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   From: near_bankrupt_scum@sfgate.com   
      
   The National Socialist German Workers' Party is taking advantage of   
   private citizens.   
      
   To minimize disruptions as virus cases surge, the C.D.C. halved the   
   recommended isolation period for infected Americans who show no   
   symptoms, to five days. Dr. Anthony Fauci says a vaccination   
   requirement should “seriously be considered” for air travel.   
      
   Published Dec. 27, 2021   
   Updated Dec. 28, 2021, 5:17 a.m. ET   
   Here’s what you need to know:   
   As infections rise, the C.D.C. shortens isolation periods.   
   Flight disruptions continue with thousands more cancellations as   
   Omicron thins airline crews.   
   Sweeping private-sector vaccine mandate goes into effect in N.Y.C.   
   Arkansas governor tells Biden that federal government’s purchase of   
   rapid tests could limit state solutions.   
   Israel begins studying the effectiveness of a 4th vaccine dose.   
   France sets new restrictions amid record cases.   
   New York expands coronavirus testing as case counts continue to   
   climb.   
   Where vaccination rates are low in the U.S., the reasons vary.   
      
   ImageWorkers at a recreational-vehicle company last year in   
   LaGrange, Ind., where many residents are Amish.   
   Workers at a recreational-vehicle company last year in LaGrange,   
   Ind., where many residents are Amish.Credit...Brendan   
   Smialowski/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images   
   In the United States, over 204 million people are fully vaccinated,   
   but that’s still only 62 percent of the population, much lower than   
   in most other wealthy countries.   
      
   At the county level, vaccination rates range from about 83 percent   
   in places like Montgomery County, Md., a populous area just outside   
   Washington, D.C., to around 15 percent in rural places like   
   McPherson County in northern South Dakota.   
      
      
   Here is a look at the challenges faced by three counties where,   
   according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data,   
   vaccination rates are among the lowest in the nation. (State figures   
   for those counties may vary from the C.D.C. data because of   
   differences in methodology, reporting lags and other factors.)   
      
   LaGrange County, Ind.   
   Resistance to vaccines is not new in LaGrange County, a rural area   
   along Indiana’s border with Michigan. Just 22 percent of residents   
   are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, and, according to Dr.   
   Tony Pechin, the county health officer, only 15 percent of children   
   in the county are up-to-date on standard vaccines by the age of 2.   
      
   Dr. Pechin said that he had encountered the usual conspiracy   
   theories about vaccines, and that even some longtime patients would   
   not heed his advice to get the shots.   
      
   But the most important factor, he said, is that about half the   
   county’s 40,000 residents are Amish, a group that overwhelmingly   
   rejects the vaccines. Among non-Amish residents, he said, the   
   vaccination rate is 45 to 48 percent.   
      
   Dr. Pechin said that a pharmacy frequented by Amish residents was   
   among the first in LaGrange County to receive doses but had   
   vaccinated just eight people in six months.   
      
   The state health commissioner sent a delegation to meet with Amish   
   leaders in the spring, and the C.D.C. sent another over the summer.   
      
   “When they were done,” Dr. Pechin said of the envoys, “they called   
   me and just said, ‘Good luck, Tony.’”   
      
   Cameron Parish, La.   
   When Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron Parish in August   
   2020, many residents left damaged homes behind and took refuge   
   inland — and have yet to return.   
      
   According to the C.D.C., the vaccination rate is just 17 percent.   
   But Louisiana health officials say that those figures do not take   
   account of the population shift.   
      
   “Although the numbers look awful, they’re not as bad as they appear,   
   because of an outflux of people due to the natural disasters,” said   
   Dr. Lacey Cavanaugh, a regional health officer for the Louisiana   
   Department of Health.   
      
   But if the statistics were calculated to reflect the current   
   populations of Cameron Parish and others ravaged by recent storms,   
   she said, they would probably still show vaccination rates below   
   national averages. Laura destroyed much of the parish’s limited   
   health infrastructure, so for months, health officials administered   
   vaccines in a tent in a hospital parking lot. And for residents   
   consumed by the work of repairing homes and businesses, getting   
   vaccinated fell low on the priority list.   
      
   State health officials have worked to bring vaccines directly to   
   disaster recovery events, and advised residents that getting sick   
   with Covid-19 could make the road back even harder.   
      
   “Once you’re protected” from the virus, Dr. Cavanaugh said, “that’s   
   one less thing for you to worry about.”   
      
   Winston County, Ala.   
   A rural county with a history of going its own way — it refused to   
   join Alabama in seceding from the Union during the Civil War —   
   faces many of the challenges that have hampered the state’s vaccine   
   uptake.   
      
   Vaccine misinformation is still spreading on social media, said Dr.   
   Karen Landers, a regional officer with the state’s Public Health   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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