Sen. Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsMedia circles wagons for conspiracy theorist Neera Tanden Why the ‘Never-Trumpers’ flopped Republicans see Becerra as next target in confirmation wars MORE (R-Maine) urged the Biden administration to revisit an order on U.S.-Canadian border restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a Feb. 16 letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro MayorkasAlejandro MayorkasFlorida Republicans push Biden to implement Trump order on Venezuela Hillicon Valley: Privacy, immigrant rights groups slam ‘smart wall’ proposal | New DHS policies aim to fight cyber ‘epidemic’ | Twitter exploring allowing users to charge for content The Memo: Biden faces first major setback as Tanden teeters MORE, Collins said she hoped they could work to an “equitable solution” for communities along the U.S.-Canadian border that takes into account localized risk levels.
Collins publicly released the letter on Thursday.
“Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, strict travel restrictions at land ports of entry between the United States and Canada have been in effect for nearly one calendar year,” Collins wrote.
“While I appreciate the need to limit nonessential travel into the United States in order to prevent further spread of COVID-19, these restrictions should reflect the localized risk levels along our border, and allow for certain common-sense exceptions, such as visits among close relatives or day-to-day local commerce in low-COVID-19 transmission areas,” she continued.
The letter comes after DHS tweeted on Feb. 19 that the U.S., Canada and Mexico are extending restrictions on nonessential travel at their land borders through March 21, which would keep the restrictions in place for exactly one year.
To protect our citizens and prevent the further spread of COVID-19, the United States, Canada, and Mexico are extending the restrictions on non-essential travel at our land borders through March 21. We are also working to ensure essential trade and travel remain open.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) February 19, 2021
The restrictions were first agreed to last March but have been repeatedly extended over the course of 2020 as the pandemic accelerated and persisted.
Under current restrictions, Canadian citizens, Americans with dual citizenship, and family members and partners can cross for nonessential purposes, The Associated Press reported.
When asked about the irregular methods Humboldt County people are using to get vaccine — showing up at a hospital and waiting in line without an appointment, for example, or scoring a dubious appointment through a friend — Dr. Ian Hoffman, Humboldt County’s health officer, said that Public Health is not in the business of policing whether or not local providers are following his own guidelines about who should be vaccinated at this stage of the pandemic and who should not yet be.
“Certainly some individuals are going to extreme measures to get vaccinated out of order,” Hoffman said. “We’ve said often that’s we’re not going to try to police that to a degree that slows down this process.”
That, plus questions on variants, the county’s new vaccination statistics, the return of sports, and opening up to people with co-morbidities — we still don’t have enough supply for that, Hoffman says — in today’s media availability.
Video above, rough transcript below.
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From the Times-Standard: The number of total doses administered is 26,789 on the county’s
dashboard but the number of individuals fully and partially partially vaccinated only adds
up to 19,415. Can you explain the discrepancy?
Sure, we’ve put on a dashboard that the number of individuals who are either partially or
fully vaccinated.
So if you take the individuals who are fully vaccinated, they receive two doses, so you’d
have to multiply that number by two and add the two numbers together, you’ll come up with
the full number.
From the Times-Standard: Does the county know if any residents of skilled nursing facilities
still need to be vaccinated?
Yeah, the skilled nursing facilities have mostly gone through the first two rounds of the partnership,
the CDC partnership, the third round for many of them are coming up this week, so that will
be their last visit, so there are some folks who are going to get their first shot in that
last visit, and then we’re working with the skilled nursing facilities and long-term care
facilities for a long-term plan of continuing to vaccinate any new residents who come in
and need to be vaccinated.
From the Times-Standard: Is the county making any safety recommendations for spectators
and outdoor prep sports events now that team sports have been allowed to resume?
So spectators are not allowed at any events for youth or adults.
What is allowed for the youth sports are age appropriate supervision, so an adult or potentially
multiple adults depending on the situation and the age, who could be there obviously
to supervise the the youth, but also transport them, be there in case of an injury something
like that, so we’re working closely with HCOE and Humboldt-Del Norte League to you know
define what that age appropriate supervision is and also I’m looking for clarification
from CDPH for more specifics on that.
From the Times-Standard: With athletes in high contact sports required to be tested
for COVID-19 weekly, is the county helping schools or HDNL participants acquire testing
kits?
Which agencies are responsible for acquiring testing kits for high schools and their athletes?
So we’ve been working closely with HCOE for testing in the schools and that testing can
also be extended to athletes at those schools.
There are also potentials for athletes to get tested through Optum site at Redwood Acres,
they could go to their private physician and there are two different types of tests that
can be offered.
There’s the PCR test, we’re also working with HCOE to implement antigen testing for schools
and then potentially for athletes as well.
From the Times-Standard: How long have HSU athletics and the county been planning for
their return to competition? How did HSU and the county collaborate on developing the athletic department’s return
to participation process?
So collegiate athletics is governed by NCAA and they have a set of regulations similar
to the way CDPH has put forth regulations for youth and adult recreational sports, so
HSU has you know reviewed those and submitted a plan to Public Health for our review and
we collaborated and discussed those and so it’s been a collaborative process.
From the Times-Standard: Is the county helping HSU obtain testing kits for its frequent testing
requirements?
Yes we are supporting HSU in their testing.
From the Times-Standard: The dashboard currently states 3,151 is the total number of Humboldt
County residents who have tested positive for the virus. Are there any residents who have contracted COVID-19 more than once?
We’re not aware of anyone who’s contracted COVID more than once in Humboldt County.
There are very rare cases of this across the the globe.
There are a few people who’ve tested positive twice within a 90-day period but didn’t have
a re-infection and those are removed from the count.
From reporter Daniel Mintz: How likely do you think it is that the variant with the
L452R mutation will be categorized as a variant of concern?
I think more studies needed to determine that and so currently it remains as a variant of
interest.
From reporter Daniel Mintz: What is the scale of testing at this point?
We definitely know testing’s down both here in Humboldt County and statewide.
We have the capacity to test much much more, so continue to encourage people to get tested
and utilize that testing ability so that we can you know stay safe and hopefully continue
to stay in less restrictive tiers.
From the Redwood News: You’ve mentioned before that the next group eligible for a COVID-19
vaccine includes food and agriculture workers. Can you go into detail about who exactly falls into this category locally?
Does this include grocery store workers, restaurant workers? Also are you able to give the community any update on when that phase is expected to open up?
So yes, all those people mentioned fall into the food and agriculture workers, it also
includes the production side, so people who produce food you know both on a farm or in
a warehouse, large scale kitchens, there’s a huge, it runs the gamut.
I think that just like every phase that we’ve opened and how we open it, it will depend
entirely on the amount of vaccine that we have, so we’re hopeful that with Johnson and
Johnson coming in the coming weeks that we could see an expansion of the number of vaccines
that we’re getting each week.
