It may be 2023, more than three years after the pandemic began, but COVID restrictions remain a mandatory part of life for many.
Some schools, employers, and government entities are forcing students, workers, and the public to comply with COVID measures in a familiar echo of last year, and the year before that, and the year before that.
The city of San Francisco is still <a href="https://sf.gov/information/know-when-masks-are-needed#:~:text=There%20are%20no%20longer%20masking,or%20people%20living%20in%20jails." target="_blank" rel="noopener">requiring</a> people who work in health care or at jails to wear a face mask.
Even in deep-red Alabama, three court buildings in Dallas County have <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/mask-mandate-update-alabama-dallas-county-restrictions-1825563" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resurrected</a> their mask mandate for the public after several cases of the virus cropped up in the buildings.
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-vaccines-ladapo-florida-d40276077f5fb6de98c2087172b423dc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticized</a> the idea of going back to COVID restrictions and promised Florida will not do so.
Vermont is pushing back as well. The state will no longer allow school nurses to test students for COVID, according to the Vermont Department of Health, <a href="https://vtdigger.org/2023/09/06/absent-in-vermont-schools-this-fall-student-covid-19-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signaling</a> that they are viewing the virus as more like a seasonal flu.
The return of COVID restrictions comes amid an uptick of virus cases and hospitalizations as we head into the colder months, but the outbreaks appear to be concentrated in hotspots and are well below the peaks we saw at the height of the pandemic.
With the school year kicking off and students returning to classrooms and campuses, several schools are giving students deja vu with their own mandatory — and strict — pandemic rules.
This week, a Maryland elementary school reinstated its face mask mandate after several students tested positive for COVID.
Rosemary Hills Elementary School just north of Washington, D.C., is <a href="https://www.wbal.com/article/616010/2/mask-mandate-returns-for-one-class-in-montgomery-county-elementary-school" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requiring</a> the third-grade class and school staff to wear masks for 10 days after “three or more” third graders tested positive for the virus.
The young students must wear masks “except when eating or drinking,” and the school is providing KN95 masks to students and staff in the “identified classes or activities.” Parents will also be sent at-home rapid COVID tests, and Rosemary Hills is <a href="https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2023/09/1-class-required-to-wear-masks-after-covid-outbreak-in-montgomery-co-school/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asking</a> them to report any positive test results to the school attendance office.
In Alabama, Kinterbish Junior High <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/mask-mandate-update-full-list-schools-restrictions-1825285" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> an indefinite mask mandate last month, and students appeared to still be wearing masks last week based on Facebook photos.
In Georgia, Morris Brown College, a private, historically black liberal arts school in Atlanta <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maryland-elementary-school-forces-kids-to-mask-up-again" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a two-week mask mandate last month.
There were no active COVID cases on campus, but several students at the other three colleges in the Atlanta University Center system had tested positive after students returned to campus.
Morris Brown students were required to practice social distancing and were prohibited from having parties or large gatherings. They were also required to get their temperature checked when they arrived on campus, comply with contact tracing efforts, and isolate for at least five days if they tested positive.
Dillard University, another private, historically black university in New Orleans announced a two-week mask mandate last month, citing a jump in virus cases.
Meanwhile, two California high schools canceled their upcoming football games over COVID cases among students.
Esparto High School west of Sacramento canceled its game after six players contracted the virus and seven more players were out due to injuries. Likewise, Santa Paula High School north of Los Angeles canceled its football game due to 20 positive COVID cases within the football and cheerleading teams.
Some parents were frustrated that their kids will miss out after months of lockdowns.
“She couldn’t go to the movies. Couldn’t do nothing; locked down with a Chromebook,” a Santa Paula parent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covid-cancellations-return-two-california-high-schools-cancel-football-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> a local outlet. “It was horrible. Totally affected her life.”
A major Hollywood movie studio brought back its mask mandate last month as well. Lionsgate, reinstated its mask mandate for most of its Santa Monica office employees after several employees tested positive for COVID. Lionsgate said it would also do contact tracing and give out free COVID test kits, and the studio also asked employees to self-screen for COVID before coming to work.
Late last month, though, Lionsgate <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/08/lionsgate-mask-mandate-lifted-covid-outbreak-1235528599/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it would lift its mask mandate again.
Hospitals are bringing back their mask mandates as well. In California, Kaiser Permanente <a href="https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/kaiser-permanente-reinstates-covid-19-mask-mandate-amid-spike-in-cases-but/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">imposed</a> a mask mandate at its hospitals and medical offices in Santa Rosa for not only doctors and patients but also visitors.
In New York, a group of hospitals have brought back mask mandates as well, <a class="color-link" title="https://www.fox4news.com/news/citing-rising-covid-cases-these-us-hospital-systems-have-now-reinstated-mask-mandates" href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/citing-rising-covid-cases-these-us-hospital-systems-have-now-reinstated-mask-mandates" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.fox4news.com/news/citing-rising-covid-cases-these-us-hospital-systems-have-now-reinstated-mask-mandates" aria-label="including">including</a> United Health Services, Auburn Community Hospital, and University Hospital in Syracuse.
Most of the new mask mandates do not specify whether certain kinds of face masks are unacceptable. As long ago as 2021, CNN’s medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cloth-masks-useless-omicron-expert-b1980394.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> cloth face masks were &#8220;little more than facial decorations,&#8221; and urged people to wear &#8220;at least a three-ply surgical mask.&#8221;
The current COVID variant, which is descended from Omicron, has been spreading for months, and experts have said it is not any more dangerous than previous variants.
Even so, the White House is putting out warnings about COVID as fall approaches.
Biden has not tried to get Americans to return to face mask mandates broadly, but his administration is still strongly pushing the COVID vaccine.
The Biden administration recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/flu-covid-rsv-vaccines.html">recommended</a> that many people get not only a COVID booster shot, but also a flu shot and a shot for RSV, a respiratory virus that can be dangerous for infants and elderly adults.
One doctor who is an advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/flu-covid-rsv-vaccines.html">compared</a> an annual COVID booster to “a seatbelt in a car,” saying it is good to keep using it.
Former president Donald Trump slammed the return of COVID restrictions late last month.
The 2024 Republican frontrunner <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-blasts-mask-mandates-covid-1823697" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised</a> that if re-elected, he would &#8220;use every available authority to cut federal funding to any school, college, airline or public transportation system that imposes a mask mandate or a vaccine mandate.&#8221;
Even during the height of the pandemic, policies like mask mandates, lockdowns, and vaccine mandates faced spirited opposition.
Now that the pandemic is three years old, it&#8217;s doubtful Americans have any appetite left for more restrictions.
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US-HEALTH-VIRUS

