Federal lawsuits are flying as President Biden moves towards mandating COVID-19 shots for many employees. More from Dave Brannen.
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The state recorded its lowest number of hospitalizations Friday since spring of 2020 with 226. Jeff Palermo has more…
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Drugmaker Pfizer says their experimental antiviral pill for COVID cuts the rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90-percent in high-risk adults. Dr. Julio Figueroa, Chief of Infectious Diseases at LSU Health New Orleans says if the data holds true the drug is noteworthy.
Cut 3 (12) “….significant, very significant.”
Pfizer will reportedly be asking the FDA to authorize use of the pill as soon as possible. A similar drug, by Merck, targeted at the same demographic has already been approved in the UK. Figueroa says for the Pfizer pill to be effective high-risk adults need to begin taking the medication early in their COVID diagnosis.
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Figueroa says being able to treat COVID patients outside of the hospital with the convenience of a pill versus the current option is a huge advance in treatment.
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Pfizer data indicates of the 775 adults in the study, those who received the drug, along with another drug after showing symptoms had an 89-percent reduction in their combined rate of hospitalization and death after a month compared to those taking a placebo.
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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is leading a multi-state lawsuit to derail President Biden’s executive vaccine mandate order for federal contractors and a separate suit challenging the vaccine mandate for businesses with more than 100 employees. Landry pulls no punches in his opposition to the requirement.
Cut 6 (08) “…but vastly overreaching.”
Landry says the mandate will directly impact the Bayou State, noting that about 60 percent of the state’s budget is federal money, impacting both local governments and institutions of higher learning.
Landry says when he first heard President Biden’s vaccine mandate announcement, he thought perhaps Biden had forgotten that we are a republic and not a monarchy.
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Landry says that as the state’s chief legal officer, he’s suing to forbid the federal government from making medical choices for the state’s residents.
Brian Trosclair, who employs nearly 500 people at 15 grocery stores he owns in Louisiana and Mississippi, is among those suing in federal court to strike down the Biden vaccine mandate on private-sector employees. He notes those workers were hailed as heroes during the height of the pandemic.
Cut 8 (08) “…for their families.”
Trosclair says the vaccine mandate goes beyond the federal government intervening in the health choices of his workers and potentially losing employees because of the mandate.
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The Biden Administration says the mandatory vaccine requirement for many businesses and federal contractors will result in more people getting vaccinated, which will help end the pandemic.
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The state marked another critical COVID milestone today, the lowest number of hospitalizations since spring of 2020. On Thursday the lowest was 235 and today it’s 226. Chief of Hospital Medicine at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport, Dr. Mike Sewell says he believes an increase in vaccinations is largely responsible.
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Sewell says it’s been difficult to care for non-COVID patients, especially acute ones, like heart attacks, strokes, and traumas when the hospital is at max capacity with COVID patients.
Cut 11 (10) “…COVID patients.”
In the past the state has noted an increase in COVID cases after major holidays, Sewell says that’s most likely a combination of gatherings and an emergence of new variants. With Thanksgiving only weeks away Sewell says he’s cautiously optimistic that this holiday season with the vaccine we won’t see a surge and thus keep hospitalizations down.
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The winner of last Saturday’s one-point-three million-dollar Louisiana Lotto drawing is from Laura-devastated southwest Louisiana. So says lottery spokesman Dennis Annison who says the lucky ticketholder came forward Monday.
Cut 13 (08) “…thousand after taxes.”
No word on what the winner plans to do with his winnings.
Annison says the store that sold the ticket won its largest commission ever for selling the winning ticket.
Cut 14 (10) “…the jackpot prize”
Annison says the store was very happy with the more than 13-thousand-dollar commission it’s receiving.
Cut 15 (08) “…operating the store.”