Category: Politics
As Politics Infects Public Health, Private Companies Profit
For some counties and cities that share a public health agency with other local governments, differences over mask mandates, business restrictions, and other covid preventive measures have strained those partnerships.
Missouri’s War on Public Health Shows Extent of National Rift
At least 1 in 5 Americans live in places that had lost their top local public health official amid a wave of threats to the profession and chronic stress that led to firings, resignations, and retirements since the pandemic began. Such blows endanger the public health system’s ability to respond to other issues in the future, public health officials said.
Justices Block Broad Worker Vaccine Requirement, Allow Health Worker Mandate to Proceed
The OSHA rules are opposed by many business groups, led by the small business advocacy organization the National Federation of Independent Business. It argued that allowing the rules to take effect would leave businesses “irreparably harmed,” both by the costs of compliance and the possibility that workers would quit rather than accept the vaccine.
Compliance and Defiance: States React to New CDC Mask Guidelines
CDC’s reversal on mask recommendations led to more disagreement between Republican and Democratic politicians over masks and other pandemic-related public health precautions.
GOP Legislators in Missouri Oppose Vaccine Efforts as State Becomes COVID Hotspot
When State Rep. Bill Kidd, from the Kansas City suburbs, revealed that he has been infected by the coronavirus, he wrote: “No, we didn’t get the vaccine . . . We’re Republicans”
Supreme Court Declines to Overturn ACA — Again
Justices ruled that the suing states and the individual plaintiffs lacked “standing” to bring the case to court.
How America’s partisan divide over pandemic responses played out in the states
States with Republican governors saw more cases, more deaths.
As Drug Prices Keep Rising, State Lawmakers Propose Tough New Bills to Curb Them
Fed up with a lack of federal action , state legislators are pushing bills to penalize drugmakers for unjustified price hikes and to cap payment at much-lower Canadian levels.
What Biden Can Do to Combat COVID Right Now
Should he set up a shadow COVID effort, to compete with the Trump administration’s task force?
GOP Lawsuits Restrain Governors’ COVID-19 Actions
Republican say governors need legislative approval to shut down businesses, require mask-wearing or force residents to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Wanted: Poll Workers Able to Brave the Pandemic
A 2018 survey by US Election Assistance Commission found that 70% reported that it was “very difficult” or “somewhat difficult” to get enough poll workers.
Politics Slows Flow of US Pandemic Relief Funds to Public Health Agencies
Congress set aside trillions to combat COVID-19, but many communities with outbreaks have spent little on public health efforts like testing and contact tracing.