(FREE) PAINE IN THE MORNING: 10 things you need to know this Wednesday – December 15, 2021

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No End in Sight: Blue States Usher in Mask Mandates Nearly 2 Years After Pandemic’s Start – Blue states, such as New York and California, are ushering mask mandates back in as the United States approaches the two-year mark of the start of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday, New York began its latest mask requirement, which Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced on Friday, forcing businesses to choose between checking the vaccination status of customers or mandating masks for all. The requirement is not slated to end until January 15, 2022, but the state will still “re-evaluate based on current conditions,” meaning the rule could extend even further. – READ MORE

U.S. military officially begins discharging unvaccinated service members – With one estimate putting the number of unvaccinated active-duty service members at 40,000, the U.S. Air Force has begun the process of discharging troops who have refused to abide by the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate.

The Air Force has discharged 27 active-duty members who would not be vaccinated, according to NBC. – READ MORE

CDC: Only 21% Of Omicron Cases Occurred In Unvaccinated People – About eight out of 10 people who have caught the Omicron variant of COVID-19 were fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Just 20% of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant, based on an examination of diagnoses from December 1-8. There were 43 cases attributed to Omicron; 34 were among people who had been “fully vaccinated.” What’s more, one-third of the 34 had also received a third “booster” shot. Just one of those suffering from Omicron was briefly hospitalized. – READ MORE

Amtrak Temporarily Halts Vaccine Mandate for Employees – Amtrak on Tuesday announced that the passenger railroad company with temporarily halt a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees after it warned of possible service reductions due to labor shortages over the rules. – READ MORE

Virginia Woman Begins Ivermectin COVID Protocol After Hospital Found In Contempt Of Court For Barring Its Administration – Kathy Davies — the woman at the center of a legal battle for her right to try Ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment — received her first and second dose of Ivermectin on Monday evening at 8:45 pm EST and again Tuesday morning around 9:00 am EST after a court order forced the hospital to comply with her family’s wishes, The Daily Wire can confirm.

On Monday, The Daily Wire reported that Fauquier Health hospital in Warrenton, Virginia, was found in contempt of court after refusing to obey a previous court order ruling that Davies had the right to try Ivermectin as part of her COVID-19 treatment plan. The week prior, Fauquier Health had gone back and forth with the Davies family and Virginia’s 20th Judicial Court, arguing why they could not give the mother Ivermectin. – READ MORE

Kroger strips paid emergency leave, jacks up health insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees – Kroger, the nation’s largest traditional grocery chain, announced significant policy changes this week aimed at compelling employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Starting next year, the Cincinnati-based company will no longer provide two weeks of paid emergency leave to unvaccinated employees who become infected with COVID-19, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday after viewing a company memo. – READ MORE

Doctor diagnoses 23-year-old’s cough as COVID-19. Turns out it’s actually cancer, and she’s lucky to be alive. – A 23-year-old woman from the United Kingdom suffered a devastating cancer diagnosis after her doctor initially diagnosed her persistent cough as that of coronavirus.

Chloe Girardier, a caregiver for the elderly who lives in Harrogate, said that she developed a cough that refused to go away even when treated with antibiotics, inhalers, acid reflux tablets, and rest. – READ MORE

Former Mafia Boss Drags Cuomo Over Nursing Home Deaths: ‘I’m A Bad***. I’d Never Do It’’ – A former major mob boss ripped into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo over his actions in the nursing home scandal in which thousands of New Yorkers died from COVID-19, snapping, “I’m a bad***. I’d never do it.”

As part of a series called “The Mafia States of America,” Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, who used to help run the Gambino crime family in New York City, told host and moderator Patrick Bet-David, “I hate to get into Governor Cuomo. I will a little bit because he’s Italian and I can’t stand it,” as Fox News reported. – READ MORE

Afghans Brought to U.S. Offered Free Housing, Food Stamps, $2,300 Checks – Afghans brought to the United States by President Joe Biden’s administration are being offered free housing, food stamps, and are “entitled” to nearly $2,300 in payments, a new report details.

Mostly thanks to Democrats and Republicans funding Biden’s massive Afghan resettlement to the sum of more than $13 billion, Afghans in the U.S. are being offered free housing to be resettled in states that do not have large Afghan populations, according to the Washington Post. – READ MORE

Supply Chain and Wholesale Inflation Hits 26.5%, Hottest Since 1974 – The record-shattering 9.6 percent rise in producer prices indicates a startling level of inflation inflicting the U.S. economy.

Things are even worse once you get beyond the headlines. Further out on the supply chains, prices are rising even more rapidly, suggesting that product shortages and even more inflation are yet to come. – READ MORE