Morning Reads for Tuesday, August 3
Good morning! If you are not vaccinated, but feel like you might be ready, here’s how to find a vaccine:
- Call the Health Department Vaccine Scheduling Resource Line at (888) 457-0186. Hours are Monday-Friday, 8 AM-8 PM, and weekends 8 AM-5 PM.
- Visit the DPH Vaccine Scheduling Portal.
- Visit Vaccine Finder.
- Find a vaccination pop-up event.
Do it for yourself, do it for a loved one, do it so all the kids who are off to school this week can have a glimmer of hope for a normal school year.
- Morehouse College joins Clark Atlanta university in clearing student account balances.
- Using what may be one of the most short-sighted GOP legislative victories of the 2021 session, Governor Kemp established a newly-legal, completely unlimited, almost entirely opaque “leadership fund.”
- The state may be due to receive $500 million in Medicaid overpayments to insurers, largely because many Medicaid recipients forwent medical care during the pandemic.
- One Georgia COVID-19 expert likens sending kids back to school without masks to, “Willingly choosing to endanger children by not doing the bare minimum of disease control and prevention should be treated the same way as knowingly allowing someone drunk to drive a school bus.”
- As this latest surge rages on, a recent Department of Defense memo details new mask regulations. Here’s what they mean for Georgia’s bases.
- At least two superior court judges tested positive for COVID following a recent judicial conference in Jekyll Island (and it’s not unreasonable to expect that more diagnoses are forthcoming).
- In Colquitt County, ICU beds are full and medical leaders are bracing for the worst as the current COVID-19 surge continues.
- Beachgoers in St. Simons must contend with heat, humidity — and oil from the wreck of the Golden Ray that is washing up as the salvage operation proceeds. (Hint to oily beachcombers: baby oil will help get that oil off of your feet.)
Whew. It’s only Tuesday morning, y’all. This week and the next several will undoubtedly be doozies as this latest surge collides with the first few weeks of school. It’s true that the only way out is through – but if as many people as possible choose to love thy neighbor and be vaccinated, that journey through – and what awaits us on the other side – will be a whole lot less arduous.
About Author
Teri
Teri Anulewicz is a Democrat who represents House District 42 in the Georgia General Assembly. She previously spent nearly a decade on the Smyrna City Council. A native New Orleanian and quasi-Texan, Teri graduated from Agnes Scott College in 1998. She's been a front page contributor since 2015, and she compiles each Tuesday's Morning Reads.
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I really have mixed feelings about the new Covid surge.
Folks are dying for no reason other than refusing a vaccine and I feel sad and frustrated. In many cases it is a needless death which could have been prevented.
Then I go on conservative websites and see folks saying they will never get vaccinated because “my freedom”, “bad things happen when you get the vaccine”, and the usual Q-Anon BS. And I think “well maybe they asked for it” and “you can’t expect dummies to turn smart”.
It really doesn’t help that the governors of these conservative states would rather have folks die than change their stance on mask and other preventive measures. Politics really warps people like Kemp, DeSantis, and Kay Ivey.
Political Darwinism.
People need to wear better mask. https://thefederalist.com/2021/08/02/san-francisco-becomes-latest-to-bring-back-mask-mandate-as-former-biden-covid-adviser-says-masks-dont-work/
The man never said masks do not work:
““We know today that many of the face cloth coverings that people wear are not very effective in reducing any of the virus movement in or out. Either you’re breathing out or you’re breathing in,” said Michael Osterholm on CNN, who went on to demand Americans wear N-95 respirators.
“We need to talk about better masking,” Osterholm said, who is the director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.”
That title is a prime example of a downright lie.
First of all: Why is it that– on average– it seems conservative sites significantly more often use outright misleading headlines as clickbait? And the misleading parts can be so damaging…
When I see left-leaning site uses misleading headlines as clickbait, it’s typically like “So-and-so destroyed so-and-so on CNN” , or “So-and-so decimated somebody else on The View”…
It’s more about exaggerating a social/news interaction than about exaggerating the substance of the arguments…
Is this something you all gather as well?
I could care less for either type of misleading headlines, and think we are disserved by them all, but there is a difference it seems, and one is more harmful than the other. And neither is necessary, I believe, to either convey information or even monetize the website clicks.
Would it be so terrible for the conservative website if instead of “Masks don’t work”, the headline read “You need a better mask”?
To me, Gov. Kemp appears moderate compared to DeSantis. I think there is certainly at least an emotional appeal to just “powering through” the pandemic. And that’s what attracts ppl to DeSantis, I believe.
But powering through needs to include vaccines, masks, etc., and all of the suffering they entail. Because we can all acknowledge that masks suck, no one likes them– even folks who advocate for them.
(On the other hand, I feel folks generally love remote working (with options to go to office), but institutions can’t bear to manage such diverse interests as “at office” or “remote”.)
There should be options- for work, school, etc.- for ppl to operate at their most comfortable and therefore productive levels. And the messaging should be about strength through sacrifice, but I rarely get doses of both strength and sacrifice in the same media clips.
If I were an advisor to the Gov., or any health insurance company, I’d say to make sure all employers and schools provide remote options, and in-person options, and have best possible pro-vaccine policy, etc. The key is options, because ppl will make decisions based upon their affinity or aversion to risk. And that perspective on risk is the sorting hat. Ppl can live or suffer according to how they choose, and that seems fair.
“I really have mixed feelings about the new Covid surge.
Folks are dying for no reason other than refusing a vaccine”
My feelings aren’t mixed for the exact reason given in your second sentence.