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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- News
Grappling With DC Vaccine Mandate, Capitol Hill Restaurant Owner Pleads for Decency
Vaccine mandate culture wars rage on, and Noe Landini and his staff are caught in the middle. Torn between desires to respect all customers, to comply with Washington, D.C.’s vaccine mandate, and to keep his restaurants afloat, he pleads for patience and the understanding that “mandates are not as simple as they seem.” “We know…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
COVID-19’s Impact of Expressive Individualism
Philosopher Robert Bellah once posited that modern Western human beings identify themselves in a peculiar way: as emotional cores, surrounded by baser material. According to Bellah, we are expressive individualists—meaning that “each person has a unique core of feeling and intuition that should unfold or be expressed if individuality is to be realized.” This mode…Ben Shapiro -
- Opinion
COVID-19 Policies Are Hurting Kids More Than Virus Itself
COVID-19 itself has not been killing kids in droves. According to figures cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics, among the 46 states that reported, “children were 0.00-0.26 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, and four states reported zero child deaths.” But you’d never know that from the policies many states have instituted, including remote schooling,…Nicole Russell -
- Opinion
Amid COVID-19’s Toll on Schools, Now More Than Ever, Students Need More Education Options
Editor’s note: Jan. 23-29 is National School Choice Week. This is the third in a five-part series of commentaries exploring the successes and challenges of educational choice and the people fighting to make it available to all American schoolchildren. By the end of 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic made us wonder whether the virus would ever…Jonathan Butcher -
- Opinion
Biden’s COVID-19 Tests Plan: Too Little, Too Late
President Joe Biden has a new plan on rapid, at-home COVID-19 testing, but as with much of his administration’s pandemic policy, the plan is convoluted, costly, and late. Making affordable, rapid at-home tests widely available empowers people to learn their COVID-19 status. Instead of relying on mandates and compulsion, this approach equips people to make…Doug Badger -
- Opinion
Why These Women Marched for Life, Against Vaccine Mandates
Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets of the nation’s capital on Friday and again on Sunday to stand for life and protest government overreach. Despite temperatures being well below freezing Friday, busloads of students, church groups, and other Americans from across the county poured into Washington for the 49th annual March for Life. …Virginia Allen -
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Doctors Diagnose Problems With Nation’s COVID-19 Response
Dr. Robert Malone became widely known recently for being banned on Twitter and for an interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast diverging from the prevailing view on COVID-19. “I’m speaking to you not only as a physician and scientist, but also as a father and grandfather. I’m also a COVID survivor. In my opinion,…Fred Lucas -
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California Bill Would Let Youths 12 and Older Get Vaccines Without Parental Consent
California youths ages 12 and older may soon be able to get vaccines, including for COVID-19, without parental consent, if a bill introduced by a state senator there becomes law. The Teens Choose Vaccines Act would authorize minors in California to receive any vaccines “approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that meet the…Maggie Hroncich -
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EXCLUSIVE: Republican Lawmakers Accuse Biden Administration of Targeting Federal Employees Seeking Religious Exemptions From COVID-19 Vaccine
Republican members of Congress are accusing President Joe Biden of targeting Americans seeking religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine. “Your administration’s attempt to use the power of the federal government to single out Americans who object to the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds is inexcusable and must be withdrawn,” reads the letter, first obtained by…Mary Margaret Olohan -
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Biden Voter Explains Her Stand Against COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate
At the “Defeat the Mandates” rally in Washington, D.C., Sunday, one woman explained why she’s concerned about COVID-19 vaccine mandates. She also talks about voting for President Joe Biden and what she thinks of how he’s handled COVID-19.Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
We Hear You: When Authorities Use COVID-19 to Violate Rights
Editor's note: Americans' rights during the pandemic are very much on the minds of The Daily Signal's audience, judging by reaction to our related coverage on vaccine mandates. Check out these examples from the mailbag at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: In light of the Supreme Court's decision to block the vaccine mandate for private…Ken McIntyre -
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Why Some Parents Choose to Continue Homeschooling After Pandemic
Sandra Kim, a resident of Loudoun County, Virginia, started homeschooling her three children in the summer of 2020. She doesn’t necessarily have a problem with public schools, Kim says, but realized her children—Yenna Elizabeth, now 13, Emily, 10, and Teddy, 8—could do more. The Virginia mother's second grader, Teddy, now is doing higher-level math and…Melanie Wilcox -
- Opinion
It’s Official: It’s OK to Be Racist If You’re the Left Pushing COVID-19 Mandates
Following the lead of other leftist-run cities, the District of Columbia just instituted a new COVID-19 mandate that requires anyone who wants to dine at a restaurant, go to a movie, or workout at a gym to show proof of vaccination. But a big part of the story that many in the media seem to…Brian Gottstein -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: Congressman Demands HHS Rescind ‘Blatantly Discriminatory’ Guidance Prioritizing Race, Ethnicity in COVID-19 Treatments
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona called on the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday to “immediately rescind” guidance indicating that race and ethnicity should be prioritized in providing COVID-19 treatments. The Republican congressman’s letter follows Food and Drug Administration guidance repeatedly stating that “race or ethnicity” are medical conditions or factors that may…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
18 More Federal Agencies Eye Making Vaccine Religious-Objector Lists
This week, we revealed that an obscure federal agency plans to keep lists of the “personal religious information” employees who had religious objections to the federal employee vaccine mandate. As it turns out, the little-known Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia isn’t the only federal agency involved. As we feared, a whole-of-government effort…Sarah Parshall Perry -
- Opinion
9 Reasons Not to Pass Yet Another Federal COVID-19 ‘Relief’ Spending Package
Now almost two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and after $6.6 trillion in total federal spending on it—the equivalent of $51,600 per household—some policymakers want to pass yet another so-called COVID-19 relief package. Not only has Congress already spent more than it should have, some of the previous COVID-19 relief spending is actually hurting…Rachel Greszler -
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‘Huge Win’: Business Leaders, Legal Experts Celebrate as Supreme Court Blocks Biden Vaccine Mandate
Legal experts and business leaders rejoiced Thursday following news that the Supreme Court had blocked President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers. "The Supreme Court has stood up for small businesses by staying this illegal employer vaccine mandate,” said Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of Job Creators Network. “The court has confirmed what…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
Unpacking Supreme Court Justices’ Reasoning in Vaccine Mandate Decisions
For nearly 100 million American workers waiting breathlessly for an answer, a Thursday Supreme Court decision delivered good news for many, although not all. In a rare late-day release of opinions, the Supreme Court issued its rulings in a pair of federal vaccine mandate cases that went to the court on an emergency basis. …Sarah Parshall Perry -
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Supreme Court Kills Biden’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Private Employers
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private companies and other organizations with at least 100 employees. In a separate case, however, the high court did allow vaccine mandates for employees of federally funded health care facilities. In the main case, the majority of justices expressed doubt that…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Politicizing COVID-19 From the Start
From the moment COVID-19 appeared, the pandemic became inseparable from politics. Political frenzy was inevitable since the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have escaped from a level-4 security virology lab in Wuhan, China. The rapid-fire spread soon threatened to indict the Chinese communist government for nearly destroying the world economy and killing millions. Western elites, in response,…Victor Davis Hanson