Psaki makes false claim about DeSantis as Florida announces plan to provide 1 million COVID-19 testing kits to vulnerable population



White House press secretary Jen Psaki made a demonstrably false claim on Thursday when she accused Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of not advocating for the people in his state to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Psaki was speaking at the daily White House press briefing when a reporter asked her about the Republican governor's recently announced plan to distribute 1 million at-home COVID-19 testing kits. DeSantis, a Republican, has accused the Biden administration of failing to deliver on promises made in December to make COVID-19 testing kits readily available to combat a winter coronavirus surge. The reporter asked Psaki about DeSantis' critiques of the Biden administration's strategy to have most people tested for the virus and the governor's statements that it would be better to only test "vulnerable" people in nursing homes, those residing in long-term care facilities, and those within senior communities.

"We have taken a number of steps to provide tests at a much larger, expansive capacity than that to vulnerable communities across the country. That has been part of the president's effort to quadruple our testing capacity," Psaki said, noting that the administration has worked to provide 5 million tests to communities "that need help the most."

Responding to DeSantis' criticisms, she accused the Florida governor of neglecting to advocate for COVID-19 vaccines.

"I would say it's pretty rich coming from Gov. DeSantis, given he is somebody who has been not exactly advocating for people in his state to get vaccinated, which we know is the way people can be protected, [the] way that lives can be saved," she added. "And if he wants to be a constructive part of this process then perhaps he should encourage what scientists say is the best way to save lives, prevent and reduce hospitalization, and that is getting vaccinated and getting boosted."

Asked about FL's testing, Psaki says Ron DeSantis hasn't "advocat[ed] for people in his state to get vaccinated, which we know is the way that people can be protected, ways that lives can be saved" and he should listen to "scientists" "if he wants to be...constructive[.]"pic.twitter.com/6quK0u1KR4
— Curtis Houck (@Curtis Houck) 1641496039

The accusation that DeSantis has not advocated for COVID-19 vaccination is demonstrably false. In January 2021, the DeSantis administration prioritized older and more vulnerable residents in Florida retirement communities for access to the vaccines. Though a "60 Minutes" hit piece in April used deceptively edited footage to advance a conspiracy theory that DeSantis engaged in a "pay to play" scheme with COVID-19 vaccination distribution, those allegations were disputed by several Democrat officials in Florida who worked with the governor to distribute vaccines.

DeSantis has repeatedly urged Florida residents who are eligible to get vaccinated to do so. In July, he said the vaccines were "saving lives," noting that 95% of the people being admitted to hospitals in Florida with COVID-19 complications were unvaccinated.

“If you look at the people that are being admitted to hospitals ... over 95% of them are either not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all,” DeSantis said at the time. “These vaccines are saving lives. They are reducing mortality.”

Today, 63.6% of Florida's population is fully vaccinated, including over 95% of seniors, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Commenting on Psaki's false statement, DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw said on Twitter, "She lies brazenly because she knows the media won’t fact check her."

As for COVID testing, DeSantis went on "Fox & Friends" Thursday to announce his plan to distribute one million at-home COVID-19 tests to seniors in his state. He slammed the Biden administration, accusing the president of failing to keep his promises to "shut down" the virus.

"The Biden administration promised they were going to send all these at-home tests," DeSantis said. "They said all you had to do is go online and get it, and nothing has happened in a month and a half with doing that."

"We've secured a million at-home tests," he continued. "We're going to be distributing them to nursing homes and long-term care facilities throughout the state of Florida and then to the broader senior communities throughout our population because we view testing as something that should lead to then a clinical result."

Last month, the Biden administration said it would make 500 million at-home COVID-19 tests available for free, but delays have prevented the federal government from accomplishing its goal.

Demand for testing has skyrocketed in recent weeks as COVID-19 cases have surged in Florida. The Florida Sun Sentinel reports that drive-thru and walk-up testing sites are reporting long lines and pharmacies are experiencing a supply shortage of testing kits.

The DeSantis administration says it is unnecessary to provide everyone with a COVID-19 test. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said Tuesday that the Florida Department of Health is going to prioritize "high value testing" for "populations for whom testing is more likely to change outcomes."

"The guidance that we’re going to be putting out will be talking about … testing based on risk factors, based on risk level. Because that’s the primary item that determines whether or not a test is actually likely to make a difference,” Ladapo said, according to WUSF.

The governor criticized using COVID-19 tests to clear people for air travel or for returning to work, or for having young people who do not have virus symptoms tested.

“A lot of those tests are not a good use of testing. Testing really needs to be focused on the people that have clinical symptoms. So you have people that are symptomatic, and they may not have as good of access because you have so many other tests being used in ways which really aren’t a good use of resources,” DeSantis said.