We also know that the federal government has continued to promise to send more.
It looks like that is actually starting to happen in the next few weeks, so when we have
enough vaccine we’ll open up to more tiers.
From the Redwood News: The state has released guidance about opening up vaccine eligibility
to people 16 to 64 years old with certain medical conditions starting March 15th.
How exactly will this guidance be implemented locally? Does the county have enough supply or anticipate having enough supply to open up vaccinations to this larger group of people starting on that date?
I think it’s unlikely that we will have enough to cover everyone by the middle of March,
so it’ll be you know how it’s continued to be, which is when we open up to one group
we, you know, understand that there will be a waiting period for for some of those people.
But as it’s been the whole time we have to you know sort of time these openings so that
we don’t have too small of an eligibility pool, that we have vaccine appointments that
go unfilled, and and balance that with you know keeping the field broad enough that those
people can get, or sorry, narrow enough that those people can get an appointment.
As far as how it’s gonna work um we have been in discussions with the medical groups around
Humboldt County and for people who have medical conditions it’s you know most likely that
we’ll be working with medical providers to have them call those patients in based on
their medical records and doing outreach and then have some sort of referral system to
allow for people who don’t have access to a vaccination site through their primary care
provider or who don’t have insurance or or don’t have a primary primary care provider
here in Humboldt County to be able to be referred to a vaccination site.
From the Redwood News: CDPH has indicated they’ll be shifting to an age-based vaccination
plan after Phase 1B Tier 1. What does this shift or change mean for Humboldt County’s vaccination plan moving forward?
Are there or will there be any impacts on Phase 1B that is currently open?
There shouldn’t be any impacts on Phase 1B.
We’re going to continue to finish that off and you know in terms of what the shift means
it really means that after those occupations in Phase 1B, that everyone will be going through
the line based on their age and those will open up, we’re being told statewide, all at
the same time.
So that’s what we anticipate and we’ll be looking forward to.
From the North Coast News: A viewer messaged us recently concerned about cancelled vaccine
clinics due to vaccine shipments delayed by inclement weather.
Have all the people scheduled for those clinics been contacted to register for another clinic?
Has anyone missed their second dose of the vaccine due to those cancellations?
So Public Health has reached out to everyone who had their Public Health clinics cancelled
due to this delay.
We do recognize that some people were delayed in getting that second dose on time, but it
should still fall within the realm of acceptable based on the CDC guidelines.
From the North Coast News: Where does the county currently stand on allowing organized
youth and adult sports? Will the county be following the guidance issued by the CDPH or will you be setting
more strict requirements?
We are following the CDPH guidance that was set out last Friday and goes into effect tomorrow
and I would think that it’s really solid guidance and look forward to seeing youth and adult
sports getting back into action.
From the North Coast News: Where is the county currently at in terms of vaccinating the local
homeless population? What outreach if any has the county employed to contact elderly members of the homeless
population who may not be aware of their eligibility status?
We’ve been in planning meetings with homeless advocacy organizations to address these communities.
We have plans in place to begin vaccination of you know age-appropriate individuals in
that population and also working to you know try to vaccinate more broadly in the homeless
population once vaccine becomes more available.
From the North Coast News: Has Public Health considered prioritizing vulnerable populations
more at risk for contracting the virus like those experiencing homelessness and incarcerated
people, or will people in those groups have to wait until their age group is prioritized?
So incarcerated individuals are those who are in prison, are handled by the state Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The staff who work in our local jails have been vaccinated, we have been in talks with
the jails about a potential vaccination plan for that population and I think this group
is definitely vulnerable and we recognize that and we want to vaccinate them, you know
we are just waiting for more vaccine to make that happen.
From the Lost Coast Outpost: By this point many or most people in Humboldt have heard
several first-hand stories of friends and neighbors getting the vaccine through unofficial
channels, for example by showing up and waiting in line at a clinic or hospital or be by being
put on a waitlist for extra doses through friends who work at such places.
Many people acquiring the vaccine in this way are not over 70 or over 65 and they’re
not employed in healthcare or education or emergency services this happens often enough
that some people believe that there are loopholes in the county’s guidelines and that if you
can put in time and effort or if you know someone you can get vaccinated now even if
your tier is not up. Can you convince them that this is not the case?
We are in the business of getting people vaccinated and so we are trying to do that in an orderly
fashion and as quickly and seamlessly as possible with the focus on the right populations at
the right time.
Certainly some individuals are going to extreme measures to get vaccinated out of order.
We’ve said often that’s we’re not going to try to police that to a degree that slows
down this process.
We encourage individuals and groups of individuals to follow this process and I think it’ll you
know go much more smoothly and we, you know we hope to be able to open up more broadly
to to other groups in the near future and we’ll continue to do so as vaccine allows.
From the Redheaded Blackbelt: Earlier this month Humboldt County announced that they
would begin reporting the number of antigen test results each weekday on the dashboard.
The number reported has remained at 13 for some time now. Are antigen tests not being used, or are there no positives, or is the dashboard not being updated?
The dashboard continues to get updated on a daily basis.
For a while there have not been any positive antigen tests, which is not surprising given
the drop in the test positivity rate, I do think they’re still being used, I know they’re
being used in many settings, so we’ll we’ll continue to watch that and I think you know
going forward the other things they might be used more often say in schools or other
surveillance settings, with the the sports leagues that are starting up, so we might
see that go up but again it’s because of the decrease in test positivity overall that we’re
seeing that number go down.
LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke Wednesday about the handling of COVID-19 in Michigan, including the chance that the state will be reopened further in the next few days and why the current MDHHS order was extended so quietly without an announcement.
She was joined by Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist.
Here are our takeaways from the briefing:
Whitmer was asked Wednesday about the state’s quiet extension of the previous MDHHS order, which was previously scheduled to expire March 21. It is now in effect until March 29, and the state didn’t make its usual public announcement.
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“Was that done on purpose to keep that more quiet, and then do you understand how some people have issues with transparency with that?” Whitmer was asked.
“I was a little surprised by the reaction, to tell you the truth,” Whitmer said. “Anyone who’s just even casually watched over the last 12 months knows we have a tendency to have about a three-week cadence. We make a change, see how it’s going, watch the data, report on the data, make changes along the way. But usually, three weeks or longer increments, and that’s no different in this case.
“So frankly, I was a little bit surprised by the kind of characterization of it. We’ve been very open. We’ve been sharing data every step of the way. There are a lot of reasons to feel very positive right now. The variant is not a good reason to feel positive, with being the second-most variants in the country right now, in terms of the B117, in terms of the sheer number of cases.”
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“But, you know, we still are seeing low positivity numbers and high vaccination rates, so it’s generally headed in the right direction and if you think about that timeline, it would probably conclude justifiably that in the coming days we will be assessing and making more determinations on a number of fronts.”
