July 30, 2021
Ready or not, and probably not, the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has entered the state and infections are rapidly rising, concentrated among those who have not received a vaccination.
The state health officer has asked for Wyomingites to mask back up indoors in areas of moderate to high transmission, which includes Laramie and Natrona Counties.
In Colorado, certain counties have been pointed out as areas of rapidly rising infections as well, including Denver County, where the recent Major League Baseball game and a concert are now regarded as superspreader events.
As a background to all of this, it's very clear that the global population is nowhere near the "herd immunity" level which is necessary to render COVID 19 extinct. Perhaps this isn't too surprising, given the monumental nature of the effort necessary to achieve it, but what is surprising is that the developed world hasn't achieved it and the United States is clearly lagging far behind. This, too, comes at a point in time at which it nearly looked as if success had been achieved.
In the US a strong feature of the ongoing pandemic is a refusal of a certain part of the population to receive the vaccination that prevents it, this making the disease cross over from one which lurks ready to strike anyone to one which at this point is a preventable disease. Preventable disease itself has become the hallmark of modern American medical situations, in that most of the diseases that are real killers in the US are actually ones that are preventable.
Future historians and sociologist will study this in depth to attempt to determine what happened here. We'll leave that for the time being, but what we would note is that the culture of the pandemic has really changed. For the vaccinated the refusal to get the vaccine is absolutely baffling. Many of those not vaccinated cite personal freedom as the basis of their views, but personal freedoms have always yielded in the United States to public emergencies with examples simply too numerous to mention. Given this, at this point, many public entities are simply done with allowing for personal choice and have determined to make life difficult for those not getting vaccinated, up to and including firing those who refuse to receive vaccines. The Federal Government is an all out effort to vaccinate its servants who remain unvaccinated, and President Biden is about to order the military to be fully vaccinated, something it amazingly has not implemented yet.
While it's a grim prognostication, in my view it's too late. Whatever the hesitancy is caused by, we're going to be in for a third wave of the pandemic. Many of the victims this time, indeed most of them, will be vaccination hold outs. If the US achieves herd immunity, which is unlikely, it'll be through the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the disease among that population, which would be a tragic and lethal way to achieve it. Having said that, and seemingly unnoticed by the unvaccinated, a growing bitter resentment against them by the vaccinated is really building with the distinct view that the unvaccinated are being lethally selfish. With that being the case, there are now open comments in some quarters about simply letting the unvaccinated go ahead and risk death without sympathy from anyone else. There is also building support for private employers to require vaccinations of employees.
The great added problem all of this is creating is that there is now a very real risk that the disease will evolve a vaccine resistant strain, setting everything back. If that occurs, and my guess is that this is now inevitable, all the progress to date will be lost, and we'll return to the strict restrictions, and stricter, that were only recently lifted. There will be enormous resistance to doing so, but a disease that's now killed 600,000 Americans will be in the gate to double that death toll, potentially, and the next public health crisis that results will be at least as severe as the current one. My guess is we're mere weeks away from such a strain emerging somewhere.
In terms of the "somewhere", there are still vast reaches of the globe were very few are vaccinated and wish to be. This is also a massive problem. Whereas in the United States the disease is circulating among those who, for the most part, could avoid it if they wished to, in the Third World it's circulating at a largely unknown rate among those who would avoid it if they could, but can't.
As noted, this will be a source for a great amount of study in the future. How did a country which was a scientific and medical leader in the mid 20th Century end up one in which medicine was so disregarded? Reading about it will be fascinating for future students of human behavior and history. Living it, however, and seeing those dying in it, is quite a bit different.
August 1, 2021
The producers of a Clifford The Big Red Dog movie have pulled its release due to the Delta variant surge.
August 2, 2021
Dr. Fauci warned of more pain and suffering ahead, but didn't foresee shutdowns on the basis that there were sufficient numbers of vaccinated people to avoid them.
