Idaho Ed News has taken to publishing the Boston Globe’s editorials promoting authoritarian vaccine positions, and even offered up its own commentary as “analysis” in order to drive public opinion in support of the government’s covid response.
The Globe opined: “States should allow teenagers to receive vaccines without parental consent, so that kids who want the shot can’t be stopped by anti-vax parents. As soon as the FDA issues final authorization for the vaccines, school districts should make it a condition for enrollment in school — as many already do for diseases like measles.” The newspaper also wrote that anti-vaccine articles should be snuffed out from social media platforms and that employers should mandate that employees receive the COVID-19 vaccines.
Following The Boston Globe article Idaho Ed News writer Kevin Richert wrote that Idaho is “facing a new and frightening surge in coronavirus cases, and state leaders are ramping up their push for vaccinations.” He also wrote that leaders believe “COVID-19 vaccines hold the key to keeping schools open and keeping kids in classrooms.”
What Richert and his fearmongering friends always fail to mention is that there are a lot more ways to keep our schools open. For example, Richert reported, “Since January, more than 98 percent of Idaho’s coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths involve patients who were not fully vaccinated.” However, a key fact Richert failed to mention is that 78 percent of people hospitalized for COVID-19 are overweight, according to data from the Center for Disease Control. Obesity can triple the risk of hospitalization.
This leads to a question many should be pondering: Of the 98 percent of unvaccinated people who died or were hospitalized due to the coronavirus, how many were obese, vitamin D deficient, diabetic, or had other underlying health conditions? There is a huge difference between dying from and with COVID-19. Solely blaming someone's vaccination status is such a cretinous way of thinking.
Richert links vaccine hesitancy to politics and “straight-up misinformation” without citing examples. He also claimed the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) is trying to convince Idahoans to fear the vaccine, which is not true. Releasing information about vaccine injuries isn’t inciting fear; it’s educating people about potential risks that come with taking an experimental vaccine, something Richert and his so-called journalist peers should be doing.
Richert then deceived his readers by incorrectly paraphrasing a statement from Wayne Hoffman, president of IFF, about vaccine mandates. Richert wrote that Hoffman said, “There's nothing preventing Idaho schools from mandating student vaccines.” Here is Hoffman's actual quote: “There is nothing preventing Idaho schools from mandating certain vaccines of students, teachers, volunteers, and even parents. Lawmakers should act to prevent the possibility of exploitation.” Richert’s failed attempt to make what Hoffman said sound like nonsense is even more outlandish given that Richert wrote something similar just last month.
There is nothing in Idaho’s laws that prevents schools from requiring employees to have certain vaccines, which is a point Richert made in his article. The question of which vaccines are required are for the State Board of Health and Welfare to decide. It also can vote to make the coronavirus vaccine mandatory for school-age children. Richert also does not mention that a number of schools downplay or do not inform parents of the availability of vaccine exemptions.
Finally, Richert found a way to write about himself, making sure everyone knew he was vaccinated when vaccines became available for his age group. Disclosing his vaccination status is virtue signaling that has nothing to do with actual journalism. At least that makes the disclosure consistent with the rest of the article.
