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The post Marshall Ramsey: The Safe Place appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A Hinds County judge ruled on Thursday that the state giving $10 million in pandemic relief funds to private schools for infrastructure improvements is unconstitutional.

The Legislature passed the bills appropriating this money at the end of the 2022 session in early April, a move that frustrated some advocates and legislators. The funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which gave the Mississippi Legislature $1.8 billion to spend on pandemic response, government services, and infrastructure improvements to water, sewer, and broadband. 

The lawsuit was filed by The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Democracy Forward, and the Mississippi Center for Justice on behalf of Parents for Public Schools, a Jackson-based national nonprofit. Attorneys from these three parties argued that Section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution prohibits allocating any public funds for private schools, making the money allocated earlier this year unconstitutional. They asked the court to block the state from enforcing the law. 

Section 208, the portion of the Mississippi Constitution in question, reads in its entirety: 

“No religious or other sect or sects shall ever control any part of the school or other educational funds of this state; nor shall any funds be appropriated toward the support of any sectarian school, or to any school that at the time of receiving such appropriation is not conducted as a free school.” 

READ MORE: Lawmakers spent public money on private schools. Does it violate the Mississippi Constitution?

At the Aug. 23 hearing, attorneys for the state argued that because the Legislature appropriated the money to the Department of Finance and Administration to run a grant program for private schools, instead of directly to those private schools, these laws did not violate the state constitution. 

The decision from Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Crystal Wise Martin clearly rebukes this argument, pointing out that Section 208 does not specifically name the legislature and that the prohibition on allocating public money to private schools is not limited to any specific government body. 

“The state cannot avoid compliance with our Constitution simply by delegating the power to disburse appropriated funds to an executive agency,” the order reads. 

Joann Mickens, the executive director of Parents for Public Schools, testified at the hearing that any public money spent on private schools hurts public school students due to the historic underfunding of public schools. 

Martin incorporated this argument into the order, pointing to the recent infrastructure issues facing the Jackson Public School District as a symptom of that underfunding. She also referenced the competition between private and public schools, and its subsequent impact on public school enrollment and funding, when granting a permanent injunction in the case, prohibiting the state from dispersing the $10 million. 

The attorney general’s office did not indicate whether they would appeal this decision, with a spokesperson for the agency saying that they are “still evaluating the State’s next steps.”

When asked about a possible appeal by the state, Will Bardwell, an attorney with Democracy Forward, said that he hopes they will let the case rest but are prepared to fight if necessary. 

“The Mississippi Legislature has a long, sad history of undermining public schools,” Bardwell said. “I would like to believe that the attorney general would allow this chapter to end here and now, but that’s up to her. If they go forward, we will fight them every step of the way.”

Bardwell also added that this victory is broader than the specific circumstances of the case. 

“This case is about more than $10 million dollars in infrastructure grants,” he said. “The constitution says that no public money can be appropriated to private schools, and if courts can make an exception for $10 million dollars, then they can make an exception for anything. Judge Martin’s decision made clear that there are no exceptions in the constitution.” 

The post Judge rules public funds to private schools is unconstitutional appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney last week suspended mediation between the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the state’s largest hospital, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi, its largest private insurer.

Chaney on Thursday said he made the decision to suspend it indefinitely because “no progress has been reported to my office in the last six weeks.”

Hours later, however, Chaney sent an updated statement to Mississippi Today saying that while he has suspended mediation, “both parties are continuing talks to settle the network dispute and I believe a prompt settlement agreement is possible.”

If no settlement is reached in the “near future,” the dispute will be the legislature and the Institutions of Higher Learning’s problem to solve, he said.

UMMC terminated its contract with Blue Cross earlier this year and officially went out of network with the insurer on April 1. The move has had a massive impact on Mississippians with Blue Cross, particularly those who use services only available at UMMC, including transplant candidates and children in need of specialty care.

“It’s deplorable that the citizens of our state are being used as pawns to settle this dispute,” Chaney said, echoing comments he made to the House and Senate insurance committees at a joint meeting Oct. 3.

Patrice Guilfoyle, director of communications at UMMC, provided an emailed statement.

“UMMC remains engaged in the mediation process with the goal of bringing the dispute to resolution as quickly as possible,” the statement said.