Senator Barrasso argued the CDC should be sued and found liable for malpractice, and urged people to get vaccinated.
August 3, 2021
And here we have a current, sobering, look at how the globe is doing in terms of vaccination progress.
Senator Lindsay Graham reports he has a break through case of COVID 19.
As can be seen, the US, in spite of vaccine resistance, is doing pretty well. It needs to do better. Canada, which was having problems with vaccination rates for a while, has pulled head of the pack in terms of major nations. Not noted on this chart, some small countries and ones with very unified governmental structures have achieved 100% vaccination. The US, given the amount of vaccine it has, could rank right up there with Canada, but the curious political season, etc., has frustrated that. Nonetheless, the US just hit 70% initial vaccination, so it's getting there, and the recent outbreak of the Delta variant has seemed to spark an increase in first time vaccinations.
In the Third World, however, vaccination rates are a disaster due to lack of vaccine. And given that, new variants of the disease are undoubtedly evolving.
August 4, 2021
As posted on another thread, the CDC has reimposed the moratorium on evictions.
August 5, 2021
Governor Gordon announced that he will not impose a mask requirement on schools this upcoming school year, leaving any such move to local districts.
Outside perhaps of Teton County, there is no political will for such a requirement, and therefore it will not occur.
Local hospitalizations have climbed back to the rate they were at this past January.
Japan is expanding its Covid restrictions. China is reimposing its Draconian closures on some areas within its borders.
August 11, 2021
The University of Wyoming has reinstated a mask mandate.
Hawaii has reinstated restrictions. Oregon is imposing indoor mask requirements.
August 17, 2021
Governor Gordon has indicated Wyoming will not being intervening in COVID in any fashion in spite of the increased numbers.
While not put this way, the politics of events are such that the state simply isn't going to act no matter how bad the spread of the Delta variant becomes. While there's a chance one or two counties might, it's only a chance.
The Governor's office itself was shut down recently due to a COVID infection. The question does remain on whether some agencies with a high degree of independence might act on their own, but so far there is no hint that they shall.
In contrast, a single case has sent New Zealand back into a lockdown.
August 18, 2021
Wyoming's COVID death rate returned to the level it was in February.
New Mexico has put a mask mandate in place.
Pope Francis urged the unvaccinated to get vaccinations. This came in the form of an advertisement for the US Ad Council backing vaccines.
Given this, perhaps it should be noted that Cardinal Raymond Burke, a highly respected and conservative Catholic Bishop, has been hospitalized for COVID 19. Cardinal Burke has been a critic of the vaccination efforts for various reasons and has somewhat gone from a respected critic of Pope Francis to a slightly sidelined critic whose views on some things bordered on becoming extreme.
August 21, 2021
Vaccination rates in Wyoming are now dramatically rising. So are infections, but this seems to have gotten the message through to a lot of people on vaccination.
August 28, 2021
Teton County has imposed a mask mandate.
September 1, 2021
Hot Springs County's schools are going virtual for thirteen days due to a COVID spike.
The National Guard is assisting clinics in Billings, Montana, due to a spike there. The Idaho National Guard has been called out in that state for the same purpose.
Anti-vaxxers shut down a mobile vaccination clinic in Georgia.
September 2, 2021
Governor Gordon indicated Wyoming will not impose a mask mandate.
As a practical matter, there simply exists no political will to do this in the state at this point in time.
On a personal note, I now know one (unvaccinated) individual who has died of the Delta variant and another (unvaccinated) person who is going to, ages 60 and 40 respectively.
September 3, 2021
30% of the patients at Casper's Wyoming Medical Center are in the hospital due to COVID 19. Most are under 65.
The school district will require individuals out of work due to COVID to take the time from their sick leave.
September 5, 2021
The hospital in Sweetwater County opened an additional wing to handle the influx of COVID 19 patients.
September 9, 2021
President Biden has asked OSHA to mandate that employers with over 100 employees be mandated to require those employees to have COVID 19 vaccinations. He's also signed an executive order which will require Federal contractors to have COVID 19 vaccinations.