Whitmer said the state is planning to re-engage more of the economy soon.
“We’re expecting to make more announcements on additional re-engagements in the coming days,” Whitmer said. “Our case numbers and public health metrics are trending in the right direction, and we’re very pleased to see that.”
Michigan has been under an MDHHS order that began with a “pause” in mid-November. Since then, the state has reopened little by little as the order was extended and adjusted.
Right now, there are restrictions on gatherings, entertainment facilities, restaurants and much more. The current rules limiting in-person dining at restaurants and forcing them to close by are in place until March 29.
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“I’m feeling very optimistic,” Whitmer said. “Let’s keep it up.”
Are restaurant restrictions among those that could be changed in the upcoming days, or are they destined to stay the same until March 29?
Whitmer said she has heard from restaurant owners who want to increase capacity to 50% because they think that it can be done safely.
“I’m hopeful that eventually we get to that point,” Whitmer said. “But at this juncture, we’ve been at it just a couple of weeks. We’ve got to keep watching the data. We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got antigen tests that are available.”
She said her hope is that if the Legislature can get moving on the Michigan COVID Recovery plan money, the state can move toward more normalcy.
Khaldun offered another update to the state’s most critical COVID-19 metrics, which have been improving significantly over the past couple of months.
“We continue, as the governor said, to see positive trends in the key metrics that we are tracking for COVID-19,” Khaldun said.
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Michigan’s case rate is at 95 cases per million people — a number that has been declining for six weeks. This is the first time since the fall peak that the state’s case rate has dropped below 100 cases per million population.
The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive in Michigan is down to 3.5%.
Right now, 4.9% of available inpatient hospital beds statewide are being used to take care of people with COVID-19, Khaldun said. That percentage continues to decline.
“Our case counts and positivity rates remain among the lowest in the country,” Whitmer said.
Last week, Michigan reported a case rate of 113 per million, 3.9% positivity and a 5.2% hospitalization rate.
“While we are pleased with these metrics, I am concerned that our testing numbers are declining across the state,” Khaldun said. “The weekly average across the state last week was about 35,500 tests per days. In November, we saw several days that were above 60,000 tests per day.”
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She said testing is still important in the fight against COVID-19 because it’s the only way to track the spread of the virus and slow it down.
“Testing is an important tool for us to be able to reopen critical parts of our society,” Khaldun said.
Michigan has now identified 314 cases of the B117 variant across 19 counties, Khaldun said.
Last Wednesday, Michigan had confirmed 157 cases of the variant across 12 counties.
“There are possibly more than we have not yet identified,” Khaldun said. “Models and national experts predict that this new variant could be the dominant one in the United States by the end of March.”
The first cases of the variant found in the state were within the University of Michigan athletic department. At that time, cases of the variant were contained to Washtenaw and Wayne counties, but now B117 has been confirmed in residents not connected to that situation.
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That suggests community spread of the variant, Khaldun said.
Though it isn’t believed to cause more serious cases or affect approved vaccines, the B117 variant is known to be more contagious than the original COVID strand. Officials are worried it will cause a spike in overall cases and therefore spark a rise in Michigan’s metrics.
“The good news is, the same basic public health measures that we’ve been talking about — masks, social distancing, washing hands and getting a vaccine when it is your turn — those things slow the spread of the new variants, as well,” Khaldun said.
Last week, Whitmer said Michigan had administered 1,657,215 vaccines. On Wednesday, seven days later, that number has risen to 1,942,759, the governor said.
Michigan is ninth nationwide for total vaccines administered, she said.
“Our target remains equitably distributing at least 50,000 shots per day — a metric that we have met for 13 days, including five days where we were above 60,000 doses,” Whitmer said.
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As of now, several groups of frontline workers, including pre-K through 12 educators and all Michiganders over age 65, are eligible for the vaccine.
Khaldun said about 15.5% of Michiganders over the age of 16 have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Almost 675,000 people in the state are fully vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine, she said.
About 41% of Michiganders over the age of 75 have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Khaldun.
“This is great progress toward our goal of vaccinating at least 70% of Michiganders age 16 and up as quickly as possible,” Khaldun said.
Over the weekend, the national death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 500,000 people.
“It’s staggering,” Whitmer said. “It matches the loss of life felt during World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam combined.”
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In Michigan, more than 15,000 people have died due to COVID-related issues since the start of the pandemic, according to the state.
“We’ve lost over 15,000 Michiganders to COVID-19,” Whitmer said. “If we took one minute of silence to recognize each life, it would last 10 days, 16 hours and two minutes of silence.”
Whitmer again spent some time urging Michigan Legislatures to pass her proposed COVID Recovery plan.
“It spends over $5 billion that has already been appropriated to us in a bipartisan bill that was signed by Donald Trump in December,” Whitmer said. “If the Legislature does not act, the $2 per hour wage increase for direct care workers will expire this Sunday.”
She said the plan includes $1.7 billion to help Michigan schools meet the state’s March 1 goal for returning to in-person classes.
The governor has made a similar plea to the Legislature during briefings for several weeks. She said legislators need to “do their job” and pass the plan so Michigan can purchase more critical Binax antigen tests.
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“The urgency to pass this plan couldn’t be higher,” Whitmer said.
It’s been seven weeks since Whitmer encouraged all Michigan school districts to have an in-person learning option in place by the beginning of March.
“As of today, 83% of school districts are currently back in person, according to a report from our research partners at EPIC, and 97% of school districts will be back in-person in one way or another by March 1,” Whitmer said.
The governor provided the following reasons for why she believes returning to school is the right decision:
Schools are cornerstones of healthy, vibrant communities.
A school environment provides social and emotional skills that are foundational to development. Those traits are difficult to develop without peer-to-peer interaction.
Face-to-face instruction is critical to learning. A significant loss of classroom time has long-term consequences on a child’s long-term development.
Tens of thousands of vulnerable children in Michigan are in risk of falling through the cracks, unless concerted efforts are made to catch them up.
Disheartening impacts on children’s mental and physical health since their lives were “upended” in March.
Anxiety and depression rates are up, according to the CDC.
Child immunization rates are down, according to the CDC.
Schools are often the first place that children receive a vision and hearing screening to address basic barriers to learning. Both services have been on pause during in-person learning.
Staff who are trained to detect and address child abuse and neglect are unable to do so remotely.
Without schools, the economy is hamstrung. Working families have been spread too thin over the past year, often taking on the roles of parent, teacher and employee at the same time. Parents rely on schools as places for their children to learn while they’re working inside and outside their homes.
Some parents — especially women — have had to step away from workforce to care for their children and aid remote learning.
Massive job losses amidst the economic downturn have forced 2.4 million women — disproportionately women of color — out of the workforce since last February.
