DOCTORS ' LOUNGE

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Indiana University is not alone . So far in Kentucky , only Berea College and Centre College require vaccination . As of August 16 , 730 US colleges / universities require COVID-19 vaccination . State and private schools uniformly require mask wearing indoors , but from the immediate case spikes seen last September , in a vaccine-less world , that won ’ t to be enough . We mask-wearers know too well our helpless rage against the maskless . Students ’ parents were horrified last fall by wild party scenes across the country . Currently , the University of Louisville requires every other week testing for unvaccinated students and personnel on campus , with an indoor mask mandate . The University of Kentucky requires indoor masks and entry testing with unspecified follow-up testing for the unvaccinated students , but thankfully , has mandated vaccines for its employees . Gov . Beshear in early August issued a statewide school mask mandate and was attacked by Attorney General Daniel Cameron for this , who immediately filed against him at the Kentucky Supreme Court . For some , it seems that children ’ s lives matter less than bossing rights .

All hospital systems in Louisville mandate COVID-19 vaccination . All the hospitals in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky cleverly announced simultaneously , and are enforcing , a vaccine mandate . Unions and giant companies like United Airlines and Google have done the same . As of August 16 , hospitals throughout the South have no empty pediatric ICU beds . Case rates of RSV have also soared in the South , meaning pediatric asthma admissions will follow , worsening the ICU bed and staff shortages . Medical rescue teams from the federal government have been deployed to Texas , whose Gov . Abbott took school districts with mask mandates to the Texas Supreme Court , and won . In Florida , some school districts are simply defying Gov . DeSantis , who supports only vaccination in regards to COVID-19 contagion . He refused to reinstate emergency orders , thus removing telehealth opportunities for the entire state , and reducing the imported medical workforce to boot . He previously had ordered that case statistics be released not daily , but weekly , and had fired Rebekah Jones , who had dared to publish accurate case rates . In contrast , New Yorkers now must show proof of at least one dose of vaccine to get into restaurants , bars , nightclubs and outdoor music festivals . All municipal NYC workers must get vaccinated .

As of this writing , Miami-Dade County is averaging over 3,000 new cases every day and Jefferson County , around 300 . Leadership counts , and we are lucky to have strong health and community leaders here , with a governor who cares about keeping Kentuckians alive . I am keenly missing federal mandates : with the action of Justice Barrett regarding IU ’ s vaccine mandate , I dare to hope that the US Supreme Court would back one , to save our citizenry from mass death . President Biden has issued a vaccine mandate for federal workers . The rest of us could use one , too .

The buck stops now with President Biden : vaccine mandates , or morgue ?

References :

1 https :// www . sacbee . com / news / coronavirus / article253485334 . htm ^l

2 https :// www . immunize . org “ What the World ” s Religions Teach About Vaccines ”

Dr . Barry is an internist and Associate Professor of Medicine ( Gratis Faculty ) at the University of Louisville School of Medicine , currently enjoying a very long sabbatical until return to part-time work in the fall .

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