It’s 2023, But COVID Restrictions Are Not A Thing Of The Past

It's 2023, But COVID Restrictions Are Not A Thing Of The Past

COVID

COVID-19 Vaccine

Mask Mandate

Pandemic

Readers Pass

Vaccine Mandate

Tennis great <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-stays-with-you-novak-djokovic-back-in-australia-after-dramatic-detention-deportation-over-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Novak Djokovic</a> made history on Sunday when he defeated Daniil Medvedev in three sets to win the U.S. Open, scoring him his 24th major championship, tying the record for the most Grand Slam singles titles.
Djokovic, who has refused to take the COVID vaccine, was notably banned from entering the U.S. last year due to a Biden administration vaccine rule, keeping the athlete from competing in the U.S. Open last year.
&#8220;To make history [in] this sport is just something truly remarkable and special, obviously, in every possible way, in every possible meaning of the word,&#8221; Djokovic said after winning the Open, <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/38373910/novak-djokovic-beats-daniil-medvedev-win-2023-us-open-24th-major-title" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to ESPN. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to describe the words.&#8221;
&#8220;I never imagined that I would be here standing with you talking about 24 Slams,&#8221; the 36-year-old continued. &#8220;I never thought that would be the reality. But the last couple of years, I felt I have a chance, I have a shot for history, and why not grab it if it&#8217;s presented?&#8221;
Djokovic, who said he had already contracted and recovered from the virus, has chosen not to get <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vaccinated</a> against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a>. This led to the dramatic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/novak-djokovic-loses-visa-appeal-deported-from-australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detainment and deportation</a> of the tennis star from Australia, rendering him unable to defend his Australian Open title in 2021. Later, he was banned from New York for the 2022 U.S. Open, similarly over his vaccination status.
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“Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for [the] US Open,” he said at the time on social media. “Thank you #NoleFam for your messages of love and support. Good luck to my fellow players! I’ll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again. See you soon tennis world!”
Djokovic spoke about what happened to him about a year after the Australia incident. “Obviously what happened 12 months ago was not easy for me, for my family, team, anybody who is close to me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It’s obviously disappointing to leave the country like that.”
“You can’t forget those events,” Djokovic continued. “It’s one of these things that stays with you for I guess the rest of your life. It’s something that I’ve never experienced before and hopefully never again. But it is a valuable life experience for me and something that as I said will stay there, but I have to move on.”
The athlete has been open about what he&#8217;s willing to give up for his personal medical choices, specifically tennis championships.
“That is the price that I’m willing to pay,” Djokovic <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60354068" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the BBC. “Because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else. I’m trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can.”
“I was never against vaccination,” he added, “but I’ve always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-stays-with-you-novak-djokovic-back-in-australia-after-dramatic-detention-deportation-over-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It ‘Stays With You’: Novak Djokovic Back In Australia After Dramatic Detention, Deportation Over Vaccine</a>

2023 US Open Championships Day 14

Novak Djokovic Comes Back To Win U.S. Open After Biden Vax Policy Ban Last Year 

Covid vaccine

Novak Djokovic

Tennis

U.S. Open

US Open

Vaccines

World

A group of teachers in New York City who were fired after they refused to take the COVID vaccine must be given their jobs back along with back pay, a New York judge ruled Wednesday.
State Supreme Court Judge Ralph Porzio <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nyc-teachers-win-jobs-back-backpay-refusing-covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> that the decision to fire 10 employees of the New York City Education Department and deny them religious exemptions was unlawful, arbitrary, and capricious.
The group of school principals, teachers, and other educators sued the city after they were fired.
&#8220;This Court sees no rational basis for not allowing unvaccinated classroom teachers in amongst an admitted population of primarily unvaccinated students,&#8221; Porzio wrote in his 22-page opinion.
&#8220;As such, the decision to summarily deny the classroom teachers amongst the Panel Petitioners based on an undue hardship, without any further evidence of individualized analysis, is arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable. As such, each classroom teacher amongst the Panel Petitioners is entitled to a religious exemption from the Vaccine Mandate,&#8221; the judge wrote.
The 10 public school employees are entitled to their positions plus back pay in salaries, benefits, pensions, and seniority, the court ruled.
New York City&#8217;s COVID vaccine mandate for public school workers only ended on February 10. The mandate began on October 1, 2021.
The court&#8217;s decision <a href="https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2023/09/10-covid-vaccine-related-teacher-terminations-overturned-by-state-supreme-court-judge-som-plaintiffs-motions-denied.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only applies</a> to the 10 educators who sued, but thousands of other education workers lost their jobs due to the vaccine mandate, according to Fox News.
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The petitioners had wanted to make their lawsuit a class action suit, but the judge denied that request. Seven other petitioners were also requesting an exemption along with their jobs back with back pay, but the judge denied their requests. One of those denied was a group called Teachers for Choice, which opposes forced vaccination.
“Although the petitioners’ overall position is that the citywide panel did not provide relief to the vast majority of initial DOE applicants, and specifically that these petitioners did seek that review, the record before this court is insufficient to make any determination as to those claims,” Porzio wrote in his ruling.
The city had argued that “granting reasonable accommodation to classroom teachers could not be done without preventing a risk to the vulnerable and still primarily unvaccinated student population,” <a href="https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2023/09/10-covid-vaccine-related-teacher-terminations-overturned-by-state-supreme-court-judge-som-plaintiffs-motions-denied.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to court documents.
The judge also cited New York City Mayor Eric Adams&#8217; decision to scrap the vaccine mandate for athletes and entertainers as evidence that the vaccine mandate for public school teachers was arbitrary and unreasonable.
The same judge ruled last year in favor of a Staten Island firefighter who was fired for refusing to take the COVID vaccine.
“Hindsight is a powerful tool,” Porzio <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2022/10/go-fight-some-fires-covid-related-termination-of-staten-island-firefighter-overturned-in-state-supreme-court.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in that decision. “The pandemic today is not what it was a year, or even two years ago. Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19.&#8221;
Scores of public and private employers across the country implemented a vaccine mandate for employees when the COVID vaccine became available. Many U.S. workers across industries who requested exceptions for religious or health reasons were denied their requests.
The Biden administration also attempted to require employers with at least 100 employees to require the vaccine, but the Supreme Court blocked that mandate early last year after The Daily Wire and others <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/read-it-supreme-courts-massive-blow-against-bidens-vaxx-mandate">sued</a> the administration.