Over 100,000,000 Americans will be covered by the orders.
Governor Gordon, probably sensing more the wind where he lives than giving expression to his own opinions, or at least I suspect, noted the following:
Governor Gordon Statement Opposing Biden Administration's Vaccine Mandates
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon has issued the following statement in response to today's announcement by the Biden Administration mandating COVID-19 vaccinations:
“The Biden Administration’s announcement to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing for private businesses is an egregious example of big government overreach.
Our Constitution was written and fought for to protect our liberties as American citizens. This administration’s latest pronouncement demonstrates its complete disregard for the rule of law and the freedoms individuals and private companies enjoy under our Constitution. In Wyoming, we believe that government must be held in check.
I have asked the Attorney General to stand prepared to take all actions to oppose this administration’s unconstitutional overreach of executive power. It has no place in America. Not now, and not ever.”
This puts Attorney General Bridget Hill in the position of filing doomed litigation, or litgation that will be moot by the time it is taken up, but as a posturing matter, this no doubt really doesn't matter.
The Northern Arapaho Tribe, taking the opposite approach, is mandating that its employees be vaccinated.
Los Angeles' school district, the second largest in the nation, is requiring vaccinations for indivdiuals age 12 and up.
September 10, 2021
Laramie County's school district has mandated that students wear masks indoors.
September 11, 2021
France has banned unvaccinated U.S. tourists from entering the country.
The CDC released a study that the unvaccinated were 4.5 times more likely to get COVID 19 and 11 times more likely to die.
September 15, 2021
The legislature is apparently considering a special session to consider the Administration's COVID 19 mandates.
This would really be an odd exercise as the one that the legislature would be likely to be the most upset about, the OSHA entry into vaccination requirements, hasn't come into effect yet and is extremely likely to be tested in court before it does. Anything the legislature does will come up against the Supremecy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and therefore be ineffective, if it goes into effect, and put the state into a fight with the Administration where it can't win, but where it can end up spending money that it doesn't have. It'll also serve to really fire up polarization in an area, and era, in which everything is already extremely polarized.
September 17, 2021
The University of Wyoming is extending its mask mandate through the fall.
The 2021 Wyoming Special Legislative Session.
September 21, 2021
The Pfizer accounted that its vaccination is safe for children 5 through 11 years of age.
The number of Americans who have died of COVID 19 has supassed the number who died from the 1918 Influenza, a number which must be tempered i consideration if we take into account that the country had about 1/3d of its current population at the time, meaning that the 1918 flu was still far more devestating, at least so far.
The school nurse in the Pine Bluffs school district resigned after that district's board determined to continue to allow children exposed to COVID 19 to attend school, as long as they wore masks. Citing the act and its impact on her professionally and personally, she resigned.
September 22, 2021
Governor Activates Wyoming National Guard to Provide Hospital Assistance
September 21, 2021CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Wyoming’s hospitals have sought additional support to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge in hospitalized patients. There are approximately 200 people with COVID-19 in Wyoming hospitals today, which is near the peak number the state has seen during the pandemic. Governor Mark Gordon has activated guardsmen who have stepped forward to provide temporary assistance to hospitals throughout the state.
Governor Gordon has called approximately 95 Soldiers and Airmen to State Active Duty orders, assigned to hospital locations at 24 different sites within 17 Wyoming cities. They will serve to augment current hospital and Wyoming Department of Health staff to help ease workloads imposed upon them due to large numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
“I am grateful to the members of our Wyoming National Guard for once again answering the call to provide assistance in our hospitals during this surge,” Governor Gordon said. “Our Guard members truly are Wyoming’s sword and shield, and their commitment to our state is something for which every Wyoming citizen can be thankful.”
Guard members’ responsibilities will include: assisting in environmental cleanup in hospital facilities; food and nutrition service; COVID-19 screening; managing personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies; and other support tasks. Some will also be trained to administer COVID-19 tests.
