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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2021)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2021 Anxiety rising amid virus surge, poll fi nds By JAMES ANDERSON and HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press DENVER — Anxi- ety in the United States over COVID-19 is at its highest level since winter, a new poll shows, as the delta variant rages, more states and school districts adopt mask and vac- cination requirements and the nation’s hospitals once again fi ll to capacity. The poll from the Associ- ated Press-NORC Center for Public Aff airs Research also fi nds that majorities of Amer- ican adults want vaccination mandates for those attending movies, sports, concerts and other crowded events; those traveling by airplane; and workers in hospitals, restau- rants, stores and government offi ces. The poll shows that 41% are “extremely” or “very” worried about themselves or their family becoming infected with the virus. That is up from 21% in June, and about the same as in Janu- ary, during the country’s last major surge, when 43% were extremely or very worried. “I wouldn’t have said this a couple of years ago, but I’m not as confi dent as I was in America’s ability to take care of itself,” said David Bowers, a 42-year-old business ana- lyst in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria. Bowers, a Democrat, and his wife, a public school teacher, got vaccinated early. But they fret once again about Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution People in favor of and against a mask mandate for Cobb County schools gather and protest ahead of the school board meeting on Thursday in Georgia. their daughters, ages 7 and 9, attending school in a state where Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law to block school districts from mandat- ing masks, let alone vaccines. A brief summer respite from COVID-19 fatigue included a family trip to New York. “COVID was pretty much out of mind,” Bowers said. “Now it feels like we’re going backward.” Close to 6 in 10 Ameri- cans say they favor requir- ing people to be fully vacci- nated against COVID-19 to travel on an airplane or attend crowded public events. Only about a quarter of Americans oppose such measures. Roughly 6 in 10 also sup- port vaccine mandates for hospital or other health care workers, along with govern- ment employees, members of the military and workers who interact with the public, such as in restaurants and stores. Support is slightly lower for requiring vaccinations to go out to a bar or restaurant, though more are in favor than opposed, 51% to 28%. Nearly 200 million peo- ple, or just over 60% of the U.S. population, had received at least one vaccine dose as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over half of the population was fully vaccinated. Hospitals across the U.S. had more than 75,000 corona- virus patients as of last week, a dramatic increase from a few weeks ago but still well below the winter surge records. Florida, Arkansas, Oregon, Hawaii, Louisiana and Mis- sissippi have set records for COVID-19 hospitalizations in recent weeks, and the surge in the delta variant, combined with low vaccination rates, has produced a scramble to fi nd beds for patients. The poll suggests that despite increasing cases and greater concern about the virus, Americans have not stepped up their own precau- tionary behavior since June, though at least half still say they always or often wear a Biden orders nursing home staff to get vaccinated By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON — Pres- ident Joe Biden announced that his administration will require that nursing home staff be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition for those facilities to continue receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funding. Biden unveiled the new policy in a White House address earlier this week as the administration continues to look for ways to use man- dates to encourage vaccine holdouts to get shots. “If you visit, live or work in a nursing home, you should not be at a high risk for contracting COVID from unvaccinated employees,” Biden said. The new mandate, in the form of a forthcoming regula- tion to be issued by the Cen- ters for Medicare & Medicaid Services, could take eff ect as soon as next month. Hundreds of thousands of nursing home workers are not vaccinated, accord- ing to federal data, despite those facilities bearing the brunt of the early COVID- 19 outbreak and their work- ers being among the fi rst in the country to be eligible for shots. It comes as the Biden administration seeks to raise the costs for those who have yet to get vaccinated, after months of incentives and giveaways proved to be insuffi cient to drive tens of millions of Americans to roll up their sleeves. In just the past three weeks, Biden has forced millions of federal work- ers to attest to their vacci- nation status or face oner- ous new requirements, with even stricter requirements for federal workers in frontline health roles, and his admin- istration has moved toward mandating vaccines for the military as soon as next month. Biden has also celebrated businesses that have man- dated vaccines for their own workforces and encouraged others to follow, and high- lighted local vaccine man- dates as a condition for daily activities, like indoor dining. The new eff ort seems to be paying off , as the nation’s rate of new vaccinations has nearly doubled over the past month. More than 200 mil- lion Americans have now received at least one dose of the vaccines, according to the White House, but about 80 million Americans are eligible