Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law Wednesday that will provide disability benefits to first responders who contracted COVID-19 before vaccines were available. House Bill (HB) 3162, known as the Act-of-Duty Bill, previously only provided disability pay for various physical and mental conditions, including heart attacks. Specifically, the law provides benefits for those [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Thursday blocked President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees. The decision came from an en banc rehearing of the appeal, which was previously decided in favor of the government by a three-judge panel of the same court. The case turned on the central issue [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Tuesday issued a 10-2 opinion affirming a lower court’s decision to dismiss claims for federal hazard pay based on exposure to COVID-19 made by a group of federal correctional officers from Connecticut. The court considered “whether theory of recovery satisfies one of specifically delineated categories for [...]

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhnom Ghebreyesus Saturday spoke with the Director of China’s National Health Commission Ma Xiaowei about the COVID-19 surge the country is currently facing. During the meeting, Chinese officials provided information to WHO on the outbreak in China. The information included “outpatient clinics, hospitalizations, patients requiring emergency treatment and [...]

The Pentagon Tuesday ended its COVID-19 vaccination requirements for US Armed Forces members, 96 percent of whom are now vaccinated against the illness. The Department stated in a memo that it will continue to promote COVID-19 vaccination among the armed forces. The memo alters the impact of the National Defence Authorisation Act which came into [...]

The arguments made by the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry for limited regulation and rapid deployment of self-driving car technology bear a striking resemblance to the discussion about the US regulatory response to Covid-19 vaccines. Both appeal to exigent circumstances as a reason for rapid action to save lives, even if that means throwing some precautions [...]

In India, with the daily Covid-19 cases plummeting about 90 percent from the peak of the first wave last year, the pandemic appeared to be under control by March 2021.  In April 2021, however, India saw the world’s worst second wave, with new cases exceeding 400,000 a day, breaking the world record for the most [...]

The recent return of the military to the national political scene happens in a moment in which the democratic regimes, in Brazil and in the world, suffer the decline of trust in liberal-democratic institutions. The current militarization has been associated by some authors with a current global, systemic and structural conjecture with variations, from a [...]

The government of the state of Meghalaya introduced a policy that made it compulsory for individuals to get vaccinated before they resume work. The policy was declared unconstitutional by the High Court of Meghalaya in June 2021 on the basis that it violated a myriad of fundamental rights including the right to privacy, right to [...]

The pandemic has created a jigsaw puzzle of fear, anxiety and uncertainty among the patients; however, the doctors during this havoc have tirelessly worked as frontline warriors saving millions of lives while putting theirs at risk. Since the pandemic began, over 1,500 doctors have selflessly sacrificed their lives only to find themselves standing at a [...]