Blue Cross did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Employees of the insurer have not responded to Mississippi Today’s questions or interview requests in several months.

It’s unclear whether the suspension is a result of the two parties reaching an impasse or because they haven’t communicated with Chaney’s office in over a month.

Speaking to legislators, Chaney also referred to complaints his office has been getting from consumers, which he called “horrendous.” Emails to the department show a parent of two children with cancer and kidney disease describing how the family is facing paying “significant out of pocket costs” to continue getting care at UMMC.

“Going out of state for care requires time off of work and time missed from school. It also means establishing new relationships with physicians and other medical staff,” the parent, whose name and other identifying information were redacted, wrote.

Chaney also told lawmakers that he would be pushing legislation in 2023 to restrict insurance companies and hospitals from terminating contracts more than 90 days before open enrollment on the federal marketplace.

“I will be pursuing legislation in the 2023 Legislative Session to protect consumers in the future from getting caught in the middle of these types of contract disputes,” Chaney wrote in the Oct. 7 letter to UMMC and Blue Cross leadership announcing his decision about suspending mediation. “I told a joint Legislative Committee at a hearing … that MID had not been updated since late August on any progress in the mediation process and that we would pursue legislation. I now find that both parties are opposed to any consumer protection legislation and are lobbying legislators.”

In April, Chaney urged the two parties to bring in an expert and impartial mediator who could preside over the negotiations, which focus mainly on reimbursement rates and the insurance company’s quality care program. The two parties agreed on a mediator — Walter Johnson of the Jackson law firm Watkins & Eager — in May. Mediation officially began in June.

The two parties used the same process during their last contract dispute in 2018, and it took around 10 days to come to an agreement.

Under state agency rules, Chaney is not allowed to directly mediate or help settle disputes.

Editor’s note: Kate Royals, Mississippi Today’s community health editor since January 2022, worked as a writer/editor for UMMC’s Office of Communications from November 2018 through August 2020, writing press releases and features about the medical center’s schools of dentistry and nursing. A longtime journalist in major Mississippi newsrooms, Royals had served as a Mississippi Today reporter for two years before her stint at UMMC. At UMMC, Royals was in no way involved in management decisions or anything related to the medical center’s relationship or contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi.

The post Insurance commissioner suspends mediation between UMMC, Blue Cross appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Last Watch appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Questions….

What to make of the Eddie Robinson Jr.-Deion Sanders dust-up last Saturday in Montgomery? Was it good for the SWAC? And, by the way, is Deion Sanders SWAC? (Robinson says he isn’t.)

Let’s take the last question first. Right now, Deion Sanders — Jackson State’s Coach Prime — isn’t just SWAC; he is the face of the SWAC. He’s the SWAC Daddy. He owns the league.

Jackson State has won 12 straight SWAC games. Most haven’t been close. Last Saturday’s confrontation came after a 14-point JSU victory. That was exceedingly close by 2022 JSU standards. The week before that, JSU whipped Mississippi Valley by 42. The week before that, Grambling went down by 42. Earlier this season Florida A&M, undefeated in the league otherwise, lost by 56 to Jackson State.

Was what happened last Saturday good for the SWAC? Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. It was national news, SportsCenter stuff. TV’s talking heads all discussed it at length. Recruits around the country saw it. You can’t buy that kind of publicity. The last time the SWAC got that kind of national coverage was when, well, it was when Deion Sanders went out and signed the nation’s No. 1 football recruit, Travis Hunter, who had previously committed to Florida State. (You should know that Jackson State has achieved its 5-0 record essentially without the ridiculously talented Hunter, who was injured in the season-opening romp over Florida A&M. He is expected to play again soon.)

READ MORE: In trouncing of Grambling, Jackson State appears the class of the SWAC

Let’s get back to the Sanders-Robinson controversy. For those who don’t know — and I don’t know how you could have missed it — Sanders and Robinson met at midfield for the traditional postgame handshake after JSU’s 26-12 victory at Montgomery. Sanders reached out with his right hand and said “good game.” Robinson shook his hand, but when Sanders appeared to pull him in closer for a hug, Robinson shoved Sanders back with left hand and turned away.