Group Of 10 NYC Teachers Lose Battle With City Over Vaccination Mandates

NYC Teachers Who Refused COVID Vaccine Must Get Jobs Back With Back Pay, Judge Rules

New York

New York City

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers attended the US Open on Sunday night and appeared to praise tennis star Novak Djokovic’s refusal to get the COVID vaccine. 
Rodgers, who has received criticism in the past for his own actions regarding the COVID jab, was in attendance watching Djokovic in Queens, New York. Djokovic is competing in his first US Open in two years because he refused to get the shot. 
In an Instagram story Sunday night, Rodgers <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/04/aaron-rodgers-praises-novak-djokovics-anti-vaxx-stance-in-post-from-us-open/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> a photo of Djokovic preparing to serve the ball with the caption, “Bucket list … being able to witness the greatness of [Djokovic] in person at [Arthur Ashe Stadium]. He also included a hashtag that said “#novaxdjokovic” and had placed a red line through the Moderna logo – a biotech company that produces COVID vaccines – in an advertisement that can be seen behind the tennis star. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Aaron Rodgers went to watch Novak Djokovic play at the US Open and dropped a banger IG story <a href="https://t.co/EpVgtw6yHS">pic.twitter.com/EpVgtw6yHS</a>
&mdash; OutKick (@Outkick) <a href="https://twitter.com/Outkick/status/1698736833734050237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Djokovic, who is from Serbia, is considered one of the <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/rankings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">best</a> tennis players of all time but was denied entry into the United States in 2022 for the US Open. At the time, international air travelers were required to show <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/world-no-1-djokovic-finally-can-play-in-u-s-again-after-biden-ends-vaccine-requirement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proof</a> of vaccination against COVID before being allowed to enter the country. 
Earlier this year, just weeks before the COVID rule was rescinded, Djokovic was <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/35795350/novak-djokovic-pulls-indian-wells-eve-draw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced to withdraw</a> from the Indian Wells tournament in California because the Department of Homeland Security denied his COVID vaccine waiver request, ESPN reported. 
“The reason why I was not here for two years, I have zero regret on that. I’m just glad to be back,” Djokovic <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/15/sport/novak-djokovic-cincinnati-open-tennis-spt-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told CNN</a> last month upon arriving for the US Open. “I’ve had plenty of success on American soil with Indian Wells, Miami, obviously Canada and here, [I’ve] won many times at these Masters 1,000 events, all of them. Of course, the U.S. Open as well being the pinnacle of the hard-court season. I’m just excited.”
For his part, Rodgers has also made headlines for his refusal of the COVID vaccine. In 2021, Rodgers was asked whether he was vaccinated against COVID, to which he replied that he was “immunized.” The former Green Bay Packer said he is allergic to one of the ingredients in the Pfizer and Moderna shots. 
&#8220;They were doing this, I called it a witch hunt, where they were asking every single player ‘are you vaccinated?’” Rodgers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aaron-rodgers-blasts-medias-vaccine-witch-hunt-in-chat-with-joe-rogan-reveals-immunized-strategy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> podcast host Joe Rogan last year. “I had come to the conclusion that I was going to say, ‘I’ve been immunized,’ and if there was a follow-up, then talk about my process,” he said. “But I thought there was a possibility that, I say I’m immunized, maybe they understand what that means, maybe they don’t, maybe they follow up. They didn’t follow up.”
Instead of getting injected with a vaccine, Rodgers said he &#8220;looked into other options which included an immunization process through holistic doctor. I researched and talked to probably a dozen different MDs. I found a protocol that I felt like was the best available.”
Research on the relatively new COVID vaccines is still being conducted. According to one leading medical expert, young men <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-100-colleges-are-still-enforcing-vaccine-mandates-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">face an elevated risk</a> of heart inflammation after vaccination, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-100-colleges-are-still-enforcing-vaccine-mandates-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
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Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and an oncology surgeon at the school’s affiliated hospital, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covid-vaccine-brings-higher-heart-risk-little-benefit-to-young-men-medical-expert-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted</a> a study from Cedars Sinai that found a 30% increase in heart attack deaths among adults between the ages of 25 and 44 during the first two years of the COVID pandemic. While the uptick could result from the virus itself, Makary, speaking to The Daily Wire&#8217;s “Morning Wire” podcast in February, said there’s evidence that the vaccine could be to blame.
“We did not see the uptake before the vaccine was rolled out, but young people were primarily affected around that same time, as well,” Makary told “Morning Wire.&#8221; &#8220;The state of Florida did their own study, looking at heart attacks after the vaccine in particular, and found that there was an 81% increase in sudden death from heart attacks in the months following the vaccine compared to baseline rates. So many people do believe that the vaccine is one of the causes of heart problems in young people.”
Amanda Prestigiacomo contributed to this report.

Aaron Rodgers US Open

Aaron Rodgers Appears To Show Support For ‘Novax’ Djokovic’s COVID Vaccine Stance At US Open

Aaron Rodgers

COVID-19

Health

Sports

Former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/espn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN</a> anchor Sage Steele slammed her former employer in interviews this week after exiting the company over how they silenced her for giving her opinions while allowing her colleagues to speak on controversial political issues.
Steele was sidelined by the left-wing organization in 2021 when she spoke out about how she had to get a COVID vaccine to keep her job.
&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t the only one who felt silenced, who felt scared,&#8221; Steele <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/sage-steele-says-espn-silenced-others-opposite-equity-tolerance-inclusion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;I mean, some of us would literally whisper in the corner or even in the bathroom and talk about, hey, we can&#8217;t say this too loud.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s insane, and it&#8217;s the opposite of what people preach with equity and tolerance and inclusion and acceptance and all those words that everybody throws around, especially in corporate America, but when it&#8217;s actually time to live it? That was my issue,&#8221; she added.
Steele said in a separate interview that the entire ordeal turned into a big controversy &#8220;because most importantly, I complied.&#8221;
&#8220;You know, and I can have an opinion about things, especially if I&#8217;m complying with the rules to get the shot that I did not want to get, adamantly did not want to get,&#8221; she said. &#8220;At the end of the day, it was just about consistency, and lack of, and if my peers are allowed to go on our network and on many platforms on ESPN airwaves — versus me on a day off on a separate podcast — and give their opinions about things that truly are political, Roe vs. Wade, and so many things, and then I can&#8217;t talk about my experiences as a biracial woman or for not wanting to get a shot [inaudible] getting to keep my job.&#8221;
She said that what she needed from ESPN was &#8220;consistency,&#8221; something that every parent knows is crucial.
&#8220;I&#8217;m a parent of three kids. And I know how important that is even if you don&#8217;t like the rules,&#8221; she said. &#8220;If it&#8217;s consistent, then you know, it&#8217;s clear. And I think that&#8217;s what makes me the most sad because it didn&#8217;t, it didn&#8217;t have to be this way. But I kind of tried to stop asking why. Like, okay, here we are now. And now maybe by doing this, more people can, can more employers can just be a little more careful and more consistent.&#8221;
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH: <a href="https://twitter.com/sagesteele?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sagesteele</a> on settling her lawsuit with <a href="https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPN</a> for violating her free speech rights based on her reluctance in getting the covid jab:
“At the end of the day, it was just about consistency and lack of…it didn’t have to be this way” <a href="https://t.co/A1rhWUfzcx">pic.twitter.com/A1rhWUfzcx</a>
&mdash; Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) <a href="https://twitter.com/WarMachineRR/status/1697254554981781551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sage Steele

