{"id":1377202,"date":"2022-03-15T07:59:03","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T11:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1377202"},"modified":"2022-03-15T08:06:35","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T12:06:35","slug":"covid-vax-mandates-challenged-by-growing-siege-of-research-and-litigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/covid-vax-mandates-challenged-by-growing-siege-of-research-and-litigation\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID Vax Mandates Challenged by Growing Siege of Research and Litigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcovid-vax-mandates-challenged-by-growing-siege-of-research-and-litigation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1377202&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/social_media_share\/public\/2022-03\/kevin-durant.SportsNet_New_York.twitter.png?h=df1d8db9&#038;itok=o36WlHL7\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Two years into America&#8217;s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine mandates are under growing siege by litigation, scientific research and an all-time NBA great.<\/p>\n<p>Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant shared his bewilderment about why his unvaccinated teammate Kyrie Irving, another all-time great, could now enter their home arena as a paying spectator but not take the court as an active player under New York City&#8217;s private-sector worker vaccine mandate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is ridiculous,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nypost\/status\/1503154961668059136\">Durant said in a press conference<\/a> after Sunday&#8217;s home game, when his 53 points helped the Nets squeak past the Knicks as the former chase the sixth playoff spot to avoid next month&#8217;s play-in tournament. Irving can only legally play in four of the Nets&#8217; final 14 games, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/video\/kevin-durant-questions-nyc-mayor-210021896.html\">SportsNet New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It just feels like, at this point, somebody&#8217;s trying to make a statement or point to flex their authority,&#8221; Durant said, speculating that Mayor Eric Adams wants &#8220;some attention&#8221; by continuing to treat unvaccinated people differently. &#8220;Eric, you gotta figure this out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<article class=\"align-center\">\n<\/article>\n<p>Durant is the highest-profile current NBA player to question vaccine mandates as the milder Omicron variant tears through fully vaccinated and even boosted populations. Retired <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/politics-policy\/coronavirus\/nba-hall-famer-shaquille-oneal-says-people-shouldnt-be-forced-get-covid\">Shaquille O&#8217;Neal said last month he now opposes mandates<\/a> even though he was critical of Irving&#8217;s medical choice last fall.<\/p>\n<p>Irving might want to consider litigation, if last week&#8217;s victory for an unvaccinated Rhode Island doctor is any indication.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Four days before a scheduled court hearing on its healthcare worker (HCW) COVID vaccine mandate, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/oceanstatecurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Skoly-RIDOH-Dismissal-Stipulation-3-11-22-signed.pdf\">dismissal stipulation<\/a> stating that the emergency decree had been &#8220;withdrawn&#8221; and that oral surgeon Stephen Skoly can return to his practice after more than five months.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Skoly-Motion-and-Memo-in-Support-of-TRO-filed.pdf\">Skoly sued for recognition<\/a> of his natural immunity in early February. He also cited documentation of &#8220;an association&#8221; between COVID vaccination and onset of Bell&#8217;s Palsy, a condition he has twice suffered, and RIDOH&#8217;s allowance for infected but vaccinated healthcare workers to treat patients.<\/p>\n<p>According to his lawyers at the <a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/skoly-v-mckee\/\">New Civil Liberties Alliance<\/a> (NCLA), Skoly&#8217;s practice treated more than 800 patients per month, &#8220;plus state psychiatric hospital patients and state prison inmates.&#8221;<\/p>\n<article class=\"align-center\">\n[embedded content]\n<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<p>The state proposed a permanent regulation in late February that would let HCWs choose between COVID vaccination and wearing N95 masks, the accommodation sought by Skoly. An accompanying cost-benefit analysis said not allowing that choice would be acting &#8220;capriciously.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>NCLA seized on the language in a March 3 filing, saying the state had &#8220;acknowledge[d] the correctness&#8221; of Skoly&#8217;s argument. Rhode Island filed an objection four days before approving the vaccine-or-mask choice for a new temporary mandate.<\/p>\n<article class=\"align-center\">\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"align-center\">\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"align-center\">\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"align-center\">\n<\/article>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/oceanstatecurrent.com\/doc-skolys-federal-lawsuit-is-not-over-even-though-hes-back-work\/\">Ocean State Current,<\/a> which is published by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom &#038; Prosperity, claimed NCLA plans to seek attorney&#8217;s fees and damages from the state for violating Skoly&#8217;s constitutional rights. NCLA lawyer Brian Rosner would only tell Just the News &#8220;we&#8217;re considering our options for the future litigation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Just the News asked RIDOH what role if any Skoly&#8217;s lawsuit played in the state&#8217;s decision not to renew the emergency mandate when it expired Saturday, as it had done Feb. 10. &#8220;The emergency regulations expired,&#8221; public information officer Joseph Wendelken said. &#8220;Emergency regulations are time-limited. An agency cannot continue to re-promulgate them indefinitely.