“What was that?” Sanders said, appearing stunned. He then turned and walked off the field. The war of words ensued in respective postgame press conferences with Robinson questioning Sanders’ SWAC bonafides. “I’m SWAC, he ain’t SWAC,” Robinson said, to which Sanders responded,“Who is SWAC if I ain’t SWAC?”

Sanders, ever the showman, showed up at practice this week with a new, blue hoodie that asked on its front, “Who is SWAC?” On the back of the hoodie came the answer, “I am SWAC.”

The hoodie was a big hit on social media, where Sanders has more than 1.3 million followers on Twitter alone.

Frankly, the postgame dust-up was rather tame in the overall scheme of things. That sort of confrontation happens nearly every week in college football. This wasn’t anything like a much less famous SWAC coaching brawl that happened more than half a century ago when Jackson State’s Bob Hill and Alcorn’s Marino Casem tore into each other in full-scale, bare-knuckles brawl at midfield before the game, a fight over which ball would be used. (Yes, that really did happen.)

The more pertinent question these days: How much longer will Deion Sanders be SWAC?

After all, he interviewed for Power Five jobs in the offseason. He is already being touted for several jobs that have come open or probably will come open this season: Georgia Tech, Auburn and Arizona State, among them. Those jobs will pay millions more than what Jackson State can afford to pay — if money is what drives Coach Prime.

My guess is that it’s ego, more than money, that drives Sanders. He has excelled as a player at every level of the sport — and, for that matter, two sports. In two fall seasons, he has shown he can dominate the SWAC. My next guess is that he wants to prove himself at the highest level as a coach, to play for national championships at the FBS level and to possibly move on to the NFL.

Believe this: Sanders does not lack for confidence that he can do all that.

Of all the possibilities, Auburn would appear the best fit for what’s next. Of course, that job isn’t open — yet. Entering Saturday’s game at Ole Miss, current Auburn coach Bryan Harsin has lost six of his last eight SEC games and is now 9-10 at Auburn overall. On the Plains, that won’t cut it.

What makes Coach Prime even more desirable is what he presumably would take with him, including his quarterback and son Shedeur Sanders, a sophomore who has thrown for 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions and possesses the poise of a fifth-year pro. He’s the real deal. And then there’s Hunter, who was pursued heavily by Auburn before he eventually stunned the college football world by signing with Jackson State.

Regardless, these next few weeks will be intriguing where Coach Prime is concerned. He is SWAC — indeed, he is the face of the SWAC — but for how long?

The post Yes, Deion Sanders is SWAC. But the bigger question: For how long? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Officials at the University of Southern Mississippi once considered Gulf Park, the oceanside satellite campus in Long Beach, a “secret weapon” for increasing enrollment at the smallest of the state’s top-tier research universities. 

But last fall, just 1,040 students were pursuing a degree at Gulf Park — a more than 50% drop from 2,297 students in 2011, according to data from USM. 

The number of warm bodies in physical classroom seats at Gulf Park was even lower – just 862 students last fall, down from 1,438 in fall 2018. Mississippi Today has requested this statistic, called unique enrollment, going back to 2011, but USM did not provide it by press time. 

The steep decline represents a missed opportunity to provide higher education to one of Mississippi’s fastest growing and economically vibrant regions, community members told the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees at a listening session on the Gulf Park campus last week.  

“If you walk around, you really don’t see any students,” said Mahdi Razaz, a professor in Gulf Park’s School of Ocean Science and Engineering. “It’s a campus, but you really don’t see anyone. Why?” 

Razaz’s answer: “We don’t have a sense of community here. We don’t see it as the University of Southern Miss.” 

The general state of the 52-acre campus even drew condemnation from Tom Duff, a USM alumnus and the IHL board member leading the university’s ongoing presidential search. He told the audience at the listening session that when it comes to Gulf Park, USM “needs to do better.”

“I’m going to be blunt enough to tell you that one of the great travesties that we are concerned with at IHL is our lack of representation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” he said. “Frankly, we are embarrassed by it, and we want that corrected because this area is too important.” 

A myriad of factors could be driving the enrollment decline, but it’s unclear how closely the university has evaluated the issue. USM hired a new enrollment chief in July named Randall Langston who has said he’s still getting to know the university. 

At Gulf Park, “we are down probably on a lower ebb than what we’ve had in the past,” Langston said in an interview with Mississippi Today, but he did not identify any local factors that could be driving the enrollment decline. 