Sage Steele Blasts ESPN For Silencing Her: ‘The Opposite Of Equity, Tolerance, Inclusion’

Sage Steele Blasts ESPN For Silencing Her: 'The Opposite Of Equity, Tolerance, Inclusion'

ESPN

U.S.

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/connecticut" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Connecticut</a> law eliminating religious exemptions for childhood vaccines is constitutional and legal, according to a federal appeals court.
In a Friday <a href="https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/73de89ff-df9e-451a-8067-f0be0a5bad18/1/doc/22-249_complete_opn.pdf%23xml=https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/73de89ff-df9e-451a-8067-f0be0a5bad18/1/hilite/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruling</a>, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed the claim that refusal to accept religious exemptions for vaccinations was unconstitutional.
“[I]t is not enough for a law to simply affect religious practice; the law or the process of its enactment must demonstrate ‘hostility’ to religion,” stated the court. “[E]xempting a student from the vaccination requirement because of a medical condition and exempting a student who declines to be vaccinated for religious reasons are not comparable in relation to the State’s interest.”
The court also said that the accommodations for religious objectors nullified arguments that the law was hostile to religion, citing a provision in the law allowing children already enrolled in K-12 to maintain their religious exemptions.
The ruling explained that the Connecticut legislature introduced the bill in 2021 to address a one percent rise in child religious exemptions during the preceding seven years. The court also noted that the proposed exemption elimination received overwhelming public opposition (95 percent), with the supportive minority representing various public health agencies and associations.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, <a href="https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Press-Releases/2023-Press-Releases/Statement-on-Decision-Upholding-Elimination-of-Religious-Exemption-to-School-Vaccine-Requirements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> in a press release on Friday that overriding religious freedom was necessary to prevent disease.
“Vaccines save lives — this is a fact beyond dispute. The legislature acted responsibly and well within its authority to protect the health of Connecticut families and stop the spread of preventable disease,” said Tong. “We will continue to vigorously defend our state’s strong and necessary public health laws.”
The Connecticut legislature banned religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations in 2021 through Connecticut Public Act No. 21-6. Under the law, families may not claim a religious exemption from immunization requirements for preK-12 schools. The law went into effect last September.
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Two days after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed the bill into law, two groups and three mothers sued to stop it: We the Patriots USA, CT Freedom Alliance, Constantina Lora, Miriam Hidalgo, and Asma Elidrissi.
The plaintiffs alleged that the elimination of the religious exemption violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment; a right to privacy and medical freedom implied within the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments; the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and the liberty interest in childrearing implicit in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The lead plaintiff in the case challenging the law, We the Patriots USA, said they plan to appeal to the Supreme Court.
“[W]e respectfully disagree with the Court&#8217;s conclusion that the removal of the religious exemption in Connecticut does not infringe upon the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment, or the Fourteenth Amendment&#8217;s guarantee of equal protection under the law, among other things,” said the group. “We fully intend to seek review of this decision in the United States Supreme Court, to obtain equal justice for all children — not only in Connecticut, but in every state in the nation.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a> 
Our press release on the Connecticut Religious Exemption repeal case that we intend to bring before SCOTUS.
Thank you to Attorney <a href="https://twitter.com/PattisNorm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PattisNorm</a> for continuing to fight for the religious freedom and educational rights of all children.<a href="https://t.co/ILw5nUfVx4">https://t.co/ILw5nUfVx4</a> <a href="https://t.co/vxqCnJJIGu">pic.twitter.com/vxqCnJJIGu</a>
— We The Patriots USA (@WTPatriotsUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WTPatriotsUSA/status/1687578931514486784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
Mississippi, California, New York, and Maine have similarly barred religious exemptions for vaccinations; West Virginia has never allowed religious exemptions for required K-12 immunizations.

Vaccine

Federal Court Upholds Connecticut Law Eliminating Religious Exemptions For Childhood Vaccines

Connecticut

Medical

A judge has reversed a decision from the University of Virginia Health System to fire a woman after she chose not to take the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID vaccine</a> and applied for a religious exemption. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virginia</a> District Judge Claude V. Worrell ruled last week that the UVA Health System had wrongfully terminated Kaycee McCoy, a cytotechnologist there for more than ten years, <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23891516/mccoy-case-ruling.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to court documents. 
“Because UVA acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner, this court reverses their decision to fire Plaintiff for failing to be vaccinated from Covid-19. They are hereby enjoined from preventing her employment on the basis of vaccination as long as she continues to qualify for a religious accommodation properly applied,” the judge ruled, a decision first <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/worker-fired-over-refusal-to-receive-covid-19-vaccine-wins-job-back-5433907" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by the Epoch Times. 
Worrell ruled that McCoy should be given back pay with interest from the time she was fired to the time of his decision. 
McCoy, who aided in screening cancer cells and other pathological conditions, was fired in November 2021 after she applied for a religious exception to the COVID vaccine with a letter from her pastor. Her application was denied, and she was given no opportunity to appeal, according to Worrell’s decision. 
Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin <a href="https://www.wric.com/news/politics/capitol-connection/gov-youngkin-to-sign-executive-actions-banning-critical-race-theory-ending-school-mask-mandate-and-rescinding-vaccine-mandate-for-state-employees/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">removed</a> the vaccine mandate for state employees, but some federal vaccine requirements still applied for entities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding. Worrell noted that these mandates are still subject to religious and medical exemptions. 
While Biden&#8217;s vaccine mandate for workers was overturned by the Supreme Court after a suit from a number of groups, including The Daily Wire, the end of the mandate for healthcare workers was only <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-06-05/pdf/2023-11449.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> in June 2023.
While the judge said that religious rights were not absolute, the health system should have allowed a religious exemption in this case because she had shown evidence of her “sincerely held religious beliefs that allowed her to seek an exception.” 
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The judge’s decision was praised by the religious liberty advocacy group First Liberty Counsel. 
“This is an important victory for religious liberty and for those who have not caved into these unlawful shot mandates. Forcing an employee to choose between their sincerely held religious beliefs and their job is highly unconstitutional. Applying for a religious exemption is a legal right and cannot be arbitrarily denied,” Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver said.

