Category: Public safety & health
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Vaccine Switcheroo Leaves Virginians Dazed and Confused
by James A. Bacon It’s been 19 days since Governor Ralph Northam appointed Danny Avula, health department director for Richmond City and Henrico County, as Virginia’s vaccine “field general.” Given what appears to have been a total lack of planning for the vaccine rollout before his accession to the hot seat, it’s hardly reasonable to…
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Why Is No One Hyperventilating about Systemic Sexism in Healthcare?
by James A. Bacon A Virginia male who contracts the COVID-19 virus is 11% more likely to die from it than a Virginia female, demonstrating the pervasive sexism embedded Virginia’s healthcare system. Despite the fact that the life expectancy at birth of a male in the commonwealth is only 74.7 years compared to 80.0 years…
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Northam Owes Virginians Answers on COVID-19
by Shaun Kenney Former Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, has been assiduous in his criticism of Governor Ralph Northam’s handling of the COVID pandemic — and for good reason. Consider the successes enjoyed by West Virginia. Rather than plugging in to the federal system that mandated distribution centers, West Virginia instead activated its National Guard…
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The Deadliest Nursing Homes in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock (updated Jan. 20 at 2 PM) Today I have assessed the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services COVID-19 Nursing Home Dataset to determine the deadliest nursing homes in Virginia measured by COVID death rate of residents from Jan 1, 2020, through Jan. 3, 2021. The results are profoundly disturbing at several levels. There…
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Misplaced Priorities at VDH
by Carol J. Bova The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced January 19 that it has launched a COVID-19 Outbreaks in Virginia Higher Education dashboard. The department included a disclaimer that the dashboard reports only “outbreak-associated cases and not the total number of cases at the college or university.” For more information on COVID-19 numbers,…
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Yes, COVID Is Spreading Faster, But Not As Fast As You Think
by James A. Bacon Once again Virginia is gripped by COVID-19 hysteria, this time whipped up by a surge in the number of confirmed cases. The situation needs to be taken seriously — people are getting sick, and people are dying — but the wide-eyed alarmism likely isn’t justified. Let’s start by looking at the…
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What Is a “Low Dead Space” Syringe and Why Is It So Important?
by Verhaal Kenner Governor Ralph Northam has shifted Virginia into phase “1B,” meaning that a “front line” worker, or anyone over 65 or with a chronic health condition, is eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. That’s clearly a population several times the estimated 440,500 that are in the state’s “1A” group – only about half of whom…
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Hark! A COVID Miracle!
by Kerry Dougherty I tend to be cynical, but still I dismissed the folks who predicted that once Joe Biden was elected, the lockdowns and shutdowns that had crushed the American economy would start to fall away. “Just wait till after the election,” they warned. You’re insane, I thought. I believed — still do —…
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COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID Data Tracker As of Jan. 13, 2021, Virginia ranked 46th among U.S. states and territories in the per capita administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. Compare Virginia with West Virginia. Maybe West Virginia knew what it was doing back in 1861. — JAB
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Northam’s Pretty Good Presser
by Kerry Dougherty Sitting down? Here’s the attaboy to Gov. Ralph Northam that I meant to write for Thursday, until anarchy broke out in the U.S. Capitol. Ever since they began in March, some of us have come to dread Northam’s COVID press conferences. The governor’s tone drips with condescension, he seems to blame people…
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Who’s Getting the Vaccine in Virginia?
More than 80,000 Virginians have been given the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, according to data reported today by the Virginia Department of Health. Presumably, the overwhelming majority has been administered to health care workers, who are most likely to be exposed to, and to spread, the virus. Very few vaccines have been given to the elderly.…
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COVID-19 Infections Up but Flu Infections Down
by Carol J. Bova The 2020-2021 flu season began with the week ending October 4 – Week 40. “There have been 2 infections in Virginia during the 2020-21 flu season to date,” the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) said on December 17. By comparison, last year Virginia experienced sporadic cases from weeks 40 through 44, local…
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VDH Outbreak Reporting Won’t Save Lives, Inspectors Will
by Carol J. Bova Back in June, I asked “Where Are the Other 52 Nursing Homes with Outbreaks?” because that was the number missing from the Long Term Care Facility Task Force dashboard. The Task Force explained it wasn’t involved with group homes and residential behavioral health facilities and, therefore, did not include them in…
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Prioritize Vaccine by Age, Not Race
by Carol J. Bova The last thing the government needs to do is polarize citizens by prioritizing COVID-19 vaccination for favored races and ethnicities. Statements like those of Harald Schmidt, assistant professor in the University of Pennsylvania Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, amount to reverse racism. “Older populations are whiter,” said Schmidt, as…
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Virginians Are Loading the COVIDWISE App. Does It Make a Difference?
by James A. Bacon Virginia leads the nation in the percentage of citizens who have downloaded the COVIDWISE smart phone app that alerts users when they might have been exposed to the virus, reports Virginia Business. The state has spent $1.5 million promoting sign-ups. Jeff Stover, executive adviser to the health commissioner, says that downloads…