! Hooray!

Go science!

More of this, please:

Alaska Airlines said Saturday that it has banned state Sen. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, from its flights for continuing to refuse to follow mask-wearing requirements for travelers.

No other airline has scheduled flights between Anchorage and Juneau, and Reinbold is now in Southcentral Alaska. A trip by sea and land could take several days: Juneau has no overland road access, and some kind of ferry trip would be required.

“We have notified Senator Lora Reinbold that she is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy,” spokesman Tim Thompson said by email.

Reinbold has been vocal in her objections to COVID-19 mitigation measures and has repeatedly objected to Alaska Airlines’ mask policy, which was enacted in 2020 before the federal government began requiring masks aboard aircraft and public transportation earlier this year.

Last year, she referred to airline staff as “mask bullies” and the airline itself as “part of mask tyranny” after being asked by Alaska Airlines flight attendants to wear a mask aboard a flight. After the incident, she sent a cake to some airline flight attendants. The cake bore an inscription saying, “I’m sorry if I offended you.”

The airline’s ban comes after an incident this week at Juneau International Airport in which Reinbold was recorded apparently arguing with airport and Alaska Airlines staff about the mask policies.

Not surprisingly, she is shocked to learn that the rules apply to her.

Reinbold addressed the situation in a text message.

“I was reasonable with all Alaska Airlines employees,” she said. “I have been flying on Alaska Air for decades and am an MVP Gold (frequent flyer). I inquired about mask exemption with uptight employees at the counter.”

She said the timing of the complaint “and a specific employee” is of keen interest.

“I have been assured this (will) be looked into,” she said.

With Covid-19 vaccines now widely available, just over half of American adults have now received at least one shot, according to a Monmouth University poll released Wednesday.

But more than two in five Republicans said they would avoid getting vaccinated if possible, suggesting that President Biden has not succeeded in his effort to depoliticize the vaccines — and leaving open the question of whether the country will be able to achieve herd immunity without a stronger push from Republican leaders to bring their voters on board.

The results of the Monmouth poll lined up with those of a separate survey by Quinnipiac University, also released on Wednesday, that found 45 percent of Republicans saying they did not plan to get vaccinated.

Among Democrats, two-thirds have already received at least one vaccine dose, according to the Monmouth poll. Just over half that share of Republicans have done so (36 percent).

Sociopaths.