A young doctor in white protective glove is holding a medical syringe and vial

Judge ‘Reverses’ Health System’s Decision To Fire Worker Over COVID Vaccine, Orders Back Pay

Courts

Glenn Youngkin

University of Virginia

Virginia

More than 100 colleges and universities are still enforcing COVID vaccine mandates for students &#8212; some three years out from the start of the pandemic.
A report from No College Mandates lists 104 colleges and universities still requiring COVID vaccinations, including Harvard University, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers University, DePauw University, University of Pittsburgh, and San Diego State University.
According to COVID policies outlined on some of these schools&#8217; websites, staff and faculty are sometimes required to be vaccinated, too, The Daily Wire has reviewed. Additionally, some of the schools permit religious or medical exemptions.
No College Mandates brands itself as a group of &#8220;concerned parents, doctors, nurses, professors, students and other college stakeholders working towards the common goal of ending COVID-19 vaccine mandates.&#8221; The site has additionally <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11BrDadiUGN-vQBe7Jolcb_-aWhLT7S2AkWOkSX49M40/edit#gid=888077202" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compiled</a> a list of more than 1,200 schools with details on specific COVID vaccine policies.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
There are 104 colleges in the US still mandating COVID vaccines for students (faculty exempted) and some have indicated they will never let this go. All the while, they refuse to make sense of their pseudoscience. <a href="https://t.co/R9hlVbPbwc">pic.twitter.com/R9hlVbPbwc</a>
&mdash; No College Mandates (@NCM4Ever) <a href="https://twitter.com/NCM4Ever/status/1682766921916207106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Some colleges and universities have only recently discontinued their vaccine requirements. For example, 64 New York state schools, all part of the SUNY system, <a href="https://www.suny.edu/suny-news/press-releases/4-23/4-11-23-vax/vaccines.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped</a> the COVID vaccine mandate in April of this year.
Some schools even mandated COVID booster shots for students as of last year. One young woman, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/her-doctor-advised-her-to-skip-the-booster-shot-over-possible-side-effects-so-her-college-expelled-her" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Diamond Ellie Puentes</a>, was abruptly expelled from Union College in April 2022 after she requested a medical exemption to the COVID booster shot. Puentes, who became ill after taking the second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine, is now <a href="https://dailygazette.com/2023/03/02/former-student-suing-union-college-over-vaccine-mandate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suing</a> Union College over her treatment and expulsion.
Research on the relatively new COVID vaccines is still being conducted. Harvard and Yale scientists, for example, are <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12267293/Harvard-Yale-scientists-probing-new-condition-linked-Covid-vaccines.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> studying a condition dubbed “Long Vax.”
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One of those researchers, Yale University cardiologist Harlan Krumholz, <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/rare-link-between-coronavirus-vaccines-and-long-covid-illness-starts-gain-acceptance">said</a> he was hesitant to conduct these studies because he didn’t want the “anti-vaccine” movement to seize on these findings, but he ultimately decided it was his obligation as a scientist to have an open mind.
Moreover, young men face an elevated risk of heart inflammation after getting the COVID vaccine, according to a leading medical expert.
Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and an oncology surgeon at the school’s affiliated hospital, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covid-vaccine-brings-higher-heart-risk-little-benefit-to-young-men-medical-expert-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted</a> a study from Cedars Sinai that found a 30% increase in heart attack deaths among adults between the ages of 25 and 44 during the first two years of the COVID pandemic. One theory is that the uptick could be the result of the virus itself, but Makary, speaking to “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire">Morning Wire</a>” in February, said there&#8217;s evidence that the vaccine could be to blame.
“We did not see the uptake before the vaccine was rolled out, but young people were primarily affected around that same time, as well,” Makary told &#8220;Morning Wire.&#8221; “The state of Florida did their own study, looking at heart attacks after the vaccine in particular, and found that there was an 81% increase in sudden death from heart attacks in the months following the vaccine compared to baseline rates. So many people do believe that the vaccine is one of the causes of heart problems in young people.”
UPDATE: Sarah Lawrence College has been removed from this piece as  one of the school&#8217;s mandating a COVID vaccine for the coming semester, after a representative from the school told The Daily Wire via email that they are no longer requiring proof of vaccination. It&#8217;s unclear when this policy changed.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covid-vaccine-brings-higher-heart-risk-little-benefit-to-young-men-medical-expert-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Her Doctor Advised Her To Skip The Booster Shot Over Possible Side Effects. So Her College Expelled Her.</a>

