Category: COVID-19

COVID booster shots now available to all fully vaccinated adults in Kansas

Gov. Laura Kelly and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) announced today all fully vaccinated Kansans over the age of 18 are now eligible for COVID-19 booster shots.

“The COVID-19 vaccine is free, safe, effective, and the best way to keep our communities protected from this virus,” Gov. Laura Kelly said. “Expanding access to booster shots will help us put an end to this deadly pandemic. Whether you are considering your first shot or signing up for a booster, I urge everyone to get the facts and get vaccinated.”

All Kansans at least 18 years old and have met the 6-month time period following the primary vaccination series for the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or it has been at least 2 months since their Johnson and Johnson vaccine are eligible and encouraged to receive a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“As we move into the winter months, Kansans will increasingly be indoors, putting themselves at greater risk of contracting the virus,” Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas health secretary, said. “Allowing Kansans to self-determine their risk of exposure to COVID-19 ensures that every tool is available to protect themselves and reduce the possibility of a winter COVID-19 surge.”

Available data right now show that all three of the COVID-19 vaccines approved or authorized in the United States continue to be highly effective in reducing risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even against the Delta variant.

Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself and reduce the spread of the virus and help prevent new variants from emerging. To find a COVID-19 vaccine clinic visit Vaccines.gov.

Extension of UG’s mask ordinance on Thursday’s agenda

An extension of the Unified Government’s mask ordinance is on the agenda for 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18.

Kansas City, Kansas, currently has a mask ordinance in effect through Nov. 18 for indoor public spaces. It does not apply to Bonner Springs and Edwardsville.

A proposed resolution on the agenda for the Nov. 18 meeting would extend the mask mandate until 11:59 p.m. Jan. 6.

The UG Health Department director is scheduled to present a COVID-19 update and the proposed resolution at the meeting Nov. 18.

The proposed resolution noted that the vaccination rate in Wyandotte County is still low, with only 52.25 percent of the residents having received at least one vaccination shot. It also noted that the CDC recommended face masks in indoor public settings in areas of the country that had substantial or high transmission of COVID-19, including for fully vaccinated individuals.

On Tuesday, Nov. 16, the Wyandotte County COVID case numbers went from 25,067 to 25,090, an increase of 23 since Monday. There were 386 total cumulative COVID deaths on Tuesday in Wyandotte County, an increase of one since Monday.

Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System reported higher COVID-19 inpatient numbers on Tuesday, Nov. 16. There were 21 inpatients with the active virus in the hospital, an increase from 18 on Monday. Seven were in the intensive care unit, up from five Monday. There were four patients on ventilators, the same as Monday. Twenty-four other COVID patients were still hospitalized because of COVID but were out of the acute infection phase, an increase from 19 on Monday. There were a total of 45 COVID patients at KU Health System Tuesday.

The UG meeting will be on Zoom, with residents able to make public comments by joining the Zoom meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86016390539?pwd=V1NPYXAzOGxHMlN6bGxvaWpJMEFnZz09, or by telephone toll-free at 877-853-5257, or by going in person to the City Hall lobby. They also accept written or emailed comments. More details are on the agenda. For more ideas on how to connect to the meeting, visit https://www.wycokck.org/Departments/Clerks-Office/Engage-in-Public-Commission-Meeting.

The UG agenda is at https://www.wycokck.org/Departments/Clerks-Office/Agendas-Minutes.

Kansas Republicans force special session to deal with federal vaccine mandates

by Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — Republican leaders announced Thursday they had gathered the signatures necessary to force a special session for the week of Thanksgiving to respond to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Every Republican in both the Senate and House signed the petition, providing the two-thirds needed in each chamber. Leadership said they would deliver the petitions to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday.

The special session will start Nov. 22.

“This is a historic moment as the Legislature calls itself back into a special session for the first time in the history of our state,” House Republicans said in a statement. “This unprecedented action is necessitated by equally unprecedented actions from the Biden administration that enacted these mandates unilaterally, without respecting the constitutional law making power reserved for Congress. Never before has the federal government forced Kansans to choose between their personal beliefs and their livelihoods.”

Kelly, who is seeking re-election, opposes the federal mandates. Her likely opponent in next year’s election, Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, has joined three separate lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of federal mandates.

A special committee on “government overreach” held two days of hearings last month to gather public input on the mandates, limiting comments to those who oppose them. The hearings were rife with false information about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, and Holocaust comparisons. Dissenting views were limited to written testimony that hasn’t been made public.

Earlier this week, the committee received an update on various legal challenges to orders and rules that require federal workers, as well as employees of federal contractors, large businesses and Medicaid and Medicare providers, to be vaccinated. Employees of private businesses would have the alternate option of weekly testing. All of the mandates provide exemptions for medical needs, disabilities and sincerely held religious beliefs.

The committee will hold hearings Friday on two bills drafted by Senate President Ty Masterson. One would prohibit employers from questioning the sincerity of a worker’s religious beliefs or medical needs, and the other would provide unemployment aid to individuals who are fired for refusing to get vaccinated.

Masterson said the intent is to pass both laws during the special session.

“The right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience shall never be infringed — that’s a part of our Kansas Constitution,” Masterson said. “It’s also why we have laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of religion, and that includes religious tests where one’s beliefs are scrutinized, either by the government or an employer.

“We’re not going to let the Biden administration force businesses to play God or doctor and determine whether a religious or medical exemption is valid or not. We’re going to trust individual Kansans.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2021/11/11/kansas-republicans-force-special-session-to-deal-with-federal-vaccine-mandates/