Thursday, January 23, 2025

Pete Hegseth Promises to Reinstate, Repay Troops who Refused COVID Vaccine; Janet Yellen Says COVID Spending May Have Contributed ‘little bit’ to Inflation in Rare Admission by Biden Official, and other C-Virus related stories

Ted S. Warren/AP
Hegseth promises to reinstate, repay troops who refused COVID vaccine
During comments at his confirmation hearing Tuesday, Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth vowed to reinstate and reimburse troops dismissed from the ranks for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine years ago.
The surprise statement came amid unrelated questions about Hegseth’s views towards diversity and discrimination policies in the military. Hegseth, who previously served in the National Guard, said past Pentagon policies requiring the vaccine amounted to its own form of religious discrimination.
“Tens of thousands of service members were kicked out because of an experimental vaccine,” Hegseth said. “They will be apologized to. They will be reinstated, reinstituted with pay and rank.”
Defense Department leaders mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for all troops from August 2021 to January 2023, with limited exceptions for medical issues or religious objections. About 8,000 troops were forced out of the service for refusing the order.
That number represents less than half of 1% of the total military end strength. But in the years since the mandate was lifted, conservative lawmakers have accused Defense Department officials of severely impacting force readiness with the dismissals and called for those individuals to be allowed to return to the ranks.
Pentagon leaders implemented procedures allowing those individuals to reapply for military service after the vaccine mandate was lifted, but only a few dozen pursued the program, according to Defense Department statistics. --->READ MORE HERE
Janet Yellen says COVID spending may have contributed ‘little bit’ to inflation in rare admission by Biden official:
The Biden administration’s spending on stimulus to keep the economy going during the COVID pandemic may have contributed a little bit to inflation, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an interview on CNBC on Wednesday.
Yellen said supply chain issues and shortages were the main factor driving up prices during the pandemic, but conceded that stimulus spending could have played a role as well.
“It may have contributed a little bit to the inflation, but by and large, inflation was a supply side phenomenon,” Yellen said, in a rare concession by Biden administration officials about the role their policies played in driving up prices.
The Treasury secretary, who leaves office later this month, said she remained convinced that the spending had been needed to prevent scarring seen after previous downturns when business closures and layoffs result in people being unemployed for long periods and wind up becoming alienated from the workforce.
Price increases were largely due to shortages of goods coming from China and other countries that had also shut down, which left automakers and others with insufficient semiconductors and other components to produce goods. --->READ MORE HERE
Follow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:

Patients who have had multiple COVID infections appear prone to contracting long COVID

COVID-19 Forced Nickelodeon To Temporarily Pull A SpongeBob SquarePants Episode

USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates

WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates

YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates

NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest

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