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* For the umpteenth time, I would like to hear someone explain why taking a weekly test is a violation of their conscience…

Two Springfield District 186 teachers who have refused to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccinations or submit to weekly testing now have until Nov. 10 to follow the directives of a state mandate issued by Gov. JB Pritzker in August.

* Center Square…

The vaccine rollout for 5 to 11 year olds is nearing and some are wondering if a school vaccination mandate in Illinois will follow. […]

In other states, Republican lawmakers have banned COVID-19 vaccine mandates for college students and school children.

“Here in Illinois that requirement is something that would go through the legislature as others have,” said Gov. J.B. Pritzker after receiving a COVID-19 booster shot Tuesday. “We require lots of vaccinations when kids go to school already.”

Vaccine mandates by states have been around for more than a century. In the 1850s, Massachusetts became the first state to mandate a smallpox vaccination for school children. By the early 1980s, all 50 states had vaccination laws covering students first entering school.

* Press release…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is adopting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation for children ages 5 through 11 years to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The announcement comes following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) expansion of the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children on October 29, 2021.

Previously, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorized for use in individuals ages 12 years and older. The vaccine for children ages 5 through 11 years is a smaller dose (10 µg), a third of the dose for individuals 12 years and older (30 µg). The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is administered as a series of two doses, 3 weeks apart, for all eligible individuals.

“I encourage parents who may have questions about COVID-19 vaccines for their children to talk with a pediatrician or family doctor,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “Medical experts and scientists have reviewed the data, which included clinical trials with more than 3,000 children receiving the vaccine, and have recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children. While most children do not suffer severe COVID-19 illness, some do. We also know children are great transmitters and can unknowingly infect people who could suffer severe illness. We need as many people as possible, including children, to be vaccinated to stop the spread of the virus and end this pandemic.”

COVID-19 vaccinations for those 5 years and older will be available at local health departments, many pharmacies, pediatrician offices, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and from other providers who offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. IDPH has requested all COVID-19 vaccine providers watch the Pfizer-BioNTech training video for administering the pediatric doses of vaccine. Approximately 2,200 pediatric providers in Illinois have enrolled in the State immunization registry and can administer COVID-19 vaccine to their patients. Additionally, IDPH continues to work with schools to set up vaccination clinics and more than 1,200 youth vaccination events have been held or are scheduled.

In clinical trials, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in children ages 5 through 11 years. Side effects commonly reported in children, although less frequent compared to adolescents and adults, were generally mild to moderate and included injection site pain (sore arm), redness and swelling, fatigue, headache, muscle and/or joint pain, chills, and fever. Side effects occurred within two days after vaccination and went away within a day or two.

Pfizer Inc. will continue to monitor the safety of the vaccine and will be required to report to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, along with providers, all serious adverse events, cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, cases that result in hospitalization or death, and vaccine administration errors.

Both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccines are authorized for use in individuals 18 years and older and will continue to be available to adults.

* More…

* Here’s what to know about kids’ COVID-19 vaccines in Illinois, and where appointments can be scheduled

* Walgreens, CVS® to Begin Offering COVID Vaccines for Kids Under 12 This Weekend

* CPS ‘test-to-stay’ pilot would reduce number of students in quarantine, CEO says

* CDC finds immunity from vaccines is more consistent than from infection, but both last at least six months

* Everyone’s Making Up Their Own Post-booster Rules

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 12:34 pm

Comments

I’ve got appointments scheduled for my youngest two, and I can’t wait for them to come home today and hear that their shots are finally, finally going to happen. My kindergartener has been asking every single day.

Comment by Suburban Mom Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 12:40 pm
===I would like to hear someone explain why taking a weekly test is a violation of their conscience===

There was a witness during last week’s committee hearing that quoted the Bible in their defense against weekly testing, saying something along lines of ‘God does not want you to seek medical care if you’re not sick.’ I leave that here without further comment…

Comment by Treefiddy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 12:49 pm
Signed up my kid for his vaxx appt and am thrilled

Comment by LakeCo Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 1:06 pm
Well if they will not tell why it is a violation of conscience I wish they would tell me what else is a violation of their conscience

Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 1:22 pm
‘God does not want you to seek medical care if you’re not sick.’

That’s nonsense. There is no bible verse that supports this concept. It was either taken out of context or used in a way that did not fit the original intent or message. That would mean no annual physicals, no blood work or urinalysis to test for various medical conditions during a preventive check up, no mammograms, no prostate exams, pelvic exams, colonoscopies, or the myriad other testing done regularly as preventive measures. Many diseases or medical conditions don’t have symptoms early on especially many types of cancer.

Comment by Steve Polite Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 1:32 pm
===It was either taken out of context or used in a way that did not fit the original intent or message===

Same with these HCRCA complaints, so it wouldn’t surprise me.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 1:33 pm
=== pushing this nonsense on your kids===

Vaccinations aren’t nonsense. Thinking they are is curiously odd.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 1:51 pm
Would someone please stop using my name. This person needs to be banned.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 1:52 pm
good point to ask for someone to explain. I don’t understand how police think their civil rights are violated with these measures. they must have their kids vaccinated for school, right?