Biden to announce plan requiring health insurers to pay for at-home COVID tests



President Biden will announce Thursday that health insurers must cover the full cost of in-home COVID-19 tests as part of a series of new actions to battle the coronavirus this winter.

"The President will announce that health insurers must cover 100 percent of the cost of at-home tests purchased by their members," a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday. "Private health insurers already cover the PCR tests people get at their doctor’s offices. With this action, they will cover at-home tests as well."

The official said that nearly 150 million Americans with private health insurance will be able to be reimbursed for the cost of at-home virus tests. The administration will also distribute 50 million at-home tests to community sites like health centers and rural clinics so that they are made available to hard-to-reach communities.

"The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury will issue guidance by January 15th to clarify that individuals who purchase OTC COVID-19 diagnostic tests will be able to seek reimbursement from their group health plan or health insurance issuer and have insurance cover the cost during the public health emergency," a fact sheet provided by the White House says.

The Biden administration will not be retroactively covering at-home tests for Americans who may already have spent hundreds of dollars on those tests.

These steps are part of Biden's winter plan to battle COVID-19, after the Delta variant and now the Omicron variant have disrupted his previous efforts to "shut down the virus."

Biden's plan also details steps the administration will take to increase access to vaccine boosters, open family clinics where children can get vaccinated, and tighten travel restrictions by requiring international travelers to test negative within one day of their departure to the United States, regardless of vaccination status.

"We will continue to act aggressively. We will continue to follow the science. We will continue to prepare for all scenarios and work day and night to protect the American people, keep our schools open, keep our economy growing, and get this pandemic behind us," the official said.

Asked about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's vaccine mandate, which was suspended pending further litigation after a court order, the official said Biden will urge businesses to comply with his vaccine mandate voluntarily.

"We’re asking businesses to step forward and do what’s right to protect their workers and to protect their communities, which is to put in place some sort of vaccination requirement or testing requirement for the workplace," the official said.

""We know they work and we think it’s in the best interest of public health."

The Biden administration also committed to making COVID-19 treatment pills "equitably accessible to all Americans, regardless of their income or their zip code," as soon as the FDA approves such treatments.

The FDA's Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee on Tuesday voted 13-10 to recommend emergency use authorization for Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics' COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir. If authorization is granted, it would be the first oral antiviral treatment to fight COVID-19 available in capsule form.

Texas sheriff says President Biden is releasing 'thousands' of illegal aliens into the US without COVID-19 tests



Sheriff A.J. Louderback of Jackson County, Texas, said this week that President Joe Biden is releasing illegal immigrants into the U.S. without first subjecting them to a COVID-19 test.

Louderback, who appeared Tuesday on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight," said that it was "absolutely true" that the Biden administration is engaging in such risky behaviors and "essentially" defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement via memo.

What are the details?

Carlson began his monologue by saying, "Tonight we learned that the Joe Biden administration is releasing thousands of foreign nationals living here illegally into American neighborhoods without bothering to test them for the coronavirus."

He then referred to a video clip featuring an exchange between White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Fox News reporter Kristin Fisher.

In the clip, Fisher can be heard asking Psaki, "What could be done to provide COVID testing to migrants at the border? Because right now, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is saying they're having to catch and release some migrants without giving them any kind of COVID test before they're entering the community. So what is being done? What could be done?"

Psaki responded, "Are you suggesting they're letting people in across the border without testing them? Or, tell me a little bit more about—"

Cutting Psaki off, Fisher continued, "They're being released, they're having to [release them] because of the executive order that the president signed earlier this week."

Clearly confused, Psaki responded, "Which executive [order]? Which one?"

'Releasing people without knowing' if they're infected

Carlson stopped the video and quipped, "Yeah, which one? COVID-infected illegal aliens released into the United States. Whatever. It's not like there's a pandemic. The press secretary didn't care enough to answer the question."

He then said that he'd spoken with Leon Wilmot, sheriff of Yuma County, Arizona, and Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, both of whom reportedly said that illegals were being released without testing.

"[W]e're releasing people without knowing [if they're infected], which puts the public at risk," Judd, along with Wilmot, told the show.

According to the Daily Mail, "Customs and Border Protection announced that some migrants were being released into the United States to await immigration hearings last week, but did not specify how many. The agency cited overflowing detainment facilities as the reason for the releases."

On Tuesday, the New York Times also reported that about 1,000 migrants were released in Texas, with hundreds more in California — but Customs and Border Protection said nothing about whether the released migrants were tested for COVID-19 before their release.

