US lifting vaccine mandate at Canadian, Mexican borders

The Biden administration announced vaccine requirements for truck drivers based in Canada and Mexico will end Friday, a move that could allow thousands of truckers to resume cross-border freight movements. 

The U.S. border vaccine mandate for foreign drivers began in January 2022. Canada ended its own border vaccination requirements in October.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced: “Beginning May 12, DHS will no longer require non-U.S. travelers entering the U.S. via land...

Pentagon Not Pursuing Separate Reentry Path For Vaccine Separated Service Members

Lance Cpl. Carlos Benitez, assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, receives a COVID-19 booster shot aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) on March 23, 2022. US Navy Photo

The Department of Defense will not issue a separate policy to bring back service members who were separated for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a top Pentagon personnel chief testified to Congress on Tuesday.

Service personnel who were separated for failing to get vaccinated...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/28/pentagon-not-pursuing-separate-reentry-path-for-vaccine-separated-service-members

Navy Lifts Deployment Restrictions on Sailors Not Vaccinated Against COVID-19

COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are pre-staged for a shot event in the hangar bay aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Dec. 28, 2021. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – The Navy will no longer consider COVID-19 vaccination status when making decisions about sailor deployments – a reversal of more than a year of service policy, according to new Navy guidance released this week.

COVID-19 vaccination status cannot be considered when determining if someone can be deployed, according to the new standardized...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/16/navy-lifts-deployment-restrictions-on-sailors-not-vaccinated-against-covid-19

Pentagon COVID-19 Personnel Policy Delays Leave Unanswered Questions

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Alexander Roth administers the COVID-19 vaccine booster to Aircrew Survival Equipmentman Airman Kiana Briley aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), in the Philippine Sea, on Dec. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo

The Pentagon has offered limited guidance in the three weeks since Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin officially rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination mandate, leaving service members with questions about their statuses.

Austin officially rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/07/pentagon-covid-19-personnel-policy-delays-leave-unanswered-questions

Scientists Developing ‘Single Swab’ Test From Millions Of Covid Samples

Credits: JC Gellidon/ Unsplash
  • The scientists will use millions of swab samples left over from the COVID mass-testing campaign to develop a “single swab” test for a range of respiratory bugs.
  • Labs like the Sanger led the world in efforts to sequence the genetic code of COVID-19.
  • Distributing surveillance globally should provide a worldwide early warning system for existing pathogens.

Stored in refrigerated shipping containers in the car park of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, the...

https://mfame.guru/scientists-developing-single-swab-test-from-millions-of-covid-samples/

Pentagon Rescinds COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate, Questions Remain for Separated Sailors

Seaman Apprentice Johnnese Poomaihealani, from Waianae, Hawaii, receives a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot during a shot event in the foc’sle aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Jan. 3, 2022. US Navy Photo

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin officially rescinded the COVID-19 vaccine mandate Tuesday evening in a memo, stopping any more military separations due to refusal to get the shot series.

Congress, through the National Defense Authorization Act 2023, ordered the Department of Defense to...

https://news.usni.org/2023/01/10/pentagon-rescinds-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-questions-remain-for-separated-sailors

2,100 Sailors in Limbo as Pentagon Grapples With End of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

A Navy Corpsman prepares a vaccine booster. US Navy Photo

The Navy separated 25 active duty sailors between Nov. 28 and Dec. 28 due to their failure to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the service told USNI News. Those sailors are likely the last sea service members to receive approved separations over COVID-19 vaccine refusal under the Pentagon’s prior vaccination mandate.

A provision in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Joe Biden on Dec. 23, removed...

https://news.usni.org/2023/01/05/2100-sailors-in-limbo-as-pentagon-grapples-with-end-of-covid-19-vaccine-mandate

China Covid Deaths Could Be Above 5,000/Day: UK Firm

Credits: Fusion Medical Animation/Unsplash

More than 5,000 people are probably dying each day from COVID-19 in China, health data firm Airfinity estimated, offering a dramatic contrast to official data from Beijing on the country’s current outbreak, reports Reuters.

The UK-based firm said it had used modelling based on regional Chinese data to produce figures that also put current daily infections in the country at above a million.

Its estimates were “in stark contrast to the official data which...

https://mfame.guru/china-covid-deaths-could-be-above-5000-day-uk-firm/

Pentagon Unclear How Military Would Handle End of Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccines

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Gregzon Fontanilla, from Guam, prepares a COVID-19 vaccine aboard the America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) on May 10, 2022. US Navy Photo

The Pentagon has no ready answers on how the Department of Defense would implement pending legislation that would allow service members to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine without facing separation, officials said this week.

Congressional Republicans negotiated with the Democrat-led House and Senate to include...

https://news.usni.org/2022/12/07/pentagon-unclear-how-military-would-handle-end-of-mandatory-covid-19-vaccines

Navy Says 2,600 Active Duty Sailors Aren’t Vaccinated Against COVID-19

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Mark Forrey, from Boise, Idaho, administers a Covid-19 vaccine to Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) Airman Micah Dayoub, from Lancaster, California, aboard aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) on Sep. 9, 2022. US Navy Photo

About 2,600 active-duty sailors remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 a year after the deadline for mandatory vaccination.

The Navy separated 177 active-duty sailors over the past month, according to the monthly COVID-19 update. The sea...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/29/navy-says-2600-active-duty-sailors-arent-vaccinated-against-covid-19

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