One potential reason for the drop that some community members gave at the listening session include the aftereffects of a years-long, university-wide reorganization led by former USM President Rodney Bennett that resulted in fewer academic programs at Gulf Park. 

Other speakers noted that local students, not knowing Gulf Park exists, are choosing to attend USM online or go out of state to colleges along I-10 like the University of New Orleans or the University of South Alabama in Mobile. Gulf Park has traditionally served place-based students on the coast who can’t relocate to Hattiesburg for college. 

Kalyn Lamey, a lecturer at Gulf Park, told trustees that she attended college in Alabama because she didn’t know USM had a coastal campus when she graduated from Saint Patrick Catholic High School in Biloxi. 

“I think that it’s very important to have a president who understands the importance of marketing our campus as existing down here,” she said. “It’s not that (students are) choosing between Hattiesburg and Gulf Park, it’s that they simply cannot leave.” 

Langston said that USM has hired a marketing firm called VisionPoint to help Gulf Park reach the community. 

"We want to be front facing, we want to be transparent for students," he said. "The firm helps us understand how do we package that whole ideology in a way that communicates with students, whether that be through email or print communications."

The declining enrollment has also heightened a longstanding feeling among faculty, staff and students on the coast that when it comes to USM’s administration, Gulf Park plays second fiddle to Hattiesburg. 

“There is still this feeling that if we have a program here on the Gulf Park campus that also exists in Hattiesburg, that somehow we are going to be robbing Hattiesburg of students,” Allan Eickelmann, a teaching professor, said at the listening session. “That is simply not true.” 

Despite the community’s desire for a fully fledged university on the coast, officials at USM and IHL have not always supported Gulf Park’s expansion, fearing it would strain already cash-strapped budgets. The Mississippi Community College Board has also historically opposed USM’s expansion on the coast because Gulf Park would create more competition for students.  

Nearly two decades later, MCCB’s fear has not been realized. In fact, enrollment at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Perkinston, a 45-minute drive from Long Beach, has far outpaced Gulf Park. MGCCC enrolled 9,057 students pursuing a degree in fall 2019, according to data from MCCB. 

By one earlier estimate, USM has missed out on enrolling more than a thousand students on the coast. In 1997, a study by the College Board of New York projected that Gulf Park would reach 4,000 enrolled students in 2010. 

Langston sought to put the enrollment decline at Gulf Park in a national perspective. He said that at universities across the country, enrollment has declined since the Great Recession and during the pandemic. 

“The birth rates as you know have been down every year across the board since the Great Recession,” he said. “That impacts Gulf Park as much as any university.” 

Jacob Breland, the vice president for academic affairs at Gulf Park, provided one local factor that could be contributing to the enrollment decline — an increase in online students.

“They just changed classes, from a physical class at Gulf Park to a virtual one,” he said. 

But Langston and Breland could not say where exactly students on the coast are going to college, if not Gulf Park. Langston said the National Student Clearinghouse could provide an answer but that he typically doesn’t pull that data for Gulf Park, only for Hattiesburg. 

At the listening session, some comments focused on how Gulf Park is under utilized in terms of the potential to partner with businesses in the region – multiple people said it has a “huge” untapped potential. 

“This place has been ignored, and we’re not happy about it,” Duff said at the listening session. “It isn’t political to us, it’s right or wrong.” 

Duff noted that the Coast is home to NASA, the country’s largest oil refinery, multiple military bases and a booming hospitality industry – all industries that USM should be seeking to provide with college graduates. 

“You have all of these things going on, and what’s been done?” he said. “Not a whole lot.”

The post College board ‘embarrassed’ by state of USM Gulf Park as enrollment has plummeted appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A Greenville Police Department detective fatally shot while responding to a call Tuesday is the third Mississippi law enforcement member killed in the line of duty this year. 

“Myiehsa Stewart was one of those brave women. She was one who exhibited heart and courage,” Greenville Mayor Errick D. Simmons said during a Wednesday news conference. “She was one who put fear aside to help someone else. In her final act, she leaves a legacy of duty, honor, strength, courage and service.” 

Family members of Stewart, including her father and 3-year-old son, stood by Simmons during the conference, but they declined to comment. 