TOPSHOT-FRANCE-HEALTH-VIRUS

More Than 100 Colleges Are Still Enforcing Vaccine Mandates: Report

More Than 100 Colleges Are Still Requiring Vaccine Mandates: Report

College

Students

Universities

In the depths of 2020, many Americans couldn&#8217;t wait for the COVID vaccine to hit pharmacies.
Once they got their shot, some couldn&#8217;t wait for their first booster dose — or their second.
Now though, the pandemic has died down, and Americans are exhausted.
Most never bothered getting their second, third, fourth, or fifth boosters, despite <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/04/cdc-keeps-pushing-covid-boosters-on-kids-despite-health-risks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aggressive</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne4CfAglWmQ&amp;t=28s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">marketing</a> from the federal government. Those who did get four or five doses have inspired <a href="https://twitter.com/CryptoMo_/status/1473647681314729989" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memes</a> online — portrayed as fearful hypochondriacs still living in 2020 who fell for government propaganda.
Meanwhile, booster dose rates are nearing zero.
Only 16.9% of the U.S. population — about 56.1 million people — have received the updated bivalent booster dose, the latest version of the booster shot, <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-people-booster-percent-pop5">according</a> to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Contrast that with the 69.5%, more than 230 million Americans, who got their initial COVID vaccine at some point. About 81.4% received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1119-booster-shots.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> the first version of the booster dose for all adults in November, 2021. Ten months later in September, the updated bivalent booster targeting the Omicron variant <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">became</a> available.
By mid-October, a month and a half into the updated booster rollout, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/15/us/politics/covid-booster-shots.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only 15 million</a> doses of the new shots had been administered to about one in 10 eligible people.
Americans weren&#8217;t as excited as the government hoped they would be.
Most of the vaccinated people who didn&#8217;t get the updated booster shot said they either didn&#8217;t know they were eligible, didn&#8217;t know boosters were available, or believed they still had strong protection against infection, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7203a5.htm?s_cid=mm7203a5_w#suggestedcitation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a November CDC survey.
Shots of the updated booster dose peaked on Friday, October 14 when <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-trends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than</a> 800,000 people across the country went to get their booster dose, according to the CDC&#8217;s tracker.
After that, though, the number of people getting boosters dropped precipitously in early November and has continued to sink since then. The last week of April saw a slight bump, but this month the numbers dropped even lower. According to the CDC, fewer than 8,000 people got a booster dose on May 9th.
Keep in mind, the CDC&#8217;s data only includes first booster doses. The numbers for subsequent boosters are even more dismal.
Enthusiasm for multiple COVID boosters was weak from the start.
By August, 2022, about 58.8 million people 50 or older had <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7135a4.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gotten</a> their original booster shot, but only 20 million had gotten their second booster dose, despite all of them being eligible. The people most likely to skip the second booster were blacks and Hispanics, people in rural areas, people aged 50 to 64, and people who got the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine.
Currently, the CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html#:~:text=You%20may%20get%20a%20Novavax,any%20other%20COVID%2D19%20vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> people ages six and up need only one updated booster, while people 65 and up can get a second booster. The agency recommends immunocompromised people get a booster dose every two months.
In other words, a healthy person does not need more than one booster, even by the CDC&#8217;s standards.
Nevertheless, a small <a href="https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1567961245889839105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">but</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/richsignorelli/status/1568267364512276481" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vocal</a> group is eager to announce getting their third, fourth, or fifth booster shots on social media, even as serious COVID cases have fallen.
For the most part, however, Americans&#8217; vaccine fatigue does not show signs of letting up, especially as we get further away from 2020.
The national public health emergency around COVID officially expired on Thursday, May 11, more than three years after it began under the Trump administration. This means the government will now treat COVID as any other respiratory illness.
Unless millions of Americans have a sudden change of heart about the booster shot, the anemic tally of those who have taken it is unlikely to change.

Close-up of bottles of COVID-19 vaccine

Vaccine Fatigue: COVID Booster Numbers Are Pretty Sad These Days

Health Care

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/dr-rochelle-walensky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rochelle Walensky</a>, the director of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cdc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, is slated to leave the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">public health</a> agency at the end of next month.
The official assumed office on the day President <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> was inaugurated and played a central role in the administration’s response to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a>, which involved the continued nationwide rollout of vaccines and a controversial <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/vaccine-mandate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requirement</a> that federal workers receive the inoculation. She previously served as chief of the infectious diseases division at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School.
“The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency marks a tremendous transition for our country, for public health, and in my tenure as CDC Director,” Walensky said in a Friday <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2023/p0505-walensky.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “I took on this role, at your request, with the goal of leaving behind the dark days of the pandemic and moving CDC, and public health, forward into a much better and more trusted place.”
Walensky will cease her official duties on June 30. Biden lauded her work at the public health agency in a separate <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/05/statement-from-president-biden-on-dr-rochelle-walensky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from the White House.
“As Director of the CDC, she led a complex organization on the frontlines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity. She marshalled our finest scientists and public health experts to turn the tide on the urgent crises we’ve faced,” the commander-in-chief said. “Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans. We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in her next chapter.”
Beyond the federal vaccine mandate, which was officially <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nixed</a> earlier this week, the Biden administration attempted to impose vaccine requirements on private employers through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an emergency order which the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-year-after-supreme-court-struck-down-covid-vax-mandate-freedom-flourishes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overturned</a> last year after The Daily Wire filed a federal lawsuit.
Walensky meanwhile garnered controversy for providing teachers union officials “unprecedented access” to view and shape COVID response guidelines, a privilege that the unions leveraged to implement a “trigger” provision that would cause schools to automatically close should COVID test positivity rates reach certain thresholds, according to a <a href="https://republicans-oversight.house.gov/release/investigation-reveals-bidens-cdc-bypassed-scientific-norms-to-allow-teachers-union-to-re-write-official-guidance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
Kelly Tratner, the senior director for health issues at the American Federation of Teachers, suggested the “trigger” provision to Walensky in an email that she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-gave-teachers-union-unprecedented-access-to-shape-national-covid-19-guidelines-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forwarded</a> to a fellow CDC administrator. The suggestion was included in a guidance published on the following day.
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Walensky <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-warns-cdc-has-a-bigger-motive-behind-its-shake-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> last year that the CDC made mistakes in its COVID response and called for a “reset” that would include staffing changes and faster data releases. She contended that the agency should create a “new office to promote equity in healthcare” and develop a “more nimble workforce that can quickly respond to public health crises.”
Critics of the federal response to COVID assert that inconsistent guidance from senior officials eroded trust in the government’s public health agencies. Anthony Fauci, who retired from his longtime role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the end of last year, earned a special degree of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/fauci-unmasked" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticism</a> for his various recommendations regarding business closures, face masks, and vaccine boosters.

Rochelle Walensky

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Announces Departure From Public Health Agency

