Some Maine Lawmakers Proposing A 5 Year Ban On Mandatory Vaccines

Over the last six months, millions of Americans have gotten doses of the three COVID-19 vaccines approved for (emergency) use in the United States. However, some people are still hesitant about getting their jabs.

For most of the people who are hesitant, they are concerned about how rapidly the vaccines were developed and approved. There are concerns about side effects that may surface years from now.

As a result, a group of Republican lawmakers, led by Representative Tracy Quint (of Hodgdon), have proposed a five year ban on making the vaccinations mandatory in Maine.

According to WMTW, the concern that is noted by this group of lawmakers is the concern that the vaccines may affect reproductive health.

The bill (H. P. 635) says it:

prohibits mandatory vaccinations for coronavirus disease 2019 for 5 years from the date of a vaccine’s first emergency use authorization by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration in order to allow for safety testing and investigations into reproductive harm.

Many government organizations say there is nothing to be concerned about. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement saying there is:

no evidence that any of the COVID-19 vaccines affect future fertility.

On Tuesday (May 11th), the proposal will be discussed before the Maine Legislature's Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services.

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LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.

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Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

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Categories: Offbeat