but haven’t yet been vaccinated. Mark Parkinson, the pres- ident and CEO of the Amer- ican Health Care Associa- tion and National Center for Assisted Living, praised the Biden decision, but called on him to go further. “Vaccination man- dates for health care per- sonnel should be applied to all health care settings,” he said. “Without this, nurs- ing homes face a disastrous workforce challenge.” Last year the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Ser- vices used similar regula- tory authority to prohibit most visitors from nursing homes in an eff ort to protect residents. Happy 39 th Birthday Courtney Ann August 21, 1982 When I’m afraid, I put my trust in you. - Psalm 56:3 Love always, forever and ever and ever -Dadio Saturday, October 2 nd , 2021 Elks Lounge 5:00pm Cocktails (no host bar) and 6:30 dinner ($35.00 per plate to be paid at door) Prior and after classes, including past teachers invited at 7:30pm to help celebrate. Sookie 2 1/2 year old Torti Blend RSVP (for 1980 classmates) by September 5th to Sophia Anastasiadis Jacobs 503-969-5278 The good life is found in small things. Most of these have four feet and whiskers. Sookie is unserious, cozy and fun. www.dogsncats.org facebook.com/DailyAstorian 41 st Class Reunion PICK OF THE WEEK CLATSOP COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER 1315 SE 19th St., Warrenton • 861- PETS Republicans are in favor of mask mandates for public-fac- ing workers. Robbie Allen, a 63-year- old retiree from Clifton, Texas, is fully vaccinated and will wear a mask when required by stores or other places. But the self-described indepen- dent who leans Republican insists it is a matter of personal choice, and he sees mandates as taking the joy out of life. “The COVID is not going away very quickly, but I don’t think people should live in fear,” said Allen, who motor- cycled with his girlfriend to this month’s Sturgis Motor- cycle Rally, which attracted hundreds of thousands to the South Dakota city. “People are going to die, but if we all hun- ker down, life gets miserable.” Partisan gaps are also wide on vaccination require- ments. In Arizona, Bowers has already taken time off work to pick up his daughter from school after she developed a high fever. They spent hours last week looking for a drive- thru COVID-19 testing site that wasn’t overcrowded. She tested negative. But the wor- ries persist. “My thinking is, the people who don’t want mandates are the people who need to be reg- ulated,” Bowers said. “There’s a slim majority in this country making the right decisions. If it wasn’t for a slim majority as a country, we’d be in trouble.” Class of 1980’s VOLUNTEER Sponsored by Bayshore Animal Hospital mask around other people, stay away from large groups and avoid nonessential travel. Confi dence in vaccines to withstand virus variants has not waned, either, as U.S. health offi cials this week announced plans to dispense booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection. The doses could begin next month. Carla Jones, 37, of Lafay- ette, Louisiana, is a paraple- gic with immunity problems and uses a wheelchair after she was severely injured in a car accident. Because of her health, she has been told by her doctor she cannot get the vaccine. She gets anxious vis- iting the doctor or when her grandchildren visit. “I see someone next to me at the doctor’s without a mask, it makes my heart rapidly beat faster,” Jones said. Jones, a Democrat, strongly favors vaccination and mask mandates, and not just for her- self. “For the good of all,” she said. “I don’t have the shot, but I defi nitely wouldn’t want to pass it on to anyone else.” The poll shows that 55% support requiring Americans to wear masks around other people outside their homes, while 62% support mask man- dates specifi cally for workers who interact with the pub- lic, such as at restaurants and stores. Eighty-fi ve percent of Democrats and 39% of GO FISHERMEN! Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat The family of Charles “Scott” Parker would like to express their greatest appreciation for the incredible kindness graciously given by so many during the past few months. We were blessed to be surrounded by such sincere caring and loving people when we needed it most. Thank you for all the beautiful flowers, plants, cards, and heartfelt messages. We express our deep gratitude to Dr. Curti and the staff at the Providence Cancer Institute, the doctors and staff at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Dr. Sasaki and staff in Astoria. A very special thank you to the wonderful doctors, nurses and staff at Providence Seaside Hospital and the Providence Home Health team for their wonderful care and support of Scott and our family. Thank you to the friends and family who called, checked in, brought food, visited, and shared hours with Scott telling the best of the best stories, good and bad, old and new, of their amazing once in a lifetime experiences. We wish to thank Brian and Pam Dutton of Ocean View for their exceptional care and Father Oruko and St. Mary Star of the Sea church for the wonderful service. Special thank you to Frank Tuimato, Ronnie Williams, Willis Van Dusen, Steve Fick, Parker Riser, Justin Grafton, Danny Riser, and Sign One for your incredible support and assistance. We also thank each one of you who planned, created, donated to, organized, supported, volunteered, and just said yes when asked to help make everything come together. Thank you all so very much for attending Scott’s services and the wonderful afternoon spent celebrating his life.We will hold the memory of this beautiful day in our hearts forever. Blessings to all from the Parker Family.