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky To Leave The Agency

Biden Administration

Dr. Rochelle Walensky

Very few celebrities broke rank with the limousine liberals who went all in on COVID.
But Woody Harrelson, an actor who turned a bit role in the TV series &#8220;Cheers&#8221; into a major Hollywood career, threw caution to the wind and blasted it all in a monologue on &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; that went viral.
There was, as expected, much blowback. But Woody doesn&#8217;t care about that — or even read it.
“Well, people told me it was, shall we say, trending,” Harrelson <a href="https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a43720670/woody-harrelson-justin-theroux-white-house-plumbers-interview-2023/">told</a> Esquire about his SNL monologue. “No, I don’t look at that s***. I feel like, I said it on SNL. I don’t need to go further with it … other than to say — well, no, I won’t. Never mind. That’s enough. &#8230; But it don’t change my life one bit. Not one bit, if the mainstream media wants to have a go at you, right? My life is still wonderful.”
In his SNL monologue in February, Harrelson told a story about smoking cannabis in New York City’s Central Park and reading “the craziest script” for a movie pitch.
“So the movie goes like this,” he said. “The biggest drug cartels in the world get together and buy up all the media and all the politicians and force all the people in the world to stay locked in their homes.”
“And people can only come out if they take the cartel’s drugs and keep taking them over and over. I threw the script away,” he joked. “I mean, who was going to believe that crazy idea? Being forced to do drugs? I do that voluntarily all day long.&#8221;
The Washington Post was incensed and published a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/02/26/snl-harrelson-covid-vaccine-monologue/">piece</a> with the headline: “On SNL, Woody Harrelson pushes popular covid-19 conspiracy theory.” Of course, the liberal papers went right to the naysayers.
“&#8217;Thank you, @nbcsnl, for Woody Harrelson’s insipid anti-vax monologue. Who are [you] going to have guest host next week, Scott Baio? Rob Schneider? Kevin Sorbo? Maybe invite Kanye back while you’re at it,&#8221; wrote Twitter user Lee Goldberg. Another viewer asked: ‘Does #SNL think just harmless noise? Normalizing #antivaxx conspiracies does real harm!&#8217;”
Harrelson — who describes himself as an “anarchist, Marxist, ethical hedonist, non-discriminatory empath, epistemological deconstructionist Texan” — then doubled down, ripping the ongoing COVID protocols put in place for movie making in the early days of the pandemic.
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“Now to get an indie done? Especially with all the Covid protocols — which, to me, are rather absurd. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Harrelson said in an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/27/magazine/woody-harrelson-interview.html">interview</a> with The New York Times.
The Times, which has been pitching everything from mandatory masks to nationwide lockdowns, just had to know: “What’s absurd about the Covid protocols?”
“The fact that they’re still going on!” Harrelson said. “I don’t think that anybody should have the right to demand that you’re forced to do the testing, forced to wear the mask and forced to get vaccinated three years on. I’m just like, Let’s be done with this nonsense. It’s not fair to the crews. I don’t have to wear the mask. Why should they? Why should they have to be vaccinated? How’s that not up to the individual?”
Harrelson knew that liberal heads would surely explode. “I shouldn’t be talking about this [expletive]. It makes me angry for the crew. The anarchist part of me, I don’t feel that we should have forced testing, forced masking and forced vaccination. That’s not a free country. Really I’m talking about the crew. Because I can get out of wearing a mask. I can test less. I’m not in the same position they’re in, but it’s wrong. It’s three years. Stop.”
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

“Champions” New York Premiere

‘I Don’t Look At That S***’: Woody Harrelson Dismisses Backlash Over COVID Monologue On SNL

'I Don't Look At That S***': Woody Harrelson Dismisses Backlash Over SNL COVID Monologue On SNL

Celebrities

In recent years, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-military" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. military</a> has been plagued by lackluster recruitment across the board as it struggles to attract a new generation of soldiers to serve in the armed forces, and if called on, to go to war. 
What is driving the military’s recruitment woes? While both the lack of patriotism among young Americans and the growing obesity among the country’s youth are contributing factors, much of the recruitment problem is likely self-inflicted. In recent years, military leadership has alienated key recruiting demographics by instituting vaccine mandates, promoting anti-white sentiments, and pushing other woke initiatives. 
Here are six of the contributing factors to the military’s falling recruitment numbers: 
<h2>Vax Mandate</h2>
Under President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a>, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pentagon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pentagon</a> instituted a COVID vaccine mandate across all branches of the military, which <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/10/pentagon-drops-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-for-troops-00077364" target="_blank" rel="noopener">led to the expulsion</a> of over 8,000 service members. While this mandate was eventually revoked, the armed forces are still reeling from the mandate, which likely deterred many young and healthy Americans to choose a different career path.
Young men, of whom make up the bulk of the active duty service members, may have been especially hesitant to get the jab because of<a href="https://www.heart.org/en/news/2022/09/06/myocarditis-from-covid-19-booster-rare-but-risk-highest-among-teen-boys-young-men" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> data indicating</a> that the shot could be associated with myocarditis in their demographic.
Other potential recruits may have had religious, medical, or ethical objections to taking the jab. 
“If you are sitting in the state of Georgia or Texas and you see they are putting 40,000 members out, you are going to scratch your head a bit and say, ‘why would I join up?’” a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/27/lawmakers-pentagon-military-recruiting-00048286" target="_blank" rel="noopener">former senior</a> Department of Defense official said back in September. “And if you don’t want to get vaccinated, you are certainly not going to join.”
<h2>Anti-White Sentiment</h2>
In recent years, statements from military leadership appear to show  a growing animosity toward white people. This presents a problem, not just because it&#8217;s morally wrong to judge someone based on skin color, but because <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/214869/share-of-active-duty-enlisted-women-and-men-in-the-us-military/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about</a> 70% of active duty military men are white, according to recent statistics.
This disdain is seen in comments from top military brass, including Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley who infamously said he wanted to study “white rage.”
The Department of Defense’s former top DEI officer for education, Kelisa Wing, also took aim at white people in comments on social media before she decided to resign months after the comments emerged.
&#8220;I&#8217;m exhausted with these white folx in these [professional development] sessions,” <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/woke-department-defense-equity-chief-writes-anti-white-posts-exhausted-white-folx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">she said</a> in June 2020. &#8220;[T]his lady actually had the CAUdacity to say that black people can be racist too… I had to stop the session and give Karen the BUSINESS… [W]e are not the majority, we don&#8217;t have power.”
&#8220;I am exhausted by 99% of the white men in education and 95% of the white women. Where can I get a break from white nonsense for a while?” another social media post from Wing said.
According to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), dozens of servicemen <a href="https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2021/06/hundreds-troops-complain-about-woke-racism-extremism-training-cotton-claims/174672/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have also</a> complained about training emphasizing white privilege, systematic racism, being an “anti-racist,” and police brutality. It was also <a href="https://www.govexec.com/media/gbc/docs/pdfs_edit/memorandum_for_recordv2jb.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> that the phrase “all lives matter” was frowned upon.
In light of this, potential recruits have to ask themselves if they are willing to fight for an institution that appears to judge them based on their skin color.
<h2>Sexual Identity Politics</h2>
In addition to stoking racial division, the military  has also moved to fully embrace the sexual revolution.
Examples of the military’s adoption of sexual identitarian politics include: an Air Force base in Germany <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/air-force-base-cancels-drag-queen-story-hour-event-after-public-outcry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scheduling (and later canceling)</a> a drag queen story hour, an aircraft carrier <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/18/politics/gilday-defends-non-binary-sailor/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">having</a> an LGBTQ spoken word night, and the full-fledged embrace of transgender ideology by certain segments of the military.
During the so-called “Trans Day of Visibility” last month the<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/navy-urges-americans-to-be-an-ally-as-biden-admin-promotes-transgenderism" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Naval Sea Systems Command criticized</a> states that have banned sex change surgeries for kids and urged Americans to be an “ally” of trans-identifying people. Also in March, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-doctors-back-child-sex-changes-blast-red-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two Pentagon doctors backed</a> child sex changes in an article for the American Journal of Public Health.
On top of pushing radical gender ideology, the military announced <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/02/16/military-cover-travel-costs-and-offer-leave-troops-seeking-abortions-fertility-treatment.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it would pay</a> for abortion tourism for women in the military. Currently, the Veterans Affairs administration <a href="https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2023/04/20/tuberville-resolution-on-va-abortions-n2622193" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is fighting</a> Republicans over whether Veterans Affairs clinics can provide abortions.
Asking young men and women from America’s heartland to sign on to these progressive cultural policies as a condition of their service may be a bridge too far.
<h2>Shoddy Treatment of Veterans</h2>
The Veterans Affairs administration has long been dogged with accusations of corruption, ineptitude, and mismanagement. These criticisms have been especially potent as the suicide rate among veterans has remained sky-high coupled with the fact that thousands of veterans are now homeless.
According to various reports, many veterans have been <a href="https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/kare-11-investigates-veterans-denied-care-and-benefits-after-misdiagnosis/89-8241f99b-52d5-4f50-874f-3cdb790c94f0">denied care</a>, even as federal investigators have found that the VA has <a href="https://osc.gov/News/Pages/20-07-VA-Wasted-223-Million.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wasted</a> millions of taxpayer dollars. While incompetence seems to be a theme of the department meant to care for the nation’s veterans, an <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/washington/testimony/2022/t20220615.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> 17 veterans commit suicide every day.
While the VA struggles with scandals and meets with<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/navy-urges-americans-to-be-an-ally-as-biden-admin-promotes-transgenderism" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> trans-identifying activists</a>, <a href="https://www.va.gov/homeless/pit_count.asp#:~:text=end%20of%202021.-,The%20January%202022%20PIT%20Count,full%20PIT%20Count%20was%20conducted." target="_blank" rel="noopener">there </a>are thousands of homeless veterans. A recent estimate from about a year ago put this number at over 30,000. Those willing to die for their country should be ensured that they will be taken care of when they return home. 

