California churches to open with or without governor’s blessing

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announces new criteria related to coronavirus hospitalizations and testing that could allow counties to open faster than the state, during a news conference at Mustards Grill in Napa, Calif., Monday May 18, 2020. | Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

Meanwhile, less than 66% of Americans are interested in a coronavirus vaccine, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.

While Americans don’t entirely trust the notion of a coronavirus vaccine that is rushed into service, some churches — apparently backed by Attorney General William Barr — have joined the informal revolt against state shutdowns, even as the number of Americans who have died from the pandemic approaches six figures.

More than 1,200 California pastors have sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a “Declaration of Essentiality” stating they will open their church doors on Pentecost Sunday despite the state’s social distancing order, The Los Angeles Times reported.

“We believe you are attempting to act in the best interests of the state, but the restrictions have gone too far and for too long,” Robert H. Tyler, an attorney for one of the churches, wrote the governor on behalf of the pastors. The letter says they will hold services on May 31, with or without Newsom’s permission, but will still encourage social distancing.

Some retail businesses and restaurants began to open on Wednesday as California enter its second phase of economic reopening, while churches are directed to remain closed until phase three, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The letter argues that churches services are as essential as groceries and hardware stores.

The “declaration” comes the day after the Department of Justice warned the governor that targeting churches may be unconstitutional, citing Barr’s statement that religious institutions “must not be singled out for special burdens,” The Los Angeles Times reported.

The federal government continues to count on the development and administration of coronavirus vaccines to eventually ensure that churches and the economy can operate safely while preventing future COVID-19 outbreaks.

NEWS: HHS and @AstraZeneca are collaborating to make available at least 300 million doses of a #coronavirus vaccine called AZD1222, with the first doses delivered as early as October 2020. https://t.co/yZlLnGk8cE

— HHS.gov (@HHSGov) May 21, 2020

The Department of Health and Human Services has already purchased 300 million vaccines — which are still in development and unproven — from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, Reuters reported.

The investment of up to $1.2 billion in the British company is intended to “accelerate the development and manufacturing of the company’s investigational vaccine to begin Phase 3 clinical studies this summer with approximately 30,000 volunteers in the United States,” with the possibility that first doses could be ready as early as October, according to HHS.

The order covers enough doses to vaccinate around 90% of Americans.

That may be more than the market demands. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday showed that a quarter of Americans are “not at all” or “not very” interested in a coronavirus vaccine.

While most respondents said they would be “heavily influenced” to believe whether a vaccine was safe by the Food and Drug Administration or large-scale studies, around 36% said they would be less willing to be vaccinated if President Donald Trump vouched for the safety of the vaccine. If the president said the vaccine was safe, 14% said they would be more interested, Reuters reported.

Of 4,428 Americans polled, fewer than 66% said they were “somewhat” or “very” interested in a vaccine. More than 40% said they thought a vaccine would be more dangerous than COVID-19, according to Reuters.

As of Thursday, nearly 94,000 people have died from the coronavirus and more than 1.5 million people have tested positive in the U.S., according to a John Hopkins tally.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/3cU3fmK