Stimulus update: Millions of people have less than one month to claim their COVID-19 stimulus payments

Brady Knox

October 23, 06:30 AM October 23, 06:30 AM

Millions of United States citizens have less than one month to claim COVID-19 stimulus payments, which they may still be eligible for.

Families and individuals who don't pay taxes due to having little or no income have until Nov. 15 to fill out simplified tax returns, according to the Government Accountability Office. The deadline for those who do pay taxes passed on October 17.

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From April 2020 to December 2021, Congress authorized the payment of $931 billion to 165 million eligible citizens through direct stimulus payments across three waves in order to alleviate the financial burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic. A person with an income below $75,000 and married couples with an income below $150,000 were eligible for all three waves of payments.

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The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury have struggled to send out payments to those especially impoverished, particularly homeless people and those with little to no internet access.

Congress previously voted to extend the child tax credit to more families, many of whom have already received their new payments.

Pfizer to charge $130 for COVID-19 vaccination once government stops making them free: Report

Ryan King

October 22, 03:59 PM October 22, 04:00 PM

Arms soon won't be the only things getting a pinch from the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine — wallets may, as well.

Pfizer is expected to charge patients between $110 and $130 per vaccine when the federal government stops footing the bill, but it will try to keep the out-of-pocket price at zero for patients who have health insurance, according to the company.

"We are confident that the U.S. price point of the COVID-19 vaccine reflects its overall cost-effectiveness and ensures the price will not be a barrier for access for patients," Pfizer executive Angela Lukin said, per Reuters.

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At the moment, the United States pays about $30 per dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine. Officials have said the funding could dry up this fall ahead of the winter season, when cases have skyrocketed during the past two years of the pandemic.

This is partly because Congress has not approved additional pandemic spending, including the $15 billion requested by the White House.

When the funding dries up, the financial burden for the vaccine will fall on the shoulders of the broader U.S. healthcare system, similar to flu shots. Healthcare experts have contended that the COVID-19 vaccine is likely to become a seasonal shot similar to the one for the flu.

Pfizer reportedly expects shots to be distributed via primary healthcare providers by early 2023, depending on the longevity of the government supply.

The $110 to $130 price point is specific to patients 12 and older. So far, the company has not yet decided on a price point for its COVID-19 vaccine aimed at younger patients.

Both Moderna and Pfizer have recently begun rolling out their bivalent booster shots, which target the original strain of COVID-19, as well as the omicron variant and some of its subvariants.

At least 14.8 million U.S. residents have received the updated booster shot since it became available last month, per Reuters.

Stimulus 2022: Residents in Maine have nine days to claim $850 relief checks

Brady Knox

October 22, 07:00 AM October 22, 07:00 AM

Maine residents have until the end of October to claim COVID-19 relief checks worth up to $850.

An estimated 858,000 Maine residents will receive a check, bringing the total up to $729.3 million given back to taxpayers, according to the office of Democratic Gov. Janet T. Mills. The stated purpose of the checks is to help alleviate the financial stress caused by inflation and the pandemic.

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“What this budget shows once again, through hard work and good faith negotiation, Democrats, Republicans, and independents can come together to do what is right for Maine people and that we can do so without rancor or bitter partisanship that has sometimes divided Augusta in the past,” Mills said.

To obtain the new check, residents must file a 2021 individual income tax return by the end of the month, to which last year's deadline has been extended.

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Applicants must make under $100,000 if filing single or if married and filing separately, under $150,000 if filing as head of household, and under $200,000 for couples filing jointly.

Fauci insists he 'had absolutely nothing to do with' university shutdowns

Brady Knox

October 16, 03:21 PM Oct 16, 03:21 PM

Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's main health-related adviser, who is gearing up to retire from federal government at the end of this 12 months, claims he had nothing at all to do with COVID-19-similar university shutdowns.

The longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Health conditions made the assert in an interview with ABC. When requested by journalist Jonathan Karl as to no matter if it was a oversight to near colleges for as lengthy as they were being, Fauci at initial appeared to defend the exercise, pointing to fatalities from COVID-19 among the kids, right before denying he had nearly anything to do with the plan and even proclaiming he actively pushed towards it.

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"If you go back again, and I ask anybody to go again above the number of occasions that I've mentioned we have acquired to do every thing we can to continue to keep the universities open up, no a single performs that clip," he reported. "They always arrive back and say, 'Fauci is liable for closing the universities.' I had absolutely nothing to do [with it], I signify, let's get down to the information."

Irrespective of his assertion, Fauci's individual community statements throughout the pandemic, like the earliest days, when university closures have been staying contemplated, present the foremost wellness formal opined in favor of shutdowns.

On March 20, 2020, Fauci told PBS, "So, obviously, in particular situations, specifically in areas the place there is certainly local community unfold, the colleges need to be shut."

As late as September 2020, Fauci advised CNN that educational facilities should really only open up "at the time the virus is below manage," as pointed out by Countrywide Assessment.

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School shutdowns have arrive below increased criticism as more study has come out detailing their detrimental effects, mostly skyrocketing mental health and fitness issues amongst learners and a large decline in mastering. New studies have proven that college students have endured the premier loss in learning in in excess of 30 decades thanks to COVID-19-similar faculty shutdowns.

Twitter reinstates Florida surgeon general's tweet following limiting it

Jenny Goldsberry

October 09, 06:58 PM Oct 09, 07:10 PM

Twitter restricted a tweet from the Florida surgeon normal on Friday — only to reinstate it Sunday.

"Currently, we released an examination on COVID-19 mRNA vaccines the community desires to be mindful of," Dr. Joseph Ladapo's restricted tweet examine. "This examination showed an elevated hazard of cardiac-linked dying among guys 18-39. FL will not be silent on the reality." Ladapo was referencing new steerage introduced by the state Health Section, which cautioned young males towards obtaining the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

Twitter did not answer to a request for remark from the Washington Examiner but reinstated the tweet hrs afterwards just after a request was produced. It is unclear specifically how lengthy the tweet was restricted. The Florida Division of Wellness also did not react to a request for comment on the make a difference.

The social media system has arrive less than fireplace in current years around its content material moderation policies, which conservative critics have accused of currently being biased toward liberal buyers and will cause. The site seems slated for a takeover by billionaire Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who has stated he will alter the present-day content material moderation principles in favor of an tactic that safeguards no cost speech.

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The Florida Health and fitness Office examined people today who had inexplicably died in just 25 months of receiving their vaccination, excluding those that had a documented COVID-19 infection, knowledgeable a COVID-19-associated dying, been given a booster, or received their last COVID-19 vaccination soon after Dec. 8, 2021.

"Folks and well being treatment providers should also be conscious that this assessment identified: Males over the age of 60 experienced a 10% greater possibility of cardiac-associated loss of life in 28 days of mRNA vaccination. Non-mRNA vaccines ended up not found to have these elevated risks amongst any inhabitants," the self-managed circumstance research browse. Ladapo experienced integrated a backlink to the research in his tweet.

"Centered on currently obtainable facts, sufferers must be knowledgeable of the probable cardiac issues that can arise after obtaining a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine," the subsequent direction study. "With a higher stage of worldwide immunity to COVID-19, the profit of vaccination is probably outweighed by this abnormally higher chance of cardiac-related dying among the males in this age group."

The point out of Florida latest endorses in opposition to use of the COVID-19 vaccine in balanced youngsters and adolescents 5 a long time aged to 17 many years previous, as very well as infants and little ones underneath 5 a long time old.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin exams positive for COVID-19

Jenny Goldsberry

September 18, 07:44 PM September 18, 07:44 PM

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) examined beneficial for COVID-19 Sunday.

"Thankfully, I am vaccinated and boosted and only enduring minor symptoms," Baldwin tweeted. "I will quarantine whilst I continue to perform remotely."