<h2>Denigration of American History</h2>
Pentagon leaders have also shown a growing disregard for American history, one that has begun with a purge of anything linked to the Confederacy. Some are concerned the purge is likely to expand to the Founding Fathers.
Back in October, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3259966/dod-begins-implementation-of-naming-commission-recommendations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed off</a> on the recommendations of an independent naming commission to completely remove any reference to any person or idea linked to the Confederacy.
This includes the removal of a large bronze monument tucked away in Arlington National Cemetery known as the Confederate Monument. The monument, which was designed by a prominent Jewish American sculptor, is at the center of the graves of Confederate soldiers. It was widely seen as a <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/01/18/removing-the-confederate-memorial-from-arlington-cemetery-what-would-lincoln-and-grant-think/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">symbol of reconciliation</a> in a war that took the lives of over 600,000 Americans on both sides and left the South in ruins.
To signify its meaning of peace, the monument references Isaiah 2:4, which talks about turning swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, a powerful message for a nation recovering from the trauma of war. Up to the present day, many presidents, <a href="https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Monuments-and-Memorials/Confederate-Memorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including Barack Obama</a>, had sent flowers to the monument on Memorial Day.
However, this symbol of peace, in a far corner of Arlington, must go and taxpayers will pay for the removal. It may only be a matter of time before the military decides that the bodies around the monument must go too (see <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/city-digs-up-remains-of-confederate-general-after-taking-down-statue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Richmond’s treatment of A.P. Hill</a>). 
In similar fashion, the Navy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/navy-removes-name-of-oceanographic-pioneer-from-ship-over-confederate-ties" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently announced</a> that it would be renaming a ship named for oceanographic pioneer Matthew Fontaine Maury because of Maury’s ties to the Confederacy during the later years of his life.
Despite being more known for his innovations in oceanography than ties to the Confederacy in the final years of his life, Maury, known as the “Pathfinder of the Seas,” also needed to go.
All these changes and more will cost taxpayers over $60 million.
This approach to our nation’s history is off-putting to many young Americans who expect those in leadership to honor our shared, albeit imperfect past.
<h2>Questioning The Mission Of The U.S. Military</h2>
Another element likely contributing to the recruiting crisis is an increasing lack of confidence in what kind of wars the U.S. will be engaged in. The war in Afghanistan, which lasted over 20 years, resulted in thousands of Americans dying or being severely handicapped, and seemed to bring little result after Biden’s hasty retreat.
Was the war about democracy or fighting radical Islamic terrorism? The goals seemed to shift and the ultimate objective appeared to be vaguely defined. In 2021, the Taliban quickly took back the country and seemingly erased in a matter of days the work that American soldiers had bled for over 20 years. 
Today, there are questions about whether the U.S. will expand its role in the war between Russia and Ukraine or if tensions with China will escalate into a shooting war. Recruits should be asking themselves whether they would be willing to die for Ukraine or Taiwan.
With the increasing lack of confidence in American institutions, many potential recruits, disillusioned by the Left-wing takeover of the military, will be less likely to sign up to serve leaders they see as corrupt.
UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell likely summarized the position of many Americans when he <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/09/ufc-fighter-bryce-mitchell-says-evil-has-taken-over-america-and-we-aint-afraid-of-it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Tucker Carlson in March 2022 that while he wouldn’t fight in the Russia-Ukraine war, he would defend his state. “I’m just not wanting to go waste my life fighting for some of these battles that I don’t even believe in,” Mitchell said. “I believe our leaders, a lot of these elites are guilty of treason. What they’ve done is just treasonous.”
If war came to Arkansas, Mitchell said his response would be dramatically different. “I will dig my boots in the ground, and I will die for everything I love. And I will not retreat,” he said. 
None of this is meant to denigrate the millions of Americans who have honorably served in the military over the last 250 years, but military brass should be held accountable for its kowtowing to the Left on issues from racial prejudice to sexual politics, only alienating those it needs to attract to protect the nation.

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