Transitioning to remote learning has exacerbated equity gaps statewide that officials have been working to narrow. Students who are economically disadvantaged, require special education, experience housing insecurity or are learning English as a second language need in-person learning opportunities more than others, Whitmer said.
Michigan schools have the infrastructure to deliver the required services and be the best place for children to learn and grow.
With proper precautions and the right resources, the risk of spreading COVID-19 in schools can be mitigated.
Studies suggest younger children are not a major source of COVID transmission to peers or adults.
Michigan State University researchers found there is not a correlation between schools being open and community spread of the virus.
Michigan has seen few large outbreaks in pre-K-12 schools and very little evidence of outbreaks due to in-person learning.
Over the course of the pandemic, the state has learned more about the virus and has adjusted accordingly to lower the risk of spread.
Medical experts have created a set of “best practices” for schools to follow to prevent infection and minimize the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. Wearing masks, socially distancing and washing hands are among the precautions.
In talking about in-person learning, Whitmer described “three pillars of public health.”
1. Universal masking:
“Face masks must be worn indoors by all staff and students 5 and up, except for meals and other limited circumstances,” Whitmer said.
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2. Social distancing:
“Classrooms should be adjusted and arranged to space students out to follow social distancing protocols,” Whitmer said.
In addition to separating desks, school districts are encouraged to use all of their available space, including gyms, cafeterias and multi-purpose rooms to return to in-person learning.
3. Hand hygiene:
Schools should provide students and staff members with soap, paper towels, tissues, signage to reinforce hand washing and hand sanitizer that’s at least 60% alcohol, Whitmer said.
Other safety guidelines:
Designate a staff person to be the point for responding to COVID-19 concerns.
Implement a cohort model, dividing teachers and students into distinct groups that stay together throughout the entire day.
Maintain air flow. — Open windows, use fans and change air filters more often.
Upgrade heating and cooling systems.
Secure the water supply. Steps must be taken after a long shutdown to minimize the risk of lead or copper exposure.
Adhere to testing, screening and quarantining criteria. Anyone who tests positive, exhibits symptoms or has been exposed to someone who tests positive should follow guidance set forth by health officials.
Whitmer was asked whether the state is considering changes to ease nursing home visitation regulations to allow residents to visit their loved ones more easily.
She said the state is considering to follow the science and the data.
“We’re looking very closely at the trend lines,” Whitmer said. “We have seen, really, Michigan move into a much stronger position.
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“We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to announce additional aspects of re-engagement on that particular front — hopefully as soon as next week,” Whitmer said.
Since so many people are getting vaccinated and the state’s COVID-19 metrics are improving, is the state of Michigan considering lifting or lightening the restrictions on household gatherings?
“As we are determining next steps, this is part of the conversation that we’re having,” Whitmer said. “One of the things, though, that I caution, is we know one of the biggest places of spread this fall were in homes. They were gatherings that were happening, where people were dropping their guard.”
She said if the state takes a step toward allowing more gatherings, that step will be incremental. That’s to avoid a major spike in cases, she said.
“Every step we’ve taken has been incremental,” Whitmer said. “Like we’ve said, it’s a dial, not a light switch.”
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Gatherings restrictions are among the components that could be updated in the coming days, she said.
Copyright 2021 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
to ensure there is accountability and the administration of vaccines effective today, I have ordered vaccine providers to administer at least 80% off the first doses of vaccine they receive within seven days of delivery. I want to emphasize that this applies to first doses the Commonwealth has prioritized ensuring second doses in Pennsylvania are secure. Once the first dose is administered, vaccine providers should be making that second dose appointment when they administer the first dose. Next. If vaccine providers failed to comply with the terms of the order they may temporarily have, their allocation of first dose is reduced. This includes vaccinating people within the phase designated by the Commonwealth and timely reporting responsibilities. We also are narrowing the provider network to get the vaccine to those providers that have demonstrated they have the ability to vaccinate the most people quickly. This means that some providers will not get us many first doses of vaccine, as they have in the past. However, this is the most efficient way to get people vaccinated quickly so we can resume some activities as a community. Pennsylvanians have rightly demanded easier access to appointments, and vaccine providers agree that allowing them to use their systems to schedule appointments for their locations works best, however, using strictly online systems or phone systems that point you to the online system have left out many, including seniors who may not be tech savvy or have access to the Internet. Vaccine providers can and must make sure that if they are scheduling appointments, that they make those appointments accessible to all who are eligible. Effective February 19th, vaccine providers must offer appointment scheduling to everyone eligible and phase one A both online and through phone systems that are answered by a person to assist in the scheduling. It is essential that in the process of getting vaccine doses administered as quickly as possible, we’re still able to collect vital data in terms of the number of doses administered and who is getting them in the order I signed today, vaccine providers are reminded of their obligation to report to the department vaccine administrations within 24 hours. We need to know not only how much vaccine has been delivered, but accurately understand how much has been administered. We also need to collect race and ethnicity data to ensure that vulnerable communities and communities of color are being vaccinated. It is our collective responsibility toe work together to slow the spread of Kobe. 19 vaccine providers are the key to making sure that we can recover as a commonwealth, and as a nation, they have done a tremendous job administering more than 1.5 million doses of vaccine in record time. With limited resource is, however, there is a structure in place to save lives, and vaccine providers must follow these plans. We continue to work to make sure the limited supply of vaccine is administered equitably and quickly. There is not enough vaccine for everyone who can get it right now. But there will be. And we’re working to get us much vaccine as we can into the arms of Pennsylvanians, and we will continue to do more. In the meantime, we must mask up, wash up and social distance to save lives.
