US vaccine drive complicated by dual dose juggling act
The U.S. has entered a tricky phase of the COVID-19 vaccination effort as providers try to ramp up the number of people getting first shots while also ensuring a growing number of others get second doses just when millions more Americans are becoming eligible to receive vaccines.
The need to give each person two doses a few weeks apart vastly complicates the country’s biggest-ever vaccination campaign. And persistent uncertainty about future vaccine supplies fuels worries that some people will not be able to get their second shots in time.
In some cases, local health departments and providers have said they must temporarily curb or even cancel appointments for first doses to ensure there are enough second doses for people who need them.
Nola Rudolph said she struggled to book appointments for her 71-year-old father and 68-year-old mother, who live in rural upstate New York. Everywhere she looked within driving distance was booked.
“Seeing they were eligible, I was elated,” she said. “Seeing they were in a dead zone, I went from very hopeful to hopeless again.”
One dead, four injured in shooting at Minnesota health clinic
BUFFALO, Minn. — A 67-year-old man unhappy with the health care he’d received opened fire at a clinic Tuesday, killing one person and wounding four others, and bomb technicians were investigating a suspicious device left there and others at a motel where he was staying, authorities said.
All five victims were rushed to the hospital, and a hospital spokeswoman confirmed the one death Tuesday night. Three remained in stable but critical condition and a fourth had been discharged.
The attack happened Tuesday morning at an Allina clinic in Buffalo, a community of about 15,000 people roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis. Authorities said Gregory Paul Ulrich, of Buffalo, opened fire at the facility and was arrested before noon.
Though police said it was too early to tell if Ulrich had targeted a specific doctor, court records show he at one point had been ordered to have no contact with a man whose name matches that of a doctor at the clinic.
As authorities searched the clinic for more victims, they found the suspicious device and evacuated the building, Wright County Sheriff Sean Deringer said.
Hack exposes vulnerability of cash-strapped US water plants
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A hacker’s botched attempt to poison the water supply of a small Florida city is raising alarms about just how vulnerable the nation’s water systems may be to attacks by more sophisticated intruders. Treatment plants are typically cash-strapped, and lack the cybersecurity depth of the power grid and nuclear plants.
A local sheriff’s startling announcement Monday that the water supply of Oldsmar, population 15,000, was briefly in jeopardy last week exhibited uncharacteristic transparency. Suspicious incidents are rarely reported, and usually chalked up to mechanical or procedural errors, experts say. No federal reporting requirement exists, and state and local rules vary widely.
“In the industry, we were all expecting this to happen. We have known for a long time that municipal water utilities are extremely underfunded and under-resourced, and that makes them a soft target for cyber attacks,” said Lesley Carhart, principal incident responder at Dragos Security, which specializes in industrial control systems.
“I deal with a lot of municipal water utilities for small, medium and large-sized cities. And in a lot of cases, all of them have a very small IT staff. Some of them have no dedicated security staff at all,” she said.
The nation’s 151,000 public water systems lack the financial fortification of the corporate owners of nuclear power plants and electrical utilities. They are a heterogenous patchwork, less uniform in technology and security measures than in other rich countries.
United Way Worldwide CEO Gallagher resigns amid turmoil
Brian A. Gallagher, who has led United Way Worldwide, the world’s largest privately funded nonprofit since 2009, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday amid claims that the charity mishandled internal allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Gallagher’s resignation, announced in a farewell note, takes effect March 1. The group’s board of directors plans to announce an interim CEO before he leaves.
In November, after complaints filed by three former female employees with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and published reports in HuffPost, United Way Worldwide hired a law firm to investigate the claims and the way the nonprofit’s leadership handled them. Last week, the firm, Proskauer Rose, concluded that management’s handling of the complaints was appropriate and that the dismissals were “based on legitimate, non-discriminatory, and non-retaliatory reasons.”
Gallagher said in his farewell note that the report’s release made him decide to move up his planned exit.
“We were actively working toward a transition for me sometime later in 2021 at the conclusion of a CEO search process,” Gallagher wrote to his colleagues. “But, I and the board think it’s best for United Way if I step down as CEO sooner. It was important to me that I stay through this period so my colleagues and I could be cleared of any wrongdoing. That’s done; and now it feels like the right time.”
World’s second-oldest person survives COVID-19 at age 116
PARIS — A 116-year-old French nun who is believed to be the world’s second-oldest person has survived COVID-19 and is looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday on Thursday.
The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, lists Frenchwoman Lucile Randon — Sister André’s birth name – as the second-oldest known living person in the world.
French media report that Sister André tested positive for the virus in mid-January in the southern French city of Toulon. But just three weeks later, the nun is considered recovered.
“I didn’t even realize I had it,” she told French newspaper Var-Matin.
Sister André, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, did not even worry when she received her diagnosis.
From wire sources
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‘Wizard of Oz’ remake planned with ‘Watchmen’ director
NEW YORK — Are we off to see the wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz — again?
New Line Cinema is making a new adaptation of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” L. Frank Baum children’s novel, with Nicole Kassell, the visual architect of “Watchmen,” set to direct. Baum’s 1900 novel, now in the public domain, has spawned many adaptations over the years — most famously, of course, the 1939 MGM musical by Victor Fleming and starring Judy Garland.
Kassell’s version will not be a musical. New Line said it will be a “fresh take” and a “reimagining” of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” It will have some advantages, too, since Warner Bros. owns New Line and the 1939 film. That means it can use some trademarked elements like the ruby slippers.
“While the 1939 musical is part of my DNA, I am exhilarated and humbled by the responsibility of re-imagining such a legendary tale,” said Kassell in a statement. “The opportunity to examine the original themes — the quest for courage, love, wisdom and home — feels more timely and urgent than ever. These are profoundly iconic shoes to fill, and I am eager to dance alongside these heroes of my childhood as we pave a newly minted yellow brick road!”
Kassell is an executive producer of HBO’s “Watchmen” and directed three of its nine episodes, including the pilot. She has worked primarily in television but directed the feature films “The Woodsman” and “A Little Bit of Heaven.”