Free Republic

Public health authorities seek to increase vaccine uptake, especially among those who are hesitant. But there is little evidence as to the best way to achieve this. New research suggests that rather than direct incentives, such as money, government-imposed mandates requiring vaccination to access certain public spaces could be the key. To explore this, researchers used the variation in the dates of mandates and subsequent COVID-19 vaccine uptake across Canadian provinces and European countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a trying time for everyone. Amongst the challenges facing public health authorities around the world is the struggle to vaccinate as...

Does the thought of an attention getting pandemic make you proudly smirk or smile gleefully? If so, you may be Bill and Melinda Gates.In addition to devoting their lives to population control, they just happen to be the largest donors to the CDC's Foundation (501c3), have entwined their own foundation with the NIH for many, many years (the NIH Foundation also accepts donations) and Bill is regarded as a visiting head of state or deity by the World Health Organization. It took them years, but they and other 'donors' like George Soros, Pfizer etc. have captured our medical establishment.Many doctors...

NATURE IN THE YEARS OF COVID “and there will be signs in Heaven above and on the earth.…”+ + + 20201. The overabundance of cloudless, crystal clear (and contrailess) days. 2. Fewer than normal fireflies. 3. Almost no blue-stemmed wild raspberries. 4. Katydids began to holler July 25--a week ahead of normal 5. Fall webworms exploded around July 27--ahead of normal. 6. Webworms attacking mulberry and hickory (normally only black walnut) 7. Black walnuts appear much lighter than normal. 8. Warmest July/warmest month EVER in 25 years. 9. Very few Deer Flies (not a bad thing)...appeared in August not June....

At the start of the pandemic, professor of Wellbeing Economics at the London School of Economics and co-author of the book “The Great COVID Panic” Dr. Paul Frijters, saw that governments’ response to COVID-19 did not match the level of lethality of the virus and decided to develop a method to quantify the harm government COVID policies would have on people’s well-being. Frijters’s analytical models revealed that the harm from policies, including lockdowns, would be colossal compared to any benefits. “I could calculate what kind of ballpark figure the mental health crisis would look like, and then I lay that...

A recent study published by Oregon State University discovered that COVID-19 infected individuals have a higher chance of developing psychiatric disorders within about four months of contracting the virus. For the study, published in World Psychiatry on May 7, researchers used data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C). They matched 46,610 patients infected with COVID-19, which can trigger a respiratory tract infection (RTI), with control patients diagnosed with a different RTI. This allowed researchers to specifically look into how COVID-19 affected the mental health of infected individuals. No patients with any history of mental illness prior to 21 days...

Gov. Tom Wolf has tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time, according to a post on his social media. “My symptoms are mild,” Wolf wrote. “I’m grateful that I recently got my second vaccine booster.” Wolf said he is isolating at home, according to CDC guidance. In December 2020, Wolf tested positive for the virus but was asymptomatic. He was testing negative in the following days, his office said at the time. It was unclear Monday how Wolf would be handling upcoming engagements.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Monday he had tested positive for the coronavirus and will quarantine while working remotely from home. “I have tested positive for COVID-19 and am experiencing mild symptoms,” Buttigieg wrote on social media in a statement.

The worst part of the pandemic is not the virus, but the misinformation coming from the WHO, CDC, FDA and Biden Regime. The regurgitation of haphazard guessing and conspiracy theories based on zero science has created the most dangerous kind of pandemic – an infodemic. First, we were told by Nancy Pelosi that it was perfectly safe to wander around in big crowds in Chinatown, San Francisco, and this was at the beginning of the infodemic. Cruise boats landed on our west coast, full of infected people who had visited China, and were purposely released, without quarantine or even testing,...

A bombshell new medical journal report comparing Covid-19 fatality rates across Kansas counties during the height of the pandemic alleged that mask mandates could be associated with higher death rates from the virus. From The National Pulse: The observational study – “The Foegen Effect: A Mechanism by Which Facemasks Contribute to the COVID-19 Case Fatality Rate” – was published in Medicine in February 2022, authored by German doctor Zacharias Fögen. The paper analyzed “whether mandatory mask use influenced the case fatality rate in Kansas” during the time period of August 1st, 2020 to October 15th. Kansas was used for comparison...

SARS-CoV-2 started in Wuhan in late 2019. After several waves swept through the world and left millions of people dead, the world is now entering the endemic phase. The scars that COVID-19 have left behind, however, are very fresh and very deep. Leaders in government, science, and medicine, along with the general public, must work together to heal, and to make sure that these scars do not turn into a cancer that eventually kills humanity. The Dark Forces The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) governs China by controlling every aspect of people’s lives. When SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Wuhan in December 2019,...

