Coronavirus

Sherri Tenpenny is an influential religious-right anti-vaccine activist who has testified before the Ohio state House, appeared on Charlie Kirk’s podcast, and been a speaker at multiple ReAwaken America events, where she has shared the stage with the likes of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Eric Trump, Mike Lindell, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and Alex Jones.

Despite the fact that Tenpenny is osteopathic doctor with no expertise on vaccines, she regularly appears on right-wing programs where she spreads wild conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines.

Recently, she has begun to claim that COVID-19 vaccines are designed to create “quantum entanglement” between those who take them and the internet in an effort to turn humanity into “transhumanist cyborgs.”

“The stated goal is to depopulate the planet and the ones that are left, either make them chronically sick or turn them into transhumanist cyborgs that can be manipulated externally by 5G, by magnets, by all sorts of things,” Tenpenny said during an appearance on “The Stew Peters Show” Thursday night. “I got dragged through the mud by the mainstream media when I said that in May of last year in front of the House committee in Columbus, [Ohio]. Well, guess what? It’s all true.”

“The whole issue of quantum entanglement and what the shots do in terms of the frequencies and the electronic frequencies that come inside of your body and hook you up to the ‘Internet of Things,’ the quantum entanglement that happens immediately after you’re injected,” she continued. “You get hooked up to what they’re trying to develop. It’s called the hive mind, and they want all of us there as a node and as an electronic avatar that is an exact replica of us except it’s an electronic replica, it’s not our God given body that we were born with. And all of that will be running through the metaverse that they’re talking about. All of these things are real, Stew. All of them. And it’s happening right now. It’s not some science fiction thing happening out in the future; it’s happening right now in real time.”

“I got dragged through the mud by the mainstream media when I said that in May of last year
in front of the House committee in Columbus, [Ohio]. Well, guess what? It’s all true.”

Austin dismisses GOP objections to National Guard vaccine mandate

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin dismissed the objections of seven Republican governors to the
National Guard vaccine mandate, asserting his authority to set military medical requirements
for the entire armed forces, including guard units.

In nearly identical letters sent to the governors late last week, Austin wrote that their concerns
"do not negate the need for this important military readiness requirement."

The responses, first reported by the Associated Press, are similar to the letter Austin wrote in
late-November to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, the first Republican governor to challenge the
vaccine mandate. But instead of warning that failure to vaccinate "may lead to a prohibition
on the member's participation in drills and training," Austin now writes that it "will lead to a
prohibition.

The Covid vaccine we need now may not be a shot
Nasal vaccines under development around the world may make
better boosters by stopping the coronavirus in the airways

Nasal vaccines may be the best way to prevent infections long term, because they
provide protection exactly where it is needed to fend off the virus: the mucosal
linings of the airways, where the coronavirus first lands.

Bharat Biotech is among the world’s leading vaccine manufacturers. Its best known
product, Covaxin, is authorized to prevent Covid in India and many other countries.
But its experimental nasal vaccine may prove to be the real game changer...

Missouri’s top health official, a Republican who opposes mask and vaccine mandates but spoke approvingly of the Covid vaccine, was supposed to have been confirmed by State Senate by Friday.

Instead, conservative state legislators stonewalled the process earlier this week and Donald Kauerauf resigned on Tuesday, becoming the latest public health leader to be forced from office, as the politicized fight about masks, mandates and pandemic response rages on.

Mr. Kaeurauf had been appointed by Gov. Mike Parsons, a Republican, in July to lead the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services and had served in the position since September.

At a Monday hearing, Mr. Kaeurauf emphasized his opposition to mandatory masking and vaccination, but repeated his desire to see improvement in Missouri’s sluggish vaccination rate. Only about half of the state’s population has received two doses.

Mr. Kaeurauf’s statements in favor of vaccinations were apparently enough to doom his confirmation in the Republican-controlled Missouri Senate. The chamber adjourned on Tuesday, opting not to act before the Friday deadline.

Mr. Kaeurauf is just the latest public health leader to be punished for expressing support for vaccines.

Dr. Raul Pino, who leads the Florida Department of Health’s office in Orange County, was placed on administrative leave last month after urging employees to get the shot. In an email, he called the office’s vaccination rate “pathetic.” Florida’s Health Department is investigating whether Mr. Pino’s conduct ran afoul of state laws.

In Nashville, Dr. Michelle Fiscus said she was fired last year after she distributed a memo suggesting some teenagers could be eligible to get vaccinated without parental consent. Ms. Fiscus, then Tennessee’s top immunization leader, said her termination followed outcry from Republican lawmakers in Tennessee.

In the months since her firing, Dr. Fiscus said the security of public health officials has continued to devolve because “the legislative body is continuing to sink its fingers into the practice of medicine.”

“As a former public health official, it’s really disturbing to continue to see this trend,” she said.

Late last year, The New York Times identified more than 500 top health officials who left their jobs in the prior 19 months. They have drawn ire from state leaders and the public for their decisions, and faced other hurdles including mass staff departures, inconsistent funding and dwindling trust in their authority.

Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said that the fallout from the departures will have an impact that lasts beyond this pandemic and will leave the country less prepared for the next public health crisis.

“What we want out of our public health leaders is to tell us the truth whether or not it’s politically popular,” Ms. Casalotti said. “We’re going to lose those voices and those are the voices that we need to keep our communities safe and secure.”

Some officials, like Mr. Kaeurauf, have become targets of conservatives bristling about testing requirements in schools and encouragement to wear masks. At a Monday hearing in Missouri a day before Mr. Kaeurauf’s resignation, protesters lofted posters with messages such as “we’re not guinea pigs” and “God-given natural immunity.” The State Senate’s Conservative Caucus posted a message of support for the protesters on social media, thanking them for making their “voices heard” and urging them to “keep up the good fight.”

Senator Rick Brattin, a member of the caucus, said in an interview on Wednesday that he did not believe that Mr. Kaeurauf was being “forthright” during his hearing.

Governor Parsons said in a statement on Tuesday that “the Missouri Senate chose to indulge a few men’s egos” and to prioritize political gain. The senators had listened to rumors and lies about Mr. Kaeurauf spread on social media, he added.

“The events that have transpired over the past few days surrounding Don’s Senate confirmation hearing are nothing short of disgraceful, unquestionably wrong, and an embarrassment to this state and the people we serve,” the governor said. “I pray that honor, integrity and order can be returned to the Missouri Senate and that it comes sooner rather than later.”

Exercise may enhance effects of a Covid or flu shot

Taking a long, brisk walk, jog or bike ride after your next Covid or flu vaccine might amplify
the benefits of the shot, according to a new study of exercise and immunization. The study,
which involved 70 people and about 80 mice, looked at antibody responses after a jab with
the influenza vaccine or both rounds of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. It found that
people who exercised for 90 minutes right after their shot subsequently produced more
antibodies than people who did not. The extra immune boost, which should help reduce their
risk of falling seriously ill from those diseases, did not seem to trigger an increase in side effects.

The study’s results are preliminary and need to be tested in larger numbers of people. But the
findings add to mounting evidence that being fit and physically active may prime our bodies to
respond with extra robustness to flu and Covid vaccines.