Covid-19

On Tuesday, David Brody, a former panelist on "Meet the Press" and the host of a pro-Trump show on the Christian Broadcasting Network, compared the current push for vaccinations to Nazi Germany.

"For the past few months or so, the federal government has been pushing, and in some cases forcing, Americans to take a vaccine that many Americans are just afraid to take," said Brody. "If that's you, you've probably been called crazy, an anti-vaxxer, a conspiracist, all sorts of names. But the truth is, it's not you. It's them. It's the government that could be in violation here, of risking the health and safety of millions of Americans who they prompted to take this highly experimental vaccine."

Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson earlier this year signed a bill that banned schools from enacting mask mandates for students and faculty -- and now he admits this was a mistake.

Local news station KATV reports that Hutchinson on Tuesday called for a special session to change his state's mask mandate ban to give school districts more flexibility to put public health measures in place.

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference Tuesday, announcing he is "sick" of people's "judgmental" attitude toward those who, after months of vaccines being available, for free, and within five miles of the vast majority of Americans (and even available in-home for some,) have chosen to not get vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus that's killed 629,927 Americans so far.

"We obviously have some people that are not vaccinated that have been admitted to hospitals. Are you going to sit there, are you going to sit there, and are you going to sit there and criticize, or we going to try to treat and try to help the folks? You know, I'm just sick of this judge – I'm sick of the judgment, the judgmental stuff on some of this stuff, nobody's trying to, to, to get ill here, okay?" DeSantis complained.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday will formally announce New York City will soon require anyone entering a restaurant, bar, theater, gym, or other indoor events, like concerts, to provide proof of vaccination in a city that is lagging. It is an effort to motivate New Yorkers to get vaccinated and to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, now that the delta variant accounts for nearly all new cases.

"The policy is similar to mandates issued in France and Italy last month and is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States," The New York Times reports.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham Monday afternoon announced he has tested positive for the coronavirus. The South Carolina Republican and top Trump ally says he was vaccinated, but like a minuscule percentage of Americans – less than 1% – who were inoculated he contracted the virus after being vaccinated.

Graham did credit the vaccine for his mild symptoms, but some believe he should have taken this opportunity to urge other Trump-loving Republicans to get vaccinated, rather than just mention that he was vaccinated. The vaccine is credited with keeping those who contract the virus after being fully inoculated alive and out of the hospital. Many, like Graham, report only mild symptoms.

Even though Barack Obama plans to celebrate his 60th birthday adhering to all the current health guidelines, the former president has come under fire -- mainly from the Republican camp -- for throwing a large party amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases due to the Delta variant.

The celebration is to take place this weekend on the upscale island of Martha's Vineyard, in full compliance with the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main US public health agency, according to unnamed sources quoted by the American press.

Schools in a county in the southeastern US state of Georgia will pay $1,000 bonuses to staff who are vaccinated against Covid-19 in a bid to protect themselves from the resurgent pandemic, authorities said.

With that incentive county officials said they hope to avoid the "numerous disruptions that were encountered in public education over the past two school years due to a global pandemic."

US President Joe Biden on Monday urged the imposition of a new ban on evictions to prevent a wave of homelessness as the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus takes hold.

But just a day after a nationwide eviction moratorium expired, Biden acknowledged the administration does not have the legal authority to help renters stay in their homes.

On Monday, local news station WATE reported that the Republican Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives is vowing to block schools across the state from requiring masks for students.

"During a press conference on Monday afternoon, Cameron Sexton threatened school districts with potential legislative force if they choose to issue a mask mandate or close schools due to the pandemic," reported Sebastian Posey. "'We want parents making the decision on whether to wear masks in schools,' said Sexton. 'So, I sure hope school systems do not require a mask mandate for these students and if they do, I'm going to ask the governor for a special session.'"

An intensive care unit nurse in Louisiana told CNN's Anderson Cooper that she's exhausted dealing with patients who haven't gotten vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

During a lengthy interview, Cooper asked ICU nurse Felicia Croft to describe the conditions she's seeing at her hospital at the moment.

CNN on Monday exposed RNC Committeeman Peter Feaman of Florida for spreading "anti-vaccine rhetoric and misinformation, comparing the Biden administration's vaccine efforts to Nazi-era 'brown shirts,' and twice calling the vaccines 'the mark of the beast,' comparable to a 'false god.'"

Feaman was an elector for Trump in the 2016 and 2020 electoral college.

Two MSNBC medical analysts warned about the surge of coronavirus across the south as Republican politicians reject public health measures to minimize the impact of the pandemic.

MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart interviewed Drs. Kavita Patel and Peter Hotez on Monday who both sounded the alarm about the surge in hospitalizations in the Southern United States, which have some of the lowest rates of vaccination in the country.

A man who has been hospitalized for the last three weeks after being infected with the novel coronavirus admits that he got taken in by anti-vaccination propaganda -- and he's now full of regret.

NBC News reports that 67-year-old Lawrence Jones, who has spent the past 22 days at UF Health Jacksonville after coming down with COVID-19, has been using his time to encourage more people to get vaccinated.