This helps make Baldwin the fourth Democratic senator to exam positive for the virus given that the Senate returned from its August recess. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) also tested beneficial, whilst Sen. John Ossoff's (D-GA) prognosis is holding him from a week of voting.

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Baldwin, as the 1st lesbian senator, is working on finding 10 GOP senators to guidance her Respect for Relationship Act, a monthly bill codifying exact same-sexual intercourse marriage protections. Baldwin experienced hoped for a vote following week, but now expects to set it to a vote pursuing the midterm elections as a consequence of her COVID-19 analysis.

"We have asked Leader Schumer for more time, and we enjoy he has agreed," Baldwin and Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Susan Collins (R-ME), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) explained in a joint assertion. "We are confident that when our legislation comes to the Senate flooring for a vote, we will have the bipartisan guidance to pass the bill."

This push from Baldwin to codify very same-sex marriage will come in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Democrats have cited Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring belief, which states that the large court must rethink the concern, as purpose to codify particular legal rights: particularly on abortion and contraception entry, as effectively as marriage equality.

Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin exams good for COVID-19 for second time

Cami Mondeaux

August 15, 01:18 PM August 15, 01:23 PM

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tested optimistic for COVID-19 for the 2nd time, creating him 1 of the best-ranking Biden administration officials to be identified with the condition in latest months.

Austin, who is totally vaccinated and has gained two booster photographs, tested positive on Monday early morning and is suffering from gentle signs or symptoms, the defense secretary mentioned in a statement. The Biden formal stated he will quarantine at household for the next 5 days in accordance with latest pointers from the Facilities for Condition Manage and Prevention and will preserve his ordinary do the job program.

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"My medical professional told me that my fully vaccinated status, like two booster pictures, is why my signs are much less critical than would if not be the case. I will keep on to check with intently with my health care provider in the coming times,” he stated in a statement. “Vaccinations continue on to both equally slow the unfold of COVID-19 and to make its overall health results considerably less extreme. Vaccination continues to be a health care need for our workforce, and I continue on to stimulate everybody to get completely vaccinated and boosted."

Austin beforehand tested optimistic for COVID-19 in January.

His latest diagnosis will make him the most up-to-date formal in the Biden administration to examination good in current weeks. President Joe Biden also not long ago recovered from COVID-19 soon after suffering from a rebound case in late July. Austin hasn’t been in speak to with Biden given that July 29, which was before the president tested constructive for a second time.

'Fingers crossed': Novak Djokovic hopes he might play in US Open up

Heather Hamilton

August 14, 12:58 PM August 14, 12:58 PM

Novak Djokovic is waiting around to see if he will be capable to compete in the U.S. Open in New York Metropolis.

The Serbian tennis star withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters because of to his unvaccinated standing and has just two months right up until the U.S. Open’s draw.

Djokovic is unable to compete in the United States owing to the Facilities for Disease Handle and Prevention’s policy barring unvaccinated non-U.S. citizens from getting into the country.

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On Thursday, the CDC loosened its COVID-19 protection tips, generating hope that constraints would be rescinded enabling tennis admirers to see Djokovic compete later this thirty day period.

Tennis legend and commentator John McEnroe named Djokovic’s incapability to contend “B.S.”

"These politicians are acquiring in the way too a great deal. They did it in Australia. Let us let the dude arrive in and participate in in the U.S. I suggest appear on. This is absurd," McEnroe explained, for each Fox News. "But I do not make all those conclusions. I hope somebody would make the correct a person and will allow him to play. That is my particular view."

Djokovic said he is getting ready for the U.S. Open as if he will be allowed to contend.

"I am planning as if I will be authorized to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to journey to US. Fingers crossed!" Djokovic tweeted.

The U.S. Tennis Affiliation does not have a ban in opposition to unvaccinated players’ participation.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams lifted a ban on unvaccinated athletes taking part in in his city in March.