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 1:55 pm
=kids have never been a serious risk=
The parents of the 600+ kids who have died of COVID will be happy to hear this.
Also the people who have caught COVID from kids.

Comment by LakeCo Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:04 pm
“someone explain why taking a weekly test is a violation of their conscience…”

1. Damage to the amygdala*, via the deep intrusion of the swab, is rumored to be a feature not a bug in this procedure by those not wanting to nasal test.
2. As far as the spit test, there are others that feel there is too much genetic sample collection happening and don’t want there body fluids collected.
3. There are also those that don’t want to be on a government list as being non-compliant.
4. As far as religious and conscience non-compliance, those seem to be based on the birth right of an unaltered immune system.

It’s a good guess that anyone refusing the testing is thinking along one of these lines. Now, the question of whether any of that is rational…

*The amygdala is an interesting part of the brain, accessible through the nose– “Shown to perform a primary role in the processing of memory, decision making, and emotional responses (including fear, anxiety, and aggression), the amygdala are considered part of the limbic system.”

There is a procedure called “amygdalohippocampotomy” that can affect behavior.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32259241/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala

Comment by fly over Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:10 pm
I belong to the Church of Because I Don’t Want To.

Comment by John Lee Pettimore, III Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:19 pm
-I would like to hear someone explain why taking a weekly test is a violation of their conscience…-

Luke 5:31 “Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick”

It is there. Open to interpretation but to say it is not in Bible is disingenuous.

Comment by TiredOfIt Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:20 pm
I am generally supportive of the way the state has handled things in terms of the mask mandates, vaccinations, etc. However, I am starting to hear frustration from friends who are not knee-jerk “But muh freedom” right-wingers that the state now seems to be “winging it” with regard to the current mask mandate. Few states have them now, and there doesn’t seem to be a path or objective measure to easing it. I’ll continue to abide by it, but I sense the frustration growing.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:22 pm
===It is there. Open to interpretation but to say it is not in Bible is disingenuous.===

You must be wholly anti-vaccine?

Do you honestly think Jesus, in context, as talking about medical health or spiritual guidance?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:24 pm
-Luke 5:31 “Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick”-

A passage where Jesus is explaining why he dines with tax collectors and sinners. A passage about repentance that has nothing to do with medicine. These folks are just as bad at being religious scholars as they are amateur doctors and lawyers.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:25 pm
Damage to the amygdala? The birth right of an unaltered immune system? Those have to be the thinnest straws ever drawn.

Just be honest and say “Don’t wanna.”

Comment by Jocko Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:25 pm
“Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors(AA) and others were eating with them.

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect(AB) complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Luke, 5:29,30

Is a Covid infection an infection of one’s soul?

I’m done. Theology to science and Covid is based on phony interpretations

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:27 pm
-Is a Covid infection an infection of one’s soul?-

Not but it is a symptomatic one and if someone is not symptomatic and has not been in contact with anyone who has had it, what would the purpose be? Do explain…

Also the Bloomberg article this week has stated vaccinated individuals are just as likely to spread Covid. Should they test as well then? Would you submit to a test every week as a vaccinated person?

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:31 pm
Testing is a perfectly reasonable trade off to avoid being forced to vaccinate. Especially if it is at the employer’s expense, which it should be.

Comment by Captain Obvious Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:32 pm
===employer’s expense, which it should be.===

Employer’s expense?

It’s bad enough having a Covidiot working and possibly infecting others. Now you’re advocating the employer to pay for Covidiocy?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:35 pm
==but it is a symptomatic one==

Not necessarily. You can be asymptomatic and have Covid.

And, you are significantly less likely to catch Covid if you have been vaccinated.

Two easy answers that you could have found yourself.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:36 pm
Luke 5:31 “Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick”

When I got my selective service board training a few years back, they not surprisingly spent a fair amount of time on the conscientious objection concept.

One of the big concepts is that they had to demonstrate consistency in their actions to show that the belief wasn’t new and it is strongly held.

I guess if you demonstrated you refuse to get blood tests and other medical procedures (like having your BP taken) and have for a while I guess you might have a case. But and I object to this test, but I get a lipid panel once a year is going to be a hard sell.

Again, I think I have an objection to a test is going to be a hard sell to a court.

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:40 pm
I truly do not understand the hesitancy to take the vaccine. I have a cousin who believes it is the “mark of the beast”. I kid you not. Even her own sister, who is ever bit as religious as her sister, thinks that’s crazy.It’s frustrating that there seems to be no way to convince people that are simply not rational.

Comment by Manchester Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:47 pm
Luke 5:32: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Luke 5:31 is a metaphor, not literal.

Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:47 pm
= Especially if it is at the employer’s expense, which it should be.=

Suddenly, you have been won over by the working man? LOL.

What is your position on drug testing to receive public aid? How about requiring id’s to vote?

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:54 pm
I feel like people have been watching this movie too much based on some comments from above.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyf3QgRP-c

Comment by Publius Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:56 pm
I’m sure all of the people citing scripture as their reasoning for refusing the vaccine or any testing are also tithing 10% of their earnings to their church.

Comment by Stoney Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 2:57 pm
===Now you’re advocating the employer to pay for Covidiocy?

The thing is that might be the key to the state and AFSCME agreeing to the policy. While it’s not my first choice, I’ll take it if it moves the requirement forward.

Comment by ArchPundit Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 3:03 pm
“Luke 5:31 is a metaphor, not literal.” Not when you’re a literalist.

Comment by Skeptic Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 3:06 pm
AAron Rogers has tested positive for COVID and won’t play against Kansas City this weekend. Earlier in the season Rogers sort of implied that he had been vaccinated but not according to NFL rules. He told reporters in August that he was “immunized”, adding that he would not “judge” those who are not vaccinated.

Just get your shots.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/11/03/aaron-rodgers-coronavirus/

Comment by Nearly Normal Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 3:35 pm
=the state and AFSCME agreeing to the policy=

They don’t have to agree. Go to arbitration. The state will win.

FWIW, my wife was a bulldog for our kids. They got vaccinated about two hours ago.

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 3:47 pm
-Not when you’re a literalist.-

Just like when Jesus took the Disciples to the Bass Pro Shop to become fishers of men.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 3:51 pm
There a lot of passages in the Bible that pertain to the time it was written. No refrigeration, so food spoils. So don’t eat old food. Certain animals carried diseases, so don’t eat those animals. No treatment available for those diseases. There was no preventative treatment back then. So healthy people would not have had a reason to be seen by a doctor. In addition. As someone said, the context of the passage didn’t even actually pertain to medical treatment.

I have no sympathy for employees or airplane passengers who don’t want to get tested. They obviously have no consideration for my health. They are free to make their choices. So is their employer and transportation officials.

Anyone else feel like we’ve gone Alice in Wonderland? The right wing was all about the rights of employers and big business, and was against employees joining together in unions( walking off the job in strikes). Now we have the right wing applauding mass employee sick-outs and people who refuse to follow employer demands.

Comment by thoughts matter Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 3:55 pm
“when Jesus took the Disciples to the Bass Pro Shop” Exactly. I’m not a literalist (or even a believer for that matter), just pointing out that when you believe the Bible is the literal word of God (as some do), then there’s nothing metaphorical about it.

Comment by Skeptic Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 4:03 pm
===then there’s nothing metaphorical about it.===

Cherry picking words and passages out of context is the phony belief and hiding behind a Bible.

With some in this category, it’s about the loopholes of faith which says more than any belief in the Bible.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 4:06 pm
“It is there. Open to interpretation but to say it is not in Bible is disingenuous.”

Like I said, “It was either taken out of context or used in a way that did not fit the original intent or message.”

“Same with these HCRCA complaints”

Some of these people are so desperate they are grasping for straws in the middle of a flood rather than the life jackets.

Comment by Steve Polite Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 4:07 pm
-With some in this category, it’s about the loopholes of faith which says more than any belief in the Bible.-

There will always be a subset that thinks that attendance in a building 1-2 hours a week insulates them from everything awful they do in life, starting with flipping off fellow members of the congregation on the way out of the parking lot.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 4:09 pm
I am a Christian but quit using the Bible as some rationale why your “right” should infringe on my right not to be infected and my right to have a society without a pandemic. y’all are just dense. and I mean y’all in the nicest, my family, sense.

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 4:15 pm
==Just like when Jesus took the Disciples to the Bass Pro Shop to become fishers of men.==

RB at 3:51 p.m.

Thanks for making me LOL. You get it.

Comment by Stix Hix Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 4:17 pm
==Damage to the amygdala*==
Please review basic human anatomy. There is no point in the respiratory tract or nasal cavity where the brain is accessible. It is not possible to touch/access the brain with a nasal swab without drilling/breaking through through the cribriform plate.

https://teachmeanatomy.info/head/osteology/ethmoid-bone/

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 4:19 pm
==They don’t have to agree. Go to arbitration. The state will win.==

Or better yet, issue an EO mandating a “be vaccinated or be fired” policy for all state workers. With no testing exemptions. Those who refuse to comply will lose their pensions too in addition to their jobs as if they were felons. Maybe consider withholding raises for agencies with low vax rates as an alternative.

Comment by NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 7:26 pm
==Those who refuse to comply will lose their pensions too in addition to their jobs as if they were felons. ==

No can do. Any earned pension is kept. They are not felons, just fired (I’m with you about that BTW).

Comment by Jibba Wednesday, Nov 3, 21 @ 9:36 pm