Pennsylvania orders vaccine providers to speed up
Pennsylvania health secretary issues COVID-19 vaccine order for all providers in state
Updated: 5:06 PM EST Feb 12, 2021
After weeks of complaints about Pennsylvania’s halting COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the state Health Department on Friday ordered vaccine providers to get shots into arms more quickly, offer more convenient scheduling and make sure that shots are only going to people currently eligible to receive them.Pa. health secretary issues vaccine order: Click the video player above to watch.Under the order from Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam, providers must administer at least 80% of their allotment of first doses of vaccine within a week of getting them and offer live telephone operators to assist people who can’t schedule their appointments online.Providers must also adhere to the state’s phased rollout, which currently limits the vaccine to health providers, nursing home residents, people age 65 and older and younger people with serious medical conditions.Providers that don’t abide by the order will have their weekly allocations reduced or suspended.The Health Department said it was taking action in an effort to speed up the vaccine rollout and in response to widespread frustrations among Pennsylvania residents about how difficult it can be to secure an appointment. The state ranks poorly among the states in the number of shots given per 100,000 people, and in the percentage of allocated vaccine doses that have been administered.More than 4 million people are currently eligible to get one of the two approved vaccines. Nearly 1.2 million people have received at least one dose.(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)Watch the full video of the Health Department’s news conference below.Below are the updated requirements for vaccine providers, as announced by acting Health Secretary Alison Beam.At a minimum, vaccine providers must administer 80% of their first doses of vaccine received within seven days of receipt of those doses.Vaccine providers must follow all requirements and recommendations in the COVID-19 Interim Vaccination Plan.Vaccine providers must adhere to the current phase of Pennsylvania’s vaccine rollout, as defined by the department.Vaccine providers giving a two-dose vaccine shall provide the COVID-19 vaccine reminder card with a date for a return appointment for the second dose of vaccine.Vaccine providers giving a two-dose vaccine must make every appropriate effort to ensure available appointments for second doses, including, but not limited to, designating appointment times for second doses or scheduling second doses at the time of first dose administration, or both.Vaccine providers must have both an online and a phone-based registration system for direct appointment scheduling. Information on these systems must be made available to the department so it can be posted online.Vaccine providers must report the following:- Vaccinations and the information required by the Order Requiring Reporting of Data Related to Each Administration of an Immunization for COVID-19, dated Dec. 15, 2020, on each vaccine administered, including race and ethnicity of the recipient, whether or not the recipient is connected to the vaccine provider.- Within 24 hours of receipt of inventory or administration of a vaccine, vaccine providers shall report: __ Receipt of shipments of COVID-19 immunization inventory; __ Reduction in inventory levels as vaccines are administered; and __ Reconciliation of inventory levels.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) —
After weeks of complaints about Pennsylvania’s halting COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the state Health Department on Friday ordered vaccine providers to get shots into arms more quickly, offer more convenient scheduling and make sure that shots are only going to people currently eligible to receive them.
Pa. health secretary issues vaccine order: Click the video player above to watch.
Under the order from Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam, providers must administer at least 80% of their allotment of first doses of vaccine within a week of getting them and offer live telephone operators to assist people who can’t schedule their appointments online.
Providers must also adhere to the state’s phased rollout, which currently limits the vaccine to health providers, nursing home residents, people age 65 and older and younger people with serious medical conditions.
Providers that don’t abide by the order will have their weekly allocations reduced or suspended.
The Health Department said it was taking action in an effort to speed up the vaccine rollout and in response to widespread frustrations among Pennsylvania residents about how difficult it can be to secure an appointment. The state ranks poorly among the states in the number of shots given per 100,000 people, and in the percentage of allocated vaccine doses that have been administered.
More than 4 million people are currently eligible to get one of the two approved vaccines. Nearly 1.2 million people have received at least one dose.
(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)
Watch the full video of the Health Department’s news conference below.
Below are the updated requirements for vaccine providers, as announced by acting Health Secretary Alison Beam.
At a minimum, vaccine providers must administer 80% of their first doses of vaccine received within seven days of receipt of those doses.
Vaccine providers must follow all requirements and recommendations in the COVID-19 Interim Vaccination Plan.
Vaccine providers must adhere to the current phase of Pennsylvania’s vaccine rollout, as defined by the department.
Vaccine providers giving a two-dose vaccine shall provide the COVID-19 vaccine reminder card with a date for a return appointment for the second dose of vaccine.
Vaccine providers giving a two-dose vaccine must make every appropriate effort to ensure available appointments for second doses, including, but not limited to, designating appointment times for second doses or scheduling second doses at the time of first dose administration, or both.
Vaccine providers must have both an online and a phone-based registration system for direct appointment scheduling. Information on these systems must be made available to the department so it can be posted online.
Vaccine providers must report the following: – Vaccinations and the information required by the Order Requiring Reporting of Data Related to Each Administration of an Immunization for COVID-19, dated Dec. 15, 2020, on each vaccine administered, including race and ethnicity of the recipient, whether or not the recipient is connected to the vaccine provider. – Within 24 hours of receipt of inventory or administration of a vaccine, vaccine providers shall report: __ Receipt of shipments of COVID-19 immunization inventory; __ Reduction in inventory levels as vaccines are administered; and __ Reconciliation of inventory levels.
A probate judge on Thursday overruled Jamie Spears’ objections to an order establishing Bessemer Trust Co. as a co-conservator of daughter Britney Spears’ estate.
Judge Brenda Penny appointed Bessemer as co-conservator along with Jamie Spears on Nov. 10. At the same time, Penny also denied Spears’ request to remove her father entirely from the conservatorship.
Subsequently, Britney Spears’ attorney, Samuel Ingham, submitted a proposed order effectuating the co-conservatorship. Jamie Spears’ attorney objected to the language of the proposed order, saying it improperly reduced his powers over his daughter’s estate. The judge denied those objections.
Addressing the court on Thursday, Ingham said the purpose of the order was to give both Jamie Spears and Bessemer “an equal division of responsibility, in the hopes that they would sit down and figure out together the best way to handle this complex estate for the benefit of my client.”
“It’s no secret that my client does not want her father as co-conservator, but we recognize that removal is a separate issue,” Ingham said.
Ingham has separately indicated that he may seek to revisit his request to remove Jamie Spears entirely, but he did not do so on Thursday.
The hearing comes a week after the release of “Framing Britney Spears,” a New York Times documentary on Hulu and FX that scrutinizes the conservatorship. The documentary features #FreeBritney activists who say the probate court has kept Spears under legal restraints against her will.
As has happened at earlier hearings, a couple of #FreeBritney activists appeared with posters outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles. The #FreeBritney group also hosted a Zoom gathering during the hearing to discuss the case.
Ingham said Bessemer and Jamie Spears should next arrange together to come up with a budget and an investment plan for Spears’ estate.
The court is expected to hold additional hearings on March 17 and April 27.
The Twitter App loads on an iPhone in this illustration photograph taken in Los Angeles, California.
Mike Blake | Reuters
India rebuked Twitter for not promptly complying with government orders to take down certain content and warned the social media giant that it must follow local laws to operate in the country.
Ajay Sawhney, secretary for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, virtually met with Twitter’s vice president for global public policy, Monique Meche, and deputy general counsel, Jim Baker, on Wednesday.
“Secretary expressed his deep disappointment to Twitter leadership about the manner in which Twitter has unwillingly, grudgingly and with great delay complied with the substantial parts of the order,” the government said in a statement after the meeting.
India ordered Twitter to remove more than 1,100 accounts and posts that it alleges are spreading misinformation about farmers protesting against new agricultural reforms, Reuters reported.
Last month, reports said that protesters clashed with authorities, resulting in hundreds of injuries and one death. Local media reported that authorities have filed charges against journalists and a high-profile opposition MP for tweets about the death but their arrests have been stayed, for now, by the Supreme Court.
(Secretary Sawhney) took this opportunity to remind Twitter that in India, its Constitution and laws are supreme.
