(FREE) PAINE IN THE MORNING: 12 things you need to know this Tuesday – January 11, 2022

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CDC Director Can’t Say How Many Of 836,000 Deaths Are ‘From COVID’ And How Many Are ‘With COVID’ – Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), appeared unable to say just how many of the over 836,000 Americans whose deaths have been attributed to the coronavirus pandemic might have died “with COVID” rather than “from COVID.”

Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked Walensky about that during her appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” and her response was simply that the data was still coming in, particularly with regard to the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant. – READ MORE

CDC Director: Over 75% Of COVID Deaths In Vaccinated Had ‘At Least 4 Comorbidities’ –Asked on ABC’s “Good Morning America” about a study showing that vaccines targeting COVID-19 and its variants have successfully prevented serious illness, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said the “overwhelming” number of deaths in vaccinated people occurred in those who had at least four comorbidities.

Walensky started by answering a question about the new CDC guidelines that suggest that people who have contracted the virus should isolate for only five days, reduced from the previous numbers, and then reintegrate into society wearing a mask. – READ MORE

Biden’s FDA prioritizes race in administering life-saving COVID therapeutics; ‘Latinx ethnicity’ a higher priority in Utah than those with congestive heart failure – For Americans suffering from COVID-19 and seeking life-saving treatment, they may find themselves put on a waitlist depending on their skin color. The Food and Drug Administration, as well as multiple states, will prioritize race and ethnicity in determining who receives hard-to-get COVID-19 therapeutics. In some cases, even those with dangerous health conditions could be passed over for someone who is “non-white.”

GlaxoSmithKline’s sotrovimab is reportedly the only monoclonal antibody treatment that is effective against the Omicron variant — however, it is in very short supply. – READ MORE

Massachusetts Now Differentiating Between ‘Primary’ Or ‘Incidental’ COVID-19 Hospitalizations – On Monday, Massachusetts began reporting whether or not a patient was hospitalized as the primary result of COVID-19, or if they were simply admitted to the hospital for another ailment and happened to test positive for COVID-19. This is markedly different from the way Massachusetts and other states have been recording COVID-19 cases for the past two years.

The Boston Herald reported that the Department of Health announced last week that “hospitals will start on Monday reporting whether admissions are primary or incidental to COVID-19.” It should be noted that GOP Governor Charlie Baker had been saying for quite some time that cases were possibly being over-counted. – READ MORE

Biden Admin Cuts Florida’s Weekly Monoclonal Shipment In Half – The federal government slashed in half the number of doses of the monoclonal antibodies therapy shipped to Florida from 30,000 to 15,000 this week, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

DeSantis said the 15,000 dozen received would be “immediately utilized to support new monoclonal antibody sites.”  – READ MORE

Canadian province pushes COVID-19 vaccines by requiring them to buy alcohol, weed — and appointments quadruple – One Canadian province recently turned up the pressure on residents to get the COVID-19 vaccine by requiring the shot in order to purchase some very popular merriments.

During a news conference last Thursday, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé announced that starting Jan. 18, residents will need to show proof of vaccination to buy alcohol and cannabis from government-operated retailers. – READ MORE

Rising alcohol consumption during COVID-19 pandemic projected to cause more liver disease, deaths – Increased alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to cause 100 additional deaths and 2,800 additional cases of liver failure by 2023, according to a team of researchers led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had many unintended consequences with unknown long-term impact,” a co-author of the study, Dr. Turgay Ayer, said in a news release. – READ MORE

Feds Blew $100 Billion on Extra Hospital Beds, Got FEWER Hospital Beds – “Fifteen days to flatten curve” was all about making sure we didn’t run out of hospital beds for sick people, whether they had COVID or something else.

In the heat of those panicky early days of the pandemic, Congress passed (and President Donald Trump signed) the unprecedented $2.2 trillion-with-a-T Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). – READ MORE

LA Times columnist says publicly mocking deaths of anti-vaxxers’ is ‘necessary’ to create ‘teachable moments’ – A Los Angeles Times columnist on Monday encouraged readers to publicly mock the deaths of anti-vaxxers, calling attacks of this nature a “necessary” evil to tamper vaccine skepticism.

In a column titled, “Mocking anti-vaxxers’ deaths is ghoulish, yes — but necessary,” Pultizer-Prize winner Michael Hiltzik addressed the death of Kelly Ernby, a deputy district attorney in Orange County, California, who reportedly died of complications from the coronavirus last week after opposing vaccine mandates. – READ MORE

America’s conservatives are as bad as Islamic terrorists, says fired FBI exec – Fired FBI executive Andrew McCabe says America’s conservatives are as bad as Islamic terrorists and the federal government needs vastly increased powers to spy on them.

The stunning words from McCabe came during his recent speech at the University of Chicago, and were captured by a report in The Federalist about his comments on conservatives. – READ MORE

#BareShelvesBiden trends on Twitter as shoppers encounter desolate grocery store aisles: ‘Apocalypse Now’ – Stress on the supply chain due to labor shortages has ultimately come to fruition, wiping out products from store shelves across the nation.

Reporters and other shoppers took out their frustration on Twitter by sharing photos of their local grocery stores and tagging #BareShelvesBiden, which began trending. – READ MORE

US Treasury Warns Of Frustrating Tax Season Due To IRS Backlogs And ‘Longstanding Operational Problems’ – Existing backlongs and ‘longstanding operational problems’ at the IRS will likely make for a frustrating tax season this year, a Treasury Department official told Politico on Monday.

The agency is still dealing with two years-worth of backlogs in processing returns – and is trying to process approximately 6 million individual returns as of Dec. 23. Typically, the tax collector juggles around 1 million pieces of unopened mail according to the report. – READ MORE