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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2021)
NATION/WORLD Tuesday, March 2, 2021 The OBserVer — 7A U.S. Senate a question mark for LGBTQ protections Merkley leads renewed effort as House passes bill for second time in two years By PETER WONG Oregon Capital Bureau Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press Employees with the McKesson Corporation scan a box of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine while filling an order at their shipping facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, Monday, March 1, 2021. States easing virus restrictions despite experts’ warnings By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and TAMMY WEBBER Associated Press sexual orientation and gender identity. U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Beaverton, said it’s time for Congress to extend anti-discrimination protection to other sectors. “Our LGBTQ friends, neighbors, colleagues, and community members should not miss an edu- cational opportunity, or be denied housing, credit, or health care because of who they are or who they love,” she said as she spoke during House debate on the latest bill. Oregon is among 21 states with a wide range of legal protections — the 2020 State Equality Index compiled by the Human Rights Campaign says Oregon lacks a few improvements — but 27 states have no protections in their laws. Losing Your HEARING or are your ears just plugged with EARWAX? FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF! You are invited for a FREE ear inspection Losing Your HEARING using the latest video technology to determine if or are your ears just plugged with EARWAX? you could be helped by a hearing aid. FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF! Now through (Exp. 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Trademarks referring to specific providers are used by Miracle-Ear for nominative purposes only: to truthfully identify the source of the services about which information is provided. Such trademarks are solely the property of their respective owners. The aids must be returned within 30 days of delivery pursuant to terms of your purchase agreement and 100% of the purchase will be refunded. 541-605-2109 541-239-3877 AT THESE PARTICIPATING MIRACLE-EAR HEARING BAKER CITY AID CENTERS ONLY! 2021 Washington Ave. Mention Code: CALL FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT! Baker City, OR 97814 20AprLosing 21MarLosing MOD0001727501-01 KANSAS CITY, Kan. — With the U.S. vaccina- tion drive picking up speed and a third formula on the way, states eager to reopen for business are easing coro- navirus restrictions despite warnings from health experts that the outbreak is far from over and that moving too quickly could prolong the misery. Massachusetts on Monday made it much easier to grab dinner and a show. In Missouri, where individual communities get to make the rules, the two biggest metropolitan areas — St. Louis and Kansas City — are relaxing some measures. Iowa’s governor recently lifted mask require- ments and limits on the number of people allowed in bars and restaurants, while the town of Lawrence, home to the University of Kansas, now lets establishments stay open until midnight. “Restaurateurs have been down in the dumps for such a long time. It is good to see them start to get excited again and be optimistic,” Bill Teel, executive director of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association, said of the mayor’s decision to allow restaurants and bars to resume normal hours. The push to reopen comes as COVID-19 vac- cine shipments to the states are ramping up. Nearly 20% of the nation’s adults — or over 50 million people — have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 10% have been fully inoculated 2 1/2 months into the cam- paign to snuff out the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Johnson & Johnson shipped out nearly 4 million doses of its newly autho- rized, one-shot COVID-19 vaccine Sunday night to be delivered to states for use starting on Tuesday. The company will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and a total of 100 million by the end of June. That adds to the supply being distributed by Pfizer and Moderna and should help the nation amass enough doses by mid- summer to vaccinate all adults. The White House is encouraging Americans to take the first dose avail- able to them, regardless of manufacturer. In New York City, where limited indoor dining has resumed, officials said the J&J vaccine will help the city to inoculate millions more people by summer, including through door-to- door vaccinations of home- bound senior citizens. But the efforts come with strong warnings from health officials against reopening too quickly, as worrisome coronavirus variants spread. On Monday, the head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, urgently warned state officials and ordi- nary Americans not to let down their guard, saying she is “really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures that we have recommended.” “I remain deeply con- cerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic,” she said at the White House. “We stand to completely lose the hard- earned ground that we have gained.” Cases and