Government of India statement
In a public blog post before the Wednesday meeting, Twitter said it only partially complied with the orders. Last week, the social media site temporarily blocked some of the accounts at the government’s behest but said it subsequently restored access “in a manner that we believe was consistent with Indian law.”
The government’s statement said that New Delhi considers the hashtag on “farmer genocide” to be incendiary and baseless, alleging that it was being used to spread misinformation about the protests.
It also characterized some of the accounts that it wants taken down as being “supported by Khalistan sympathizers and backed by Pakistan.” The government did not provide specific evidence for those claims in its statement.
“(Secretary Sawhney) took this opportunity to remind Twitter that in India, its Constitution and laws are supreme. It is expected that responsible entities not only reaffirm but remain committed to compliance to the law of land,” the statement added.
Twitter in its blog post explained it took steps to reduce the visibility of hashtags containing harmful content and suspended more than 500 accounts that were engaging in “clear examples of platform manipulation and spam.”
Other accounts identified in the government’s blocking orders are unavailable in the country but can be accessed from outside India. The company added that it does not believe the actions it was directed to take are consistent with Indian law and refused to restrict the accounts of journalists, activists and politicians.
“In keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression, we have not taken any action on accounts that consist of news media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians,” Twitter said in the blog post, adding, “To do so, we believe, would violate their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law.”
The IT ministry secretary told Twitter that it is welcomed to do business in India but it must still follow Indian laws irrespective of the social media company’s own rules and guidelines, according to the government statement.
India is Twitter’s third-largest market behind the U.S. and Japan and has more than 17 million users there as of January, according to German data firm Statista.
The current face-off against the government puts the U.S. company in a bind where it has to juggle between advocating for the right of free expression of its users and complying with local laws. Reuters reported that Twitter’s top lobbyist in India, Mahima Kaul, has resigned as the company grapples with its growing public relations crisis.
Indian government officials on the other hand are promoting a home-grown Twitter alternative called Koo App and local media reported a surge in users on that site. The IT ministry promoted its own account on the new platform on Twitter.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is taking on right-wing extremism in the military, ordering all commanding officers and supervisors to issue a one-day stand-down order, to address extremism in the ranks.
In a Friday memo, Austin granted a 60-day window for military leaders to discuss “the importance of our oath of office; a description of impermissible behaviors; and procedures for reporting suspected, or actual, extremist behaviors,” following reports that some of the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 were active duty service members and military veterans.
“We will not tolerate actions that go against the fundamental principles of the oath we share, including actions associated with extremist or dissident ideologies,” the memo signed by Austin read. “Service members, DoD civilian employees, and all those who support our mission, deserve an environment free of discrimination, hate, and harassment.”
The stand-down order was first announced by the Pentagon Wednesday, when Austin noted that though the number of individual service members involved in the attack was “small”, they were “not as small as anyone would like,” reported the Department of Defense.
The department has not released information on how many active military service members are believed to have been present at the Jan. 6 riot, but Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said during a Wednesday press conference, “No matter what it is, it is … not an insignificant problem and has to be addressed.”
The secretary of defense said this order is just the first in a greater strategy to better understand the scope of extremism in the military and to “develop sustainable ways to eliminate the corrosive effects that extremist ideology and conduct have on the workforce.”
Kirby said that fight against extremism is a “thorny problem” that the military has fought against in the past.
A 2019 Military Times poll found that 36 percent of its active-duty poll takers had personally witnessed “evidence of white supremacist and racist ideologies in the military” – a figure that jump from 22 percent of poll takers in 2018.
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Austin is the first Black Secretary of Defense and is expected to lead the charge in what the Pentagon has said must be a leadership down approach.
“We owe it to the oath we each took and the trust the American people have in our institution,” he wrote in the memo.
President Biden joked around when a reporter asked about his first phone call with Vladimir Putin.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — After Joe Biden signed another raft of executive orders Tuesday, a reporter deviated from the day’s theme – racial equity – to ask the president what he talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin about earlier in the day.
“You,” Biden replied with a smile as he walked away from a desk in the White House State Dining Room. “He sends his best.”
The exchange offered a rare off-script moment during the first days of Biden’s administration that have brought rigid scheduling and routine back to the White House after four years of unpredictability under former President Donald Trump.
While Trump was known to keep adversaries, reporters and even allies on edge into the wee hours of the night – all wondering when the next tweet might come and what it might say – Biden has returned the White House to a schedule that resembles banker hours. The new president’s tweets, always on message, are few and far between.
The drumbeat reflects Biden’s push to restore a sense of normalcy in the White House amid turmoil, weeks after the Capitol came under siege by pro-Trump supporters and as the death toll from a raging pandemic surpasses 435,000.
More: Undoing Trump’s policies and other things Biden did his first week as president
But it’s unclear how long Biden can stick to his routine amid rising partisan conflicts in Congress and a slew of monumental challenges. Lawmakers are battling over Trump’s impeachment trial, Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill and calls from Democrats to boot far-right Republican members from Congress.
“It will require constant work. Many forces of commerce and human nature are arrayed against him, and countless obstacles stand in his path,” journalist John Dickerson, among those who welcomes “boring” again in the White House, wrote in The Atlantic. “But if the country is lucky, entire days will pass without the president’s activities agitating the public mind.”
40 executive orders, carefully mapped out
The routine is intentional. It’s purpose: Portray Biden as a problem-solving president focused on a convergence of crises, uninterested in not much else.
Biden’s schedule has started with daily presidential intelligence briefings – something Trump famously neglected on occasion – during the 9 a.m. hour. He’s then used most days to tout one of his core priorities – climate change, the federal government’s COVID-19 response, health care and racial equity – before taking executive action on the topic.
Each rollout has been carefully choreographed.
More: Joe Biden rejoins Paris Agreement, requires masks on federal property in swift Day 1 directives
After orders are announced in the morning, aides specialized in the subject matter, including climate change envoy John Kerry and Susan Rice, director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council, have taken questions from reporters. In the afternoon, Biden has spoken on the latest topic, rarely ad-libbing from prepared remarks on a teleprompter. He has then sat down at a desk to sign a record first week of executive orders and directives – 40 so far with more on tap for next week.
Perhaps the biggest variation has been where he’s signed the orders: the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office some days, an undersized desk in the State Dining Room on others.
By executive pen, he’s rejoined the Paris Agreement on climate, ended Trump’s travel ban from predominantly Muslim countries, canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline’s permit and ended the nation’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization.
The tight ship appears to have given the White House the early narrative it hoped.
“It’s as if for the last four years, the country was left in the hands of an irresponsible teenage babysitter, where the mother and father leave and say, ‘Don’t call boys. Don’t have alcohol,'” said Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. “And now the parents are back. The father runs the household on a strict schedule with a plan.”