The Daily Mail notes that at least one facility in Laredo, Texas, reported being unable to administer COVID-19 tests because "they had run out."

'It's absolutely true'

Later inviting Louderback to speak, Carlson asked if such reports of were true.

Louderback responded, "It's absolutely true."

"[A] memo that I received this week, it's essentially a 'defunding ICE by memo' ... a memorandum that was sent out by [then-acting Homeland Security Secretary] David Pekoske on Jan. 20 or 21. So this is a particularly devastating document for Texans and Americans here in the United States. The message really has been sent, when I read it first and looked at it, it's a message to the world, you can come here illegally, you could commit crimes here against Americans and remain here illegally."

Carlson responded, "But of all things, the coronavirus, since Americans are now being told in the near future, we may not be allowed to fly on airplanes domestically without being proven free of the virus without a certificate that says we've been tested in our negative, how in a country like that, could we just forget to test illegal aliens for the virus before releasing them? Like how did that happen? Do you know?"

Louderback said he did not know how such a thing could happen, but he believes that it's not entirely unexpected.

"[W]e walked this path and from 2008 to 2016," he responded. "This program that was released by memorandum is very similar to the Priority Enforcement Program in 2014 and 2015, where people were able to commit crimes against Americans. The COVID issue conveniently overlooked during this time. So you know, I struggle for a thought process, like many Americans and Texans, on how the administration can conduct themselves in this manner, and promote a lawless attitude here where people are going to get hurt, seriously injured, killed, and people vowed to stay here, which is unbelievable. Yet here we sit with this situation."

Louderback said that this particular situation would, in his estimation, cause "irreparable harm."

"Every police officer in the United States should be extremely concerned about the attitude, the lawlessness, the complete abject removal of law," he added. "We have a nullification of the law here going on. It's not we're not gonna ... enforce anything, we're going to allow our CBP, our ICE officers, USCIS, all three were affected by this memo, which effectively guts the IMA."

He warned, "The public has no idea, the strength of a memorandum that's been filed here in the United States by this administration."

Texas sheriff claims Biden has 'defunded ICE by memorandum'www.youtube.com

(H/T: The Daily Wire)

Colleges threaten students who disobey COVID-19 rules with lockouts from Wi-Fi, school services — and even dismissal



Some American colleges are threatening students with severe sanctions if they disobey rules concerning COVID-19, including lockouts from campus Wi-Fi and school services — and even dismissal, Campus Reform reported.

What are the details?

University of Illinois students who disobey the school's recent "soft lockdown" are subject to loss of internet access and even dismissal, the Daily Illini reported.

"Please note that this semester, students who are out of compliance may also lose access to University Wi-Fi, Zoom, Compass and other technologies," Chancellor Robert Jones wrote in a recent Massmail, which was bolded and underlined, the paper said.

Campus Reform said it obtained the Jan. 20 message from Jones to students, telling them "I need to be very clear that students who do not follow all COVID-related expectations face university disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal."

The outlet noted that Boston University students who fail to get mandatory coronavirus tests after a first warning of noncompliance will have their Student ID Cards and Wi-Fi disabled. Scofflaw students also will be "prohibited from participating in any classroom or academic activity, either in person or remote, including the ability to access your courses through Blackboard or other platforms, or complete quizzes, examinations, and other course assignments," the school's website (in bold) reads.

Punishments for students at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, depend on how many COVID-19 tests they miss, Campus Reform said.

"After two instances of failing to complete a weekly test, you will not be allowed to participate in University or student organization activities (All University SING, athletic events, student organization events, campus recreation sports, access to the Student Life Center for recreation, etc.). After missing three testing appointments, your WIFI access will be disabled for the remainder of the semester," the school's website says, according to the outlet. "After four instances of failing to complete a weekly test, you will be referred to Student Conduct Administration for disciplinary action."

Baylor indicated that access to events and Wi-Fi are included in tuition, Campus Reform said — and outlet noted that the school didn't respond to questions regarding if students are eligible for refunds if their access is revoked.

Campus Reform said it also reached out to the University of Illinois and Boston University but did not hear back from them in time for publication.

What did one student have to say?

Charlie Letts, a Baylor student, told Campus Reform his school's punishments are "a little extreme."

"Honestly, I find the punishments put in place by Baylor to be a little extreme," he told the outlet. "The Wi-Fi is something students pay for, and they need in order to be successful as students. I realize that Baylor is trying to enforce the testing protocol, but taking something away that hinders being a productive student maybe isn't the best option. Especially when everyone has different views about COVID, like how compliant to be with social distancing, mask wearing, etc."