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has fed hesitancy about his own COVID vaccine in recent interviews, first acknowledging its <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/politics-policy\/coronavirus\/covid-vaccine-funder-bill-gates-not-impressed-their-performance\">negligible effect against Omicron<\/a> and now seemingly apologizing for the vaccine technology it chose, which has been correlated with heart inflammation in young men.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=t9_YRw7jBF4\">Washington Post interview<\/a> Thursday, the veterinarian explained why his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Moonshot-Pfizers-Nine-Month-Impossible-Possible-ebook\/dp\/B0953LWXM7\">new book &#8220;Moonshot<\/a>&#8221; says it was &#8220;counterintuitive&#8221; for Pfizer to use mRNA technology.<\/p>\n<p>Pfizer had &#8220;very good experience&#8221; with adenovirus and protein vaccines, but only two years with mRNA trying to develop a flu vaccine, he said, noting this technology had &#8220;never delivered a single product.&#8221; While Bourla was skeptical, Pfizer subordinates were &#8220;very very convinced that [mRNA] was the right way to go,&#8221; and &#8220;I followed my instinct.&#8221;<\/p>\n<article class=\"align-center\">\n[embedded content]\n<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<p>The failure of mRNA vaccines to stop infection or transmission could be lucrative for their makers.<\/p>\n<p>A week after <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/bBKCd\">Bloomberg<\/a> reported share prices for Moderna and Pfizer partner BioNTech had fallen 50% this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barrons.com\/articles\/moderna-mrna-biontech-pfizer-covid-stocks-rally-china-51647274860\">Barron&#8217;s<\/a> reported Monday that their stocks had jumped 15% on talk of a fourth dose and climbing COVID cases in China.<\/p>\n<p>Pfizer shares also rose on Bourla&#8217;s Sunday comments that a fourth dose would be &#8220;necessary&#8221; against evolving COVID variants. He told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/13\/health\/pfizer-vaccine-4th-dose\/index.html\">&#8220;Face the Nation&#8221;<\/a> the company is submitting the data for the fourth dose to the FDA for approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As for its third dose, which Bourla previously said only provides &#8220;reasonable protection&#8221; against Omicron hospitalization, Pfizer should have trial data on its effect on children under 5 by next month, he said.<\/p>\n<p>As pharmaceutical and medical officials pivot to emphasizing COVID vaccines&#8217; effectiveness in preventing hospitalization, new research by Canadian and South African scientists suggests a less invasive alternative: &#8220;moderate physical activity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Published in the <a href=\"https:\/\/bjsm.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2022\/02\/08\/bjsports-2021-105159\">British Journal of Sports Medicine<\/a>, the study reviewed &#8220;physical activity data&#8221; collected from &#8220;smart devices, clocked gym attendance and mass event participation.&#8221; It covered more than 65,000 people who participated in an insurer behavioral change program and had a COVID diagnosis from March 2020 through June 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Accounting for &#8220;demographics and comorbidities including conditions known to influence COVID-19 outcomes&#8221; and &#8220;patient complexity,&#8221; researchers found the lowest rates of hospitalization and death among those with more than 150 minutes of weekly physical activity, but also substantial reductions among those spending 60-149 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The findings applied &#8220;even among people with chronic medical conditions which may typically worsen the prognosis,&#8221; Western University epidemiologist Saverio Stranges, one of the researchers, said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/news.westernu.ca\/2022\/03\/physical-activity-reduces-risks-of-severe-covid-19-outcomes-study\/\">university press release<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His colleague Jane Thornton said it was the first study to find the association using objective physical measures rather than &#8220;survey questions.&#8221; A recent and <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/government\/federal-agencies\/science-changed-cdc-about-face-masks-follows-political-winds-ignores\">much-scrutinized CDC study<\/a> purported to find that masking reduces COVID infection using a telephone survey with a low response rate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two years into America&#8217;s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine mandates are under growing siege by litigation, scientific research and an all-time NBA great.Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant shared his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1377202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1377202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1377202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1377202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1377202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}