“The Delta variant has overwhelmed the medical institutions of states across this country. Our state is no different with most hospitals at or near capacity,” said Col. David Pritchett, director of the joint staff for the Wyoming National Guard. “The Soldiers and Airmen of the Wyoming National Guard are proud to jump back in to provide much needed assistance to our communities as we continue to battle the effects of COVID-19.”
The orders for guardsmen will be 14-30 day rotations, with the potential to extend beyond that, up until Dec. 31. The numbers and locations of guardsmen may change based on hospital needs.
--END--
September 24, 2021
In the reverse of the seeming norm, a lawsuit has been filed in Montana seeking to overturn a law there which probhibits employers from mandating vaccinations and masks.
October 8, 2021
120 American children have lost at least one parent due to a COVID 19 death.
October 9, 2021
Casper's ICU is full.
More Americans have died in 2021 of COVID 19 than in 2021 at this point.
A female student in Laramie was suspended for refusing to wear a mask and then arrested as she refused to leave school grounds.
News anchor Cheryl Hackett was terminated from KCWY for refusing to adhere to her employer, Gray Media's, vaccine mandate. She is the second person in a Wyoming Gray Media outlet to be terminated for this reason in a week.
October 13, 2021
October 13, 2021
Governor Gordon Further Prepares Legal Challenge of Federal Overreach on Vaccine Mandates
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon is taking action to oppose President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The Governor and the Attorney General continue to prepare the State’s legal challenge to the threat of the Biden Administration’s proposed vaccine mandates, when they are finalized. It should be noted that the Biden Administration has yet to issue any specific policies that can be challenged in court.
“Four weeks ago, when the President issued his announcement regarding vaccine mandates, I immediately instructed Attorney General Hill to prepare for legal action to oppose this unconstitutional overreach,” Governor Gordon said. “Attorney General Hill has begun that mission and is continuing to strengthen alliances, improve potential arguments, and consider appropriate strategies.”
Governor Gordon noted that a joint letter from 24 attorneys general explained that the President’s edict is broad, inexact, and utilizes a rarely-used provision in Federal law that allows it to be effective immediately.
“This coalition of Attorneys General is well-prepared to fight the Biden Administration in courts when the time is right, and I am committed to using every tool available to us to oppose federal rules, regulations, and standards whenever they overreach. We are prepared to act promptly once these mandates are finally issued,” the Governor said. “Wyoming will not stand idly by to see any erosion of the constitutional rights afforded our citizens and their industries.”
As the state prepares for its legal battle with the federal government, Governor Gordon stressed that as a conservative Republican, he continues to stand for smaller government that is closest to the people. Governor Gordon reiterated, “Government must resist the temptation to intrude in private sector interests.”
“It is neither conservative nor Republican to replace one form of tyranny with another,” he added. “Doing so is antithetical to our American form of government, even if it is for something we like. I will stand firm against unconstrained governmental overreach regardless of where or when it occurs.”
-END-
Politically Governor Gordon has nearly no choice but to take this approach, and of course he's faced with a special session of the legislature as well, something he may be trying to avoid. But the legal prospects for such a suit are small.
October 22, 2021
Russia is experiencing a record COVID surge.
More Wyomingites are presently hospitalized due to COVID 19 than at any prior point in the pandemic. Deaths have also hit an all time weekly high. Almost all of the new victims are unvaccinated.
One in five of the prisoners in the Wyoming State Prison presently are infected with the disease.
October 24, 2021
The unvaccinated can expect to get COVID 19 every sixteen months, according to a recent study.
October 30, 2021
Wyoming has joined ten other states in a doomed effort to litigate the question of whether the Federal Government can require employees of its contractors to be vaccinated.
The rule hasn't gone into effect It will in December. It's unlikely this issue will be resolved by December, but when it is, it'll be resolved in favor of the Federal government.
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