Covid-19

A Florida woman who has filed a lawsuit aimed at stopping airlines from implementing mask requirements for passengers has a long history of promoting bogus medical information -- including claims that people would be healthier if they didn't take antibiotics.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that Tampa resident Sarah Pope this week joined a lawsuit this week filed against the Biden administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Health and Human Services that aims to overturn mask mandates on public transportation and major transportation hubs.

Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) held an event at the state Capitol in Tallahassee talking about the skepticism around masks. Among those on hand as an "expert" was Mark McDonald, a Los Angeles clinical psychiatrist.

A transcript acquired by the Daily Beast after the event revealed that McDonald attacked mask-mandates, specifically singling out his home state of California as a "medical apartheid state" after they reinstituted mask mandates following another increase in cases.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has spent the past several days playing the victim over criticism for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis in his state.

Last month Florida accounted for 1 in 5 of every COVID cases in the United States, and this week the state shattered its own records for COVID cases and hospitalizations.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis complained on Wednesday that President Joe Biden was "singling out" his state for criticism after it smashed its own record for COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations this week.

Speaking with reporters, DeSantis falsely claimed that the reason for the COVID-19 surge in his state was due to immigrants flooding in through the southern border, when in reality the major reason for the virus's resurgence has been the refusal of millions of Americans to take a free vaccine to protect themselves against the disease.

As Democratic members of Congress and President Joe Biden are working to extend the eviction moratorium enacted to help Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, Fox News' Peter Doocy went to bat, too – for landlords.

"There's been a major push here recently to protect tenants from being evicted right now, why isn't more being done to help the landlords who are struggling to pay their bills because they're not being paid?" Doocy, apparently ignorant that there are federal funds to compensate landlords for lost rental income, asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

The family of a one-time Republican Party leader in New Jersey used his obituary to blast the unvaccinated people who allegedly infected him with COVID-19.

"He was infected by someone who chose to not get vaccinated and his death was preventable," states the obituary for Clark R. Allen. "It is the wish of his family that everyone get vaccinated in order to prevent further death, sickness and heartbreak."

Three out of ten Americans who have refused to get vaccinated against the coronavirus say they would do so once the FDA grants full and final approval to the vaccine. Their excuse is about to evaporate.

The FDA is expected to grant final approval to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine within a matter of weeks, The New York Times reports Tuesday evening. The agency's "unofficial deadline" is "Labor Day or sooner."

CNN reporter Gary Tuchman grew exasperated on Tuesday when he interviewed an anti-vaccination pastor who filed a lawsuit asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn pandemic restrictions that do not currently exist in his state.

Tuchman traveled up to Maine to talk with Pastor Kevin Graves of the Calvary Church of Central Maine, who was defiant in his insistence that he would not make his congregants wear masks and would not get vaccinated against the deadly virus that has killed more than 600,000 Americans.

On Tuesday, Consequence.net reported that the 90s punk rock group The Offspring has kicked out drummer Pete Parada over his refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

"Parada, who had been the band's drummer since 2007, explained his departure in a lengthy statement on Instagram, saying that his medical history and advice from his doctor has led him to choose not to get vaccinated at this time. He added that, as a result, the rest of the band feels he's 'unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour,'" said the report. "Back in April, The Offspring released their latest album, Let the Bad Times Roll, which marked their first studio LP in nine years. It's also the first Offspring album where Parada played drums on the entire effort, having previously appeared on just four of the tracks on 2012's Days Go By."

Although former President Donald Trump has been vaccinated for COVID-19, he hasn't gone out of his way to encourage others to get vaccinated. Some of his supporters wish that he would, but reporters have some thoughts on why Trump has avoided promoting vaccination.

According to the Daily Beast's Asawin Suebsaeng, people in Trump's circle have urged him to encourage vaccinations, but Trump "doesn't want to do it, he doesn't want to do Joe Biden any favors, and he doesn't think his fans really want it." MSNBC's Adam Weinstein observed:

Writing for the Washington Post Tuesday, conservative Marc Thiessen complained that anti-vaxxers shouldn't be shamed or harassed for endangering the lives of those around them.

The claims of harassment and persecution are an increasingly popular among conservatives who are painting themselves as the latest victims of a kind of pro-science mafia.