Vaccine & COVID News
The Daily Signal provides explore reporting and analysis on vaccines, from COVID mandates to public health controversies, with a focus on personal liberty and informed choice.
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opinion
Senate GOP Coronavirus Bill Has Some Good Provisions but Needs Serious Work
Congress has already authorized more than $3.7 trillion of immediate coronavirus relief spending, going to individuals, businesses, and state governments. The response should continue to be targeted at the health crisis and provide necessary protections for the coming economic recovery. The Senate GOP coronavirus bill, entitled the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools Act,… -
opinion
In COVID-19 Bill, Schools Need Funding Flexibility, Not Another Federal Bailout
Congress is considering spending an additional $105 billion on education as part of a Phase IV COVID-19 relief package called the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools (HEALS) Act. The Senate proposal would authorize $70 billion in additional bailout money to be spent on K-12 schools, two-thirds of which would be reserved for schools… -
news
COVID-19 Has Led to an Increase in Human Trafficking, Experts Say
The sexual exploitation of women and children has likely increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say. Groups such as Polaris and International Justice Mission work to fight human trafficking and to free the estimated 40 million victims of modern-day slavery. Their work has not slowed down during the global pandemic. Sadly, experts say, the virus… -
opinion
When It Comes to COVID-19 Deaths, Florida Is No ‘New York’
“I just want to make it clear to the American public,” proclaimed Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus task force head, on July 24, “What we have right now are essentially three New Yorks, with these three major states.” The three states in question—Florida, Texas, and California—all have seen sharp increases in COVID-19 infections in… -
opinion
Why Mail-In Voting Is a Bad Idea, Even During a Pandemic
There is currently a debate raging over how elections are to be held in the fall amid the coronavirus. Is a pandemic reason to hold an election by mail? Would widespread mail-in voting lead to voter fraud and skew election results? Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a former… -
opinion
How Close Are We to a COVID-19 Vaccine? Here’s What to Know
The United States has been grappling with a response to the COVID-19 pandemic for more than six months, but now, a series of published results from vaccine developers raises the hope that a definitive end to the pandemic might be in sight. The race for a COVID-19 vaccine began at the end of January, and… -
opinion
UN Human Rights Council Exploits COVID-19 Pandemic to Support Funding for Abortion
The United Nations Human Rights Council last week concluded its most recent session in Geneva. True to form, the council adopted a resolution promoting abortion under the guise of responding to COVID-19. The U.N. Human Rights Council advanced the resolution July 17 under the topic of ending discrimination against women and girls. It made the… -
opinion
The Effect of Coronavirus on the US Military
When most people think about the military and the coronavirus, they think of stories such as the hospital ship, USNS Comfort, deploying to New York City, or the National Guard helping with test sites, or the Army Corps of Engineers erecting temporary hospitals this past spring to handle an overload of sick patients. We’re fortunate… -
opinion
African Nations Shouldn’t Let COVID-19 Sink Continental Free Trade Agreement
What would have been the world’s most extensive free trade zone since the formation of the World Trade Organization was supposed to go into effect July 1. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the launch date into doubt. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement is an ambitious attempt to reduce trade restrictions among all 55… -
news
Trump: COVID-19 ‘Will Get Worse,’ but Vaccine Moving Along
In his first coronavirus press briefing since April, President Donald Trump sounded dour, warning the pandemic will get worse before it gets better, but also offered his more familiar optimistic tone in predicting a vaccine sooner than expected. The president also made a more emphatic case in favor of wearing masks, even pulling one out… -
opinion
What We Can Learn From COVID-19 Restrictions on Houses of Worship in 2 States
When the statewide lockdowns first began in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most Americans accepted these measures in good faith as difficult, but necessary, sacrifices for the benefit of everyone. At the time, the only thing anyone truly understood about the novel coronavirus that causes the disease was its breathtaking speed and seemingly unstoppable lethality… -
opinion
‘Pandemic Pods’ Are Fundamentally Reshaping K-12 Education
The practice of organizing “pandemic pods,” in which parents team up with other families in their neighborhoods or social circles to hire teachers for their children, is getting more and more popular by the minute. With many school districts around the country planning not to reopen classrooms this fall—or, at best, planning to offer some… -
opinion
Two-Thirds of COVID-19 Deaths in US Occurred in 10 States
As Heritage Foundation researchers have demonstrated throughout the pandemic, the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. has been heavily concentrated in a small number of states—and among a small number of counties within states. Even though the U.S. has seen a rapid rise in cases during the last few weeks, the overall levels of concentration… -
opinion
Don’t Fall for Cuomo’s Gaslighting on Coronavirus
On March 25, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made one of deadliest mistakes of the coronavirus crisis, signing an executive order forcing nursing homes in his state to accept patients who tested positive for the coronavirus. Around 4,800 New Yorkers died from COVID-19 in those nursing homes from March to May—approximately 25% of all fatalities… -
news
4 Angles in Understanding Spread of COVID-19 in US, Europe
Cases of COVID-19 are spiking in U.S. states in the South and West at a time when initially hard-hit Europe is seeing a decline in coronavirus cases and a seeming return to normal. Most European countries have reopened schools as well as retail stores, restaurants, and bars at roughly the same time as about half… -
opinion
In 3 Charts, What to Know About Florida’s COVID-19 Surge
A lot has happened in Florida in the two weeks since I last analyzed its COVID-19 numbers. Unfortunately, not much of it is good. Florida has reported almost as many cases among its residents over the past two weeks as it did over the previous three and a half months. The newly infected population has… -
opinion
What Does ‘Back to School’ Mean in the Time of COVID-19?
What could “back to school” look like during the first fall of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what should it look like? What about an “exclusively virtual” education experience? What are wise precautions to take and what is unrealistic? Lindsey Burke, who directs The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy and is the think tank’s Will Skillman… -
opinion
Why Is the COVID-19 Caseload Rising in California?
The United States had made great progress in suppressing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, by mid-June, the number of new cases began to surge, and now daily incidence of COVID-19 cases has far exceeded the confirmed daily incidence during the early peak of the pandemic. There are several states… -
opinion
The Rise in COVID-19 Cases Explained
Dr. Kevin Pham, a contributor to The Daily Signal and a former graduate fellow in health policy at The Heritage Foundation, joins the podcast to discuss the rise in cases, if wearing a mask really helps, if it’s true—as The New York Times says—that the coronavirus “has infiltrated Sunday services,” with “more than 650 cases… -
opinion
School Closures Threaten Kids More Than COVID-19, Pediatricians Say
Access to education is foundational to American society and fundamental to the American ideal of providing equal opportunities. Yet amid COVID-19 shutdowns, many children have very limited or even no access to formal education. That has caused numerous problems for some children, including a loss in learning, an exacerbation of race- and income-based educational gaps,…