The Rundown: Biden Gets Aggressive On COVID-19

COVID hospital
Medical professionals pronate a 39 year old unvaccinated COVID-19 patient in the Medical Intensive care unit (MICU) at St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. Kyle Green / AP Photo
COVID hospital
Medical professionals pronate a 39 year old unvaccinated COVID-19 patient in the Medical Intensive care unit (MICU) at St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. Kyle Green / AP Photo

The Rundown: Biden Gets Aggressive On COVID-19

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Hey there! It’s Thursday, and my nephew is doing remote learning at my place, and he discovered that if he says he needs to go to the bathroom, he can play the Nintendo Switch without anyone noticing. He truly is my nephew. Here’s what you need to know today.

(By the way, if you’d like this emailed to your inbox, you can sign up here.)

1. States, businesses and schools face growing pressure to enact vaccine mandates

President Joe Biden today will lay out a six-point plan for curbing the highly contagious delta variant that includes putting pressure on states, businesses and schools to adopt stricter vaccine and testing policies, reports The New York Times.

Biden, who will address the nation at 4 p.m. CT, is also expected to sign an executive order requiring most federal workers and contractors to get shots. The president is taking a more aggressive approach to the pandemic partly because the Food and Drug Administration has given final approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to people 16 and over. [NYT]

The Washington Post reports Biden will force all businesses with more than 100 employees to require vaccinations or provide weekly testing. [WaPo]

In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has already announced an Oct. 15 vaccine mandate for city workers, which faces opposition from many unions that have sided with anti-vaxxers.

But Chicago has not followed New York City and San Francisco, where proof of vaccination is required to enter restaurants, bars and other indoor public spaces. [WBEZ]

2. Nearly 3,000 CPS students and staff have been exposed to COVID-19

That’s according to Chicago Public Schools, which is just over a week into the new academic year. At least 400 people at Lane Tech College Prep, the city’s largest high school, were identified as close contacts to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

So far, at least 161 COVID-19 cases have been reported among CPS adults and children.

But the accuracy of the school district’s data is being called into question. Several parents and teachers have contacted WBEZ’s Sarah Karp about being told to quarantine students, but their schools are not listed in the district’s tracking system. [WBEZ]

Meanwhile, Los Angeles could become the first major school district in the U.S. to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for students 12 years and older. [CNN]

3. Justice Department sues Texas over new abortion law

Attorney General Merrick Garland today announced the Justice Department has sued the state of Texas in an effort to block one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws, which went into effect earlier this month.

The law bans abortions as early as six weeks, well before many women realize they are pregnant, and does not provide exceptions in the case of rape or incest. The law also allows private citizens to take legal action against anyone involved in a prohibited procedure, from doctors to ride-share drivers.

Garland said the Texas law is “clearly unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent.” [AP]

Meanwhile, the baby of Jane Roe in Roe v. Wade, now an adult, has come forward to talk about her life. [The Atlantic]

4. San Francisco venture capitalist enters Illinois governor’s race with nearly $11 million in the bank

Republican entrepreneur Jesse Sullivan today announced he will seek the GOP’s nomination for governor, saying his campaign will “focus on three core issues: strengthening the Illinois economy, leaving the state’s historic corruption in the past and addressing the crime hurting Illinois families,” reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sullivan, a native of downstate Petersburg, enters the Republican primary race with “$10,780,000 in donations — all but $780,000 of it from just four California contributors — since last Friday,” the newspaper reports.

In addition to Sullivan, other candidates in the GOP primary race include state Sen. Darren Bailey, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf and businessman Gary Rabine. [Sun-Times]

5. Al-Qaida could make a comeback in Afghanistan, Pentagon warns

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters in Kuwait City today that al-Qaida extremists could attempt to “regenerate” in Afghanistan now that the Taliban has reclaimed power.

Austin said the U.S. won’t allow an al-Qaida comeback that would threaten national security, and the U.S. military can counter extremists through surveillance and strike aircraft. But the withdrawal of U.S. troops and intelligence teams from Afghanistan could hamper those efforts. [AP]

Meanwhile, an estimated 200 people, including Americans, left Afghanistan on a commercial flight out of Kabul, the first major departure following the exit of U.S. troops. [AP]

Here’s what else is happening

  • Illinois lawmakers are poised to vote on a green energy bill that phases out fossil fuel-burning plants by 2045. [WTTW]
  • A co-founder of the NXIVM cult was sentenced to 42 months in prison. [Washington Post]
  • Facebook and Ray-Ban today unveiled smart glasses that can take pictures. [Axios]
  • The McDonald’s abomination known as Grimace is allegedly a taste bud. [New York Post]

Oh, and one more thing …

I’m totally here for the Keanu Reav-olution. The first trailer for the upcoming Matrix Resurrections dropped today, and it is so awesome that my husband and my nephew walked over to my laptop to watch it.

I won’t spoil anything, but Joshua, my husband, was like, “What if John Wick is actually Neo stuck in the Matrix?” And my body is ready for this movie mashup. [Hollywood Reporter]

My nephew didn’t think this write-up was very funny, so he asked me to include this, which legitimately cracked him up.

Tell me something good …

So my husband and I have our nephew this week, and we’d like to know: What was your favorite thing to do as a kid?

Ben Vigeant writes:

“In a grim irony, my favorite thing to do as a child was to sit inside and use the computer. I’m now like Homer Simpson in that ‘Treehouse of Horror’ episode where he’s being force-fed donuts.”

Feel free to email me at therundown@wbez.org or tweet me at @whuntah.

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