More: Here are all the executive orders President Joe Biden has signed so far
Perry said it feels like a return of the “No-drama Obama years,” a reference to eight years under Biden’s former boss, President Barack Obama. She likened the White House’s discipline thus far to the early days of President Ronald Reagan’s term, as his administration carefully worked to show him addressing a recession.
Biden, too, is trying to send a message, Perry said: “Let’s get the government working again as a well-oiled machine because if we don’t the crises are going to take us out.”
Press briefings, Dr. Fauci return
Continuing an approach that allowed him to stay on message in the campaign, Biden has taken questions from reporters only a handful of times, limiting opportunities for gaffes as he’s been prone to make over the years.
Questions are mostly confined to the return of daily White House press briefings, led by Press Secretary Jen Psaki. The White House also re-launched regular briefings from public health officials including Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was effectively shut out of White House appearances in the waning months of the Trump administration.
In between the president’s brief speeches and signings of orders, Biden has taken calls with foreign leaders of Japan, India, Germany, France and Russia’s Putin. In another shift from Trump, Biden reportedly raised areas of contention with Putin, according to the White House. Those issues include reports of Russia placing bounties on United States soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 United States election and the poisoning of Putin opponent Alexei Navalny.
More: After Putin’s initial snub, Biden talks nukes, cyberattack and poisoning with Russian leader
Biden has had “many conversations” with members of Congress, including Republicans, according to Psaki, as he seeks bipartisan passage of his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, the American Rescue Act. But she declined to say which members of Congress, nor would she speculate on the location of Biden’s first foreign and domestic trips.
Jay Carney, former press secretary for Obama and for Biden as vice president, credited the fast start on executive action to preparation as Trump contested the election.
“They knew they wanted to come out big early to demonstrate the change that they were bringing and their seriousness and purpose to keep their promises and act on important things early,” he said.
Carney said Biden’s team – which includes several former Obama aides including Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain – and the president himself have benefited from their experiences confronting a financial crisis in 2009 when Obama entered office.
“It has that feel, but I’d say it’s even better executed and higher volume. They’re doing more,” he said, while admitting the “pace is hard to sustain.”
Republicans say Biden has abandoned inauguration pledge
White House “lids” – the White House term for no more official news for the day – typically come in the late afternoon or early evening. The president held no public events last weekend, nor did he have any on tap for this weekend.
Lacking the unpredictability of the Trump years, even the smallest of disruptions and detours have been magnified. As Biden spoke about his administration’s plans to purchase 200 million more COVID- vaccinations, a log toppled off the fireplace, causing a loud bang.
At another event, Biden’s two German Shepherds were heard barking outside the Oval Office as he signed an executive order lifting Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.
More: Amid calls for unity, President Biden and Republicans don’t agree what that looks like
U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., said Biden’s approach is “night and day” from how Trump ran the White House, applauding “the organization, the efficiency, the sincerity” compared to Trump, who he said was “mainly in it for himself.”
“It’s kind of like the old Rolaids commercials. How do you spell relief? B-I-D-E-N,” Cooper said. “The tricky thing will be, it’s not enough to return to normal. Now we have to start making sure we improve on normal because government has not been working well enough for working folks.”
That challenge is trickier because Biden’s central message of “unity” is so far proving elusive. He told Americans in his inaugural speech that “politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire” as he called on both parties to “start afresh.” Not only a push for bipartisanship, it was also an appeal to return to civility and democratic norms.
Biden’s disciplined start is meant to underscore those themes. But Republicans have slammed Biden’s heavy use of executive action on progressive causes, arguing it will do more to divide than unite.
“Mr. President, we all watched your inauguration and took your words about unity and putting yourself in other people’s shoes to heart,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and 23 other Republicans senators wrote Friday in a letter to Biden, slamming his orders aimed at the fossil fuel industry.
Arguing that Biden has put “thousands of good-paying jobs at risk,” the senators said his orders have “the potential to further the divide between rural and urban America.”
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, tweeted Friday: “The Senate is divided 50/50. The House is almost equally divided. President Biden promised he’d work with Republicans. But he’s signed 40 executive orders and actions in nine days.”
Hands-off on impeachment
The White House wants to portray Biden as focused on what it calls four “overlapping and compounding crises” – the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting economic damage, climate change and lagging racial equity – not engaged in the political fights in Congress.
But the president’s ability to stick to his routine will be tested as those pick up, particularly when Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate begins the week of Feb. 8.
Biden has taken a hands-off approach with Trump’s impeachment trial, declining to say how senators should vote. He said the Senate can balance its “constitutional responsibilities on impeachment” while addressing “other urgent business of the nation.”
After Biden, in an interview with CNN, predicted that the Senate lacked two-thirds majority to convict Trump, Psaki sought to make clear that he will defer to Senate leadership on the pace of the impeachment.
“And I can promise you that we will leave the vote counting to leaders in the Senate from now on,” she said.
More: As the numbers suggest a Donald Trump acquittal, senators explore censure and brace for impeachment trial
As Biden seeks congressional approval of his signature COVID-19 relief bill, support is mounting among Senate Democrats to pass the legislation via budget reconciliation if they can’t find 60 votes, which would require support from 10 Republican senators. The reconciliation process would need just a simple majority.
Although such a maneuver would open him up to criticism for abandoning his campaign pledge of bipartisanship, Bidden appears open to the idea. The president’s priority is the bill’s approval, according to the White House, not the process.
“I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it,” Biden told reporters Friday when asked whether he supports reconciliation. “But the COVID relief has to pass. There’s no ifs, ands or buts.”
More: $15 minimum wage? Another round of checks? Resistance to key pieces could derail Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan
One area the White House won’t be baited into: the controversy surrounding QAnon sympathizer Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, who Democrats have increasingly condemned for past incendiary remarks.
Pressed on the matter, Paski said the White House doesn’t have a response to possible disciplinary action for the congresswoman.
“And I’m not going to speak further about her, I think, in this briefing room.” Asked again the next day, Psaki said, “We don’t want to elevate conspiracy theories further in the briefing room.”
Contributing: Associated Press. Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.
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Former President Donald Trump used a call button in the Oval Office to order Diet Cokes from staff.
President Joe Biden initially moved the button off the Resolute desk during his first day in office.
But it appears the call button — which has been around for decades — is back.
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President Joe Biden has brought back a call button former President Donald Trump used to order Diet Cokes while sitting in the Oval Office after briefly removing it from the Resolute desk.
Photos from Monday show the call box sitting next to Biden’s phones, in the same place Trump placed the box when he would sit at there.
The call box was not seen in pictures of Biden on his first day in office last week.
Trump used the wooden call box throughout his entire presidency, and first showed it off in 2017 interviews with The Associated Press and the Financial Times, during which he told reporters: “Everyone does get a little nervous when I press that button.”