hospitaliza- tions have plunged since the end of January, and deaths have also dropped sharply, but they are still running at dangerously high levels and have even risen slightly over the past several days. “We cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day and 2,000 daily deaths,” Wal- ensky said. Overall, the outbreak has killed more than a half-mil- lion Americans. Justin Lessler, an expert in infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University, said in an email that the vaccine already is contrib- uting to a decrease in severe cases and deaths among older people, and is “quickly becoming a bigger contrib- utor” nationally. “I suspect we will see it overtake natural infection as the biggest driver of immu- nity late spring earliest, more likely midsummer,” Lessler said. The Biden administra- tion wants to see all three vaccines distributed evenly, while also acknowledging that the easy-to-handle J&J vaccine will be used in pop-up mobile sites and locations without freezer storage capacity. States are hoping that the surging vaccine supply will help tamp down new infections. In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker lifted restau- rant capacity limits entirely. Theaters can open at 50% capacity, with a maximum of 500 people. And capacity limits across all businesses have been raised to 50%. Las Vegas on Monday became the latest of the nation’s largest school dis- tricts to return children to classrooms. Pre-K children to third graders will go back two days a week, with other grades to be phased in by early April. And in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legis- lative leaders reached an agreement aimed at getting most children back in class- rooms by the end of March. Under the deal announced Monday, school districts could receive up to $6.6 bil- lion if they reopen by March 31. President Joe Biden fell well short of his goal of set- ting up 100 new federally operated mass-vaccination sites by the end of February, with just seven up and running. White House vaccina- tion coordinator Jeff Zients also acknowledged that scheduling of vaccination appointments “remains too difficult in too many places.” But he said the White House is working with states to improve scheduling systems and is exploring federal support for call centers to make it easier for people to get appointments. WASHINGTON — Even as the U.S. House passed legislation for the second time in two years, the Senate remains the question mark for federal efforts to shield gay, les- bian, bisexual and trans- gender people against discrimination. The House voted 224- 206 on Thursday, Feb. 25, for legislation (House Res- olution 5) to bar discrim- ination in housing, credit and other matters. A sim- ilar bill with the same des- ignation passed 236-173 in 2019, but died without a vote in the Republi- can-controlled Senate. The Senate now has a tenuous Democratic majority — Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tie-breaker in a chamber split 50-50 — but it is uncertain at best whether advocates can muster at least 10 Republicans for a 60-vote majority to avert a filibuster. “Today’s House pas- sage of the Equality Act is an important step forward and a shining source of hope for every American who values freedom and equality for all,” Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, one of the longtime leaders of the congressional effort, said with Senate sponsors at a news conference after the House vote. “So let’s celebrate this major milestone, and also use this day to recommit ourselves to bringing the fight to ban LGBTQ dis- crimination to the Senate. Let’s make 2021 the year that we end discrimina- tion that remains legal in the majority of American states. Let’s make 2021 the year that we ring the bells of freedom for every American.” The latest bill won sup- port from all four Oregon Democrats, but opposition from the lone Republican, Cliff Bentz of Ontario. Bentz’s Republican prede- cessor, Greg Walden, voted for the 2019 version along with the Democrats. A month after the 2019 House vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “based on sex,” barred employment dis- crimination based on (Add locations, expiration dates, Phone 541-239-3782 numbers, etc..) *Hearing test is always free. Hearing aids do not restore natural hearing. Individual experiences vary depending on severity of hearing loss, accuracy of evolution and ability to adapt to amplification. Hearing test is an audiometric test to determine amplification needs only. These are not medical exams or diagnoses. If you suspect a problem please seek treatment from your physician. **Blue Cross Blue Shield, The Blue Cross, The Blue Shield, BCBS and Federal Employee Program are registered trademarks of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its independent licensees are not affiliated with nor do they endorse or sponsor the contents of this advertisement. Trademarks referring to specific providers are used by Miracle-Ear for nominative purposes only: to truthfully identify the source of the services about which information is provided. Such trademarks are solely the property of their respective owners. The aids must be returned within 30 days of delivery pursuant to terms of your purchase agreement and 100% of the purchase will be refunded.