COVID cases have risen sharply in nearly every country that has launched a mass vaccination campaign. (Please watch this short video before You Tube removes it.[1]) Why is this happening? Mass vaccination was supposed to reduce the threat of COVID but — in the short term — it appears to make it much worse. Why? And why is COVID now “surging in 4 of 5 the most vaccinated countries?” According to Forbes magazine:[2] “Countries with the world’s highest vaccination rates — including four of the top five most vaccinated — are fighting to contain coronavirus outbreaks that are, on a...

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) on Monday said it missed its global production target for April as COVID-19 outbreaks and a parts shortage slowed its post-pandemic recovery. The world's largest automaker by sales produced 692,259 vehicles last month, a 9.1% drop from the same month last year, and falling short of an earlier plan of making about 750,000 vehicles worldwide.

As the US marks Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer, the seven-day average for COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are more than six times what they were a year ago. The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center showed a seven-day average of 119,725 cases as of Saturday. That figure held at 17,887 cases on May 28 of last year. Despite the rising infection rate, COVID-related deaths were down from last year, a sign of increased immunity through vaccines and prior infections, along with wider availability of treatments.

Almost 4,000 passengers were fined for breaking COVID-19 mask rules on London’s public transport, Mayor Sadiq Khan revealed on Monday. Khan, who also chairs Transport for London (TfL)—a local government body responsible for most aspects of London’s transport system—said more than 7,000 people were denied service for not wearing face coverings. During the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, face coverings were twice made mandatory on England’s public transport, first for around a year between July 4, 2020 and July 18, 2021; then for eight weeks between Nov. 30, 2021 and Jan. 26, 2022. Rule-breakers would be issued a Fixed...

China is crashing back and forth between government lockdowns and the relaxation of COVID mandates as they encounter yet another wave of infections. Why is this happening in what is supposed to be one of the more advanced nations on the planet? One reason may be that large segments of the Chinese population are still either unvaccinated or their immunity bestowed by China’s original, home-grown vaccines is insufficient in the face of the Omicron variant and other mutations. As the Associated Press reports today, the country is dealing with its biggest outbreak to date, and the fault likes entirely with...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending that all domestic travelers undergo COVID-19 testing before and after they travel—regardless of vaccination status. In an update on the agency’s website, anyone traveling within the United States may want to consider “getting tested as close to the time of departure as possible,” and no more than three days before a flight. It previously only recommended testing for people who have not received COVID-19 vaccines or up-to-date booster shots. The CDC update is also recommending that people take a test before or after a trip if they went to crowded...

COVID-19 cases are on the rise, but many Americans are over thinking of the virus as a crisis. Even in blue cities, restaurants are packed with people, and many Americans don’t wear masks even on the subway or on airplanes. Amid this national attitude, it may be extremely difficult for local or national leaders to try to reimpose any COVID-19 restrictions.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee announced Tuesday that she tested positive for COVID-19, despite being fully vaccinated and receiving booster shots. “Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee tested positive for COVID,” her official Twitter account noted on Tuesday. “She is fully vaccinated and has received her boosters.” Evidently, the multiple jabs of COVID-19 inoculation did nothing to immunize the Texas Democrat from contracting of the virus nor did it stop Jackson from urging the public to get more shots. Statement: Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee tested positive for COVID. She is fully vaccinated and has received her boosters. She encourages everyone to get tested...

MELBOURNE, Australia — If the United States had the same COVID death rate as Australia, about 900,000 lives would have been saved. The Texas grandmother who made the perfect pumpkin pie might still be baking. The Red Sox-loving husband who ran marathons before COVID might still be cheering at Fenway Park. For many Americans, imagining what might have been will be painful. But especially now, at the milestone of 1 million deaths in the United States, the nations that did a better job of keeping people alive show what Americans could have done differently and what might still need to...

Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed a bill to limit the power of state health officials to mandate measures for contagious diseases, including face masks and vaccine passports. Kelly said the bill went beyond COVID-19 and would considerably limit government response to any infectious disease outbreak. Senate Bill 34, brought by the Republican-controlled Legislature, sought to curb the power of government agencies as well as state and local health officials in response to COVID-19 mandates imposed during the pandemic. Amendments to the Kansas Emergency Management Act would prohibit the mandating of protective mask requirements (pdf), except for hospitals...