The call box has been around for decades and other recent presidents have also been pictured in the White House with it, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
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It can be used to call White House staff, Secret Service Agents, and other officials, but Trump appeared to have told his staff that if he pressed the button, he wanted a Diet Coke.
It’s unclear if Biden has a specific use for the button, or if it will be used more generally.
Like presidents before him, Biden also changed a number of decorations upon entering the Oval Office.
Biden replaced a portrait of President Andrew Jackson with a portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and opted to feature a number of progressives and activists through the room, including Robert F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the labor leader and civil-rights activist Cesar Chavez.
He also chose to display portraits of Benjamin Franklin, President Thomas Jefferson, and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton.
NEW YORK (CNN) — Most people who buy things online just have to worry about their deliveries being delayed or never arriving. But some people are dealing with a different problem altogether: getting weird stuff like hair clippers, face creams and sunglasses they never even ordered at all.
The Federal Trade Commission and cyber experts have been warning consumers about these deliveries, which can be part of something known as “brushing” scams.
Here’s how these scams work: Third-party sellers on Amazon, eBay and other online marketplaces pay people to write fake, positive reviews about their products, or do it themselves. To be able to post the reviews, these so-called “brushers” need to trick the site into making it appear that a legitimate transaction took place. So they’ll use a fake account to place gift orders and address them to a random person whose name and address they find online. Then, instead of actually mailing the item for which they want to post a review, the brushers will send a cheap, often lightweight item that costs less to ship.
Sending an item (even the wrong one) creates a tracking number, and when the package is delivered, it enables brushers to write a verified review. If you’re on the receiving end, you usually aren’t charged for the purchase and your real account isn’t hacked — but you are left in the dark as to who is repeatedly sending the mystery packages. In many cases, there’s no return address. You don’t need to worry that anything bad has happened to you or will happen to you if you get a package that might be part of a brushing scam, experts say. But we all need to be concerned about the scams affecting reviews we rely on when buying products.
Brushing scams reportedly took off on e-commerce sites in China around five years ago. They resurfaced in headlines last summer, when all 50 states issued warnings about mysterious, unsolicited packages of seeds that people across the nation received in the mail.
But it’s not just seeds. Unsuspecting recipients have also found boxes with goods ranging from dog pooper-scoopers to power cords to soap dispensers on their doorsteps.
Jen Blinn of Thousand Oaks, California, told CNN Business she has been receiving random packages since June, including most recently a briefcase, a backpack, a hair straightener and a coffee-cup warmer.
“Every two weeks … I get another package in the mail of just random stuff I never ordered,” she said. Blinn notified Amazon of the issue, but a customer service agent “didn’t really understand what I was saying. She obviously didn’t know about it,” she said. The agent looked at Blinn’s account and found nothing wrong with it.
It’s not illegal to send customers unordered merchandise. But “the [Federal Trade Commission] has long gone after marketers that use fake reviews,” said David Vladeck, a former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and a law professor at Georgetown University.
Amazon says its policy prohibits sellers sending unsolicited merchandise to customers, and that sellers can be removed from the site for doing so.
“Third-party sellers are prohibited from sending unsolicited packages to customers and we take action on those who violate our policies, including withholding payments, suspending or removing selling privileges, or working with law enforcement,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an email. Amazon would not say how how many brushing scams have been found on the site or how many sellers have been removed due to these scams.
An eBay spokesperson said in an email that brushing schemes “do not appear to be highly prevalent” on the site. It violates eBay policy to send unsolicited merchandise to customers or falsify reviews and can result in eBay restricting sellers’ accounts or suspending them from the site.
Experts also say it’s difficult to quantify the frequency of such scams because it can be hard for companies to know whether reviews are fake, and scams often go unreported by consumers.
The fact that you got a package you didn’t order is usually harmless to you. The harm is to people who rely on reviews when deciding on a purchase, said Chris McCabe, a former policy enforcement investigator at Amazon tasked with stopping scams and fraud. He is now a consultant to sellers on the site.
The real losers here are the consumers who are possibly believing many of these fake positive reviews, or this artificial padding of reviews, because they might see 100 positive reviews, and then there may only be 60 or 70 of them that are legitimate.
–Chris McCabe
“The real losers here are the consumers who are possibly believing many of these fake positive reviews, or this artificial padding of reviews, because they might see 100 positive reviews, and then there may only be 60 or 70 of them that are legitimate,” he said.
The likelihood that a consumer will buy a product that has five reviews is 270% higher than the likelihood they will buy a product with zero reviews, according to a 2017 report by Northwestern University’s Spiegel Research Center.
Some fake reviews are also being driven by Facebook groups where sellers offer buyers money if they write positive product reviews, said McCabe. Amazon and Facebook should work together to crack down on these groups, he said.
An Amazon spokesperson said that the company analyzes more than 10 million reviews every week to try to keep fake ones from being published and that it provides details of its investigations to social media companies “so they can stop these bad actors from abusing their platforms.”
A Facebook spokesperson said in an email that when the company is told of groups that may encourage fake reviews, it reviews them and removes them if they violate its policies.
Unwanted sheets and Shiatsu massagers
For consumers, the unexpected deliveries can be jarring. The packages Ashanté Nicole never ordered started arriving at her home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2019.
iPhone and portable car chargers. An iPad case. A heated shiatsu massage. A nail cleaning brush and a blow dryer. Sheets. A mattress cover. A floppy fish toy.
They didn’t have return addresses, so Nicole wasn’t sure who was sending the packages. She reached out to Amazon to try to stop them from coming, but they still keep arriving at her doorstep.
“It was just kind of a little bit concerning because I don’t know who has my information,” she said. “I don’t know what they’re going to send me. Like they could send something illegal and then I’m in trouble because I didn’t know whoever that person was or what they were sending me.”
If you get merchandise you didn’t order, it could mean that scammers have created an account in your name or taken over your account, an FTC spokesperson said in an email. Scammers may have even created new accounts in other names tied to your address, allowing them to post lots of seemingly-real reviews.
“We recommend keeping an eye on your online shopping accounts. If you spot activity that isn’t yours, report it to the site right away, and think about changing your password for that site,” the spokesperson said.
Nicole feels she has done all she can by alerting Amazon each time unsolicited packages from the retailer arrive at her doorstep.
“There’s literally nothing I can do besides tell Amazon every time it happens. And that hasn’t really done much,” she said.
Amazon declined to comment directly on Nicole and Blinn’s accounts, but said if a customer receives a package that was unsolicited, they should contact Amazon’s customer service team.
Nicole said she hopes Amazon will do more to stop brushing and ban sellers who participate in the scams.
“I just think they need to be a little bit more concerned with shutting those stores down and making sure those sellers can’t use the platform.”
