LSU Board Chairman Robert Dampf says the school is legally prohibited from mandating students take the COVID vaccine. Matt Doyle has the story.
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The father of injured LSU quarterback Myles Brennan sheds light on his injury and his recovery. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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Ochsner Health CEO Warner Thomas says according to a tracking system they use for non-hospitalized patients he doesn’t see COVID case numbers letting up anytime soon. The system allows them to stay in contact with COVID patients who are recovering at home to see if their symptoms worsen and need to be admitted.
Cut 3 (08) “…escalate.”
In the last week, Ochsner says their COVID hospitalizations increased by 73-percent.
With the statewide mask mandate back in effect, when asked if hospitals are seeing a difference yet Thomas says it’s still too early to tell and in the past, their symptom tracking system has shown face mask usage curbs case numbers.
Cut 4 (11) “…that yet.”
Director of Infection Control and Prevention at Ochsner Doctor Katherine Baumgarten says while research and previous use of face masking are proven methods to reduce infection rates, even with the mandate back in effect some are not getting the message of the dire situation with the fourth surge.
Cut 5 (12) “…happen now.”
On Thursday the Louisiana Department of Health reported the highest number of COVID hospitalizations to date of 2,350, eclipsing Wednesday and Tuesday’s all-time daily high totals.
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LSU will not enter the fall semester with a vaccine mandate for in-person attendance, much to the chagrin of the LSU Faculty Senate.
LSU Board Chairman Robert Dampf says a mandate is not legal under state laws that govern public universities. That’s primarily because COVID vaccines are still under emergency use authorization.
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Some faculty members argue that is not true, citing other universities in Louisiana that received Louisiana Department of Health approval for a mandate. Dampf says those private universities are not governed by the same Legislative statutes as LSU, a public college.
Dampf also argues that even once the vaccine is given full authorization allowing it to be mandated for students under law, there’s still a loophole.
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Dampf says if he had unilateral authority he would institute a campus vaccine mandate, but the best the school can legally do is require monthly COVID testing for unvaccinated students.
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Dampf made the comments on Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster.
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LSU fans received unfortunate news on Monday as reports surfaced that Myles Brennan was having surgery on his left arm due to an injury that occurred off-campus. There’s been a lot of speculation as to how it happened and Myles’ dad Owen Brennan says the injury is the result of a fishing accident.
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Myles was squarely in the mix to compete for LSU’s starting quarterback job this season and while a timeline for his return is still unknown, Owen says the plan is to start rehab as soon as possible.
Cut 10 (10) “…two weeks.”
While Myles and Max Johnson were locked in a tight battle to become the starter for the Tigers, Owen says Max’s dad Brad was one of the first calls he received about Myles.
Cut 11 (11) “…dad to dad.”
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Moderna has joined Pfizer in pushing for the FDA and CDC to back giving fully vaccinated individuals a third booster shot, in an effort to fight the Delta variant.
Tulane School of Public Health Epidemiologist Dr. Susan Hassig says despite those requests there’s still just not enough evidence to back this request because the vaccines appear to be working as expected…
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Moderna’s President says they have data indicating people should take a half does shot six to eight months after completing their full vaccine series. The data suggested this third shot would further boost immune response and provide a counter to new coronavirus variants.
Hassig says because the vaccines have proven to be highly effective at significantly reducing the chance of a severe infection…
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The CDC has not yet recommended immune-compromised individuals receive a third shot.
Hassig says if you’re fully vaccinated, instead of worrying about boosters…
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