Students at the University of California, Berkeley are now required to wear masks if they haven’t had their annual flu shot.
If you are not flu-vaccinated, masks are mandatory throughout flu season, according to a notice on the school’s website.
The instructions also strongly advise everyone on UC Berkeley campuses to wear masks indoors, regardless of whether they have received a Covid-19 immunization.
The decision, which contradicts the seasonal flu norms for 2019 and doubles back on a widely abandoned masking policy, drew a barrage of praise and derision on social media.
Mark Meuser, an attorney and senatorial candidate for California, stated: “UC Berkeley will require unvaccinated students to wear masks throughout flu season, despite the CDC’s statement that unvaccinated should now be treated equally to vaccinated.”
He joked sarcastically, “Someone should tell UC Berkeley that they should follow the science.”
Another user tweeted, “2019 norms gone forever at Berkeley, as university makes masks mandatory in flu seasons.”
The choice completely shocked other users.
“I saw some pictures of it and questioned whether it was real, but it is,” Masks don’t assist with the flu, despite a 100-year-old agreement, one stated.
Another person commented: “It’s worth wondering how we came to this situation, when two weeks to crush the curve have become a permanent fight against seasonal respiratory diseases in general.”
The Biden administration is trying to make receiving a Covid booster into a yearly ritual, so news of UC Berkeley’s tightening masking procedures seems timely.
That is the main takeaway from its advertising effort to promote the recently approved shot to the American public, who have largely shunned booster shots ever since they first became readily accessible last fall.
Within days, shots of the modified boosters, created by Pfizer and Moderna expressly to address the omicron strain, might begin.
The American administration insists that everyone will have free access to the booster and has ordered 170 million doses.
Dr. Ashish Jha, the coordinator for Covid-19 at the White House, stated that this most recent batch of doses will provide protection during the busiest cold and flu season, with the goal of getting individuals to start getting the shot annually.
Even the heads of the vaccination companies are quarrelling over the efficacy of ongoing booster doses in the meanwhile.
AstraZeneca’s CEO, Pascal Soriot, suggested that annual injections for healthy individuals might not be a wise use of tax dollars.
The old and vulnerable are regarded to be in need of the vaccinations.
However, Soriot said in a statement to The Sunday Telegraph regarding the promotion of healthy people: “I’m not sure it’s a particularly good use of money.”
He said that vaccinations offer ‘long-term’ protection for healthy individuals, possibly for years.
Pfizer’s CEO Susan Rienow cautioned that people should “stay watchful” in the meantime.
It would be crucial, she continued, to ensure that people are increasing their immunity so we can keep people out of the hospital.
The effectiveness of booster shots is still being debated, and on Wednesday, House Republicans demanded that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoke the COVID-19 vaccine requirement that they claim has rendered about 45,000 members of the National Guard inactive since the end of June.
Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida, the first Green Beret elected to Congress and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, wrote the document, which DailyMail.com obtained exclusively.
More than a dozen of his colleagues have signed it, including Rep. Jim Banks, chair of the Republican Study Committee, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, chair of the GOP Conference.
In view of the severe military manning shortfall and the terrifyingly rapid advancements in the armies of enemy nations like China, they demand that Austin quickly revoke the vaccination requirement.
The letter cautions that “all of this is taking place against the backdrop of a recruiting and retention problem the military services have not seen in decades.”
According to the Pentagon’s late 2021 vaccine directive, National Guard members who have not taken two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by June 30, 2022, are actively prohibited from obtaining government funding for deployments and being paid.
They are not permitted to take part in training exercises that are conducted with military members who have received vaccinations.
That affects approximately 10 percent of the force who are either unvaccinated or awaiting approval for exemptions.