Stewart was shot Tuesday afternoon while responding to the area near Reed and Rebecca streets, officials said. A Department of Public Safety spokesperson did not know what kind of call Stewart answered. 

Three other people were also shot, but an update on their condition was not immediately available Wednesday. 

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has begun to investigate, which it does for all officer-involved shootings in the state. 

Meridian Police Officer Kennis Winston Croom was shot and killed June 9 while responding to a domestic violence call, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. In January, Lee County school resource officer Johnny Patterson was hit by a car while directing traffic. 

In a Wednesday tweet, Gov. Tate Reeves asked for prayers for Stewart’s family, friends and the Greenville Police Department.  

Simmons said Stewart left the police academy about three years ago and rose to the role of investigator in Greenville. 

“To know her was to love her and respect her work,” he said. 

Grief counseling and spiritual support was held Wednesday morning for all first responders with Greenville Police and the Washington County Sheriff’s Department.

Simmons said his twin brother, Senate Minority Leader Derrick T. Simmons, has spoken with Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell, including about having state troopers in Greenville Friday and Saturday and to help the Stewart family to access financial support for fallen officers. 

Simmons said Greenville’s greatest strength is its ability to come together and support each other. 

“This is what we do,” he said. “This is who we are.” 

The post Detective is third MS officer killed this year appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Dozens of licensed cultivators have about 80,000 marijuana plants growing. Around 1,100 patients have signed up for medical marijuana, and 96 doctors or nurse practitioners are working to certify them. Small growers are complaining a large one has been allowed to skirt the rules.

But the Mississippi State Department of Health has zero investigators — and only three staffers — overseeing Mississippi’s new medical marijuana program.

So far only one testing facility has been licensed and is only partially ready to test products. Plus, the health department’s program director still has another job — running the department’s Office Against Interpersonal Violence.

Health Department officials told the Board of Health on Wednesday that the agency is in a four-month “provisional” period with licensed marijuana businesses. As it finds problems or violations, it’s typically just issuing “corrective actions,” giving marijuana businesses a chance to straighten up without hitting them with fines or sanctions or calling in law enforcement.

The Health Department in a meeting with its board Wednesday pledged transparency in its oversight of medical marijuana, shortly before going into a closed door session to brief the board on specific active marijuana program investigations. During its public meeting, some board members’ questions were deferred to the upcoming executive session.

Some of the Board of Health questions Wednesday for the Health Department on marijuana were prompted by a Mississippi Today article last week about Mockingbird Cannabis LLC, the largest marijuana grower licensed so far in Mississippi. Health Department documents and photos obtained by Mississippi Today showed the company did not follow state growing regulations.

And the department’s response so far — to write Mockingbird Cannabis LLC a letter listing “corrective actions” and not answer questions — has competitors crying foul. They said Mockingbird was allowed to grow and harvest a crop improperly and on the cheap in plastic- and cloth-covered greenhouses that will allow them to beat others growing in buildings to market as the state’s medical marijuana program gets rolling. 

READ MORE: Weed war: Medical marijuana competitors cry foul over Health Department’s response to company breaking rules

During board questions Wednesday, Mockingbird was not mentioned by name, but Health Board member Jim Perry said, “There has to be consequences for not following the law … If we send signals you are going to be economically rewarded by trying to jump over the line, that will provide incentive for others to do the same … If there’s an active investigation we can’t talk about it specifically yet.

” … But if actors are doing things clearly not allowed — outdoor growing is clearly not allowed, you’re not supposed to see it growing from a public area, and you’re supposed to have security, locks, solid doors and walls — that is flaunting and it will create a culture for others, if somebody’s able, to economically benefit from that. If we’re not ready to enforce, then we shouldn’t have let them start growing.”

State Health Officer Daniel Edney, head of the Health Department, responded to Perry, “I wholly disagree we are allowing anybody to get away with breaking the law.”

“If you know what I know, they are not going to economically benefit,” Edney said.

“My attitude is to be very strong as a regulator, but we are not ready — we do not even have investigators,” Edney said. “Right now, if we investigated everybody the majority would fail, primarily the smaller growers … The provisional work is predicated on if there is no evidence of diversion or harm to the public. If there is, there will be forceful action. In the interim, if there is an opportunity to bring people into compliance, we will work with them.”

The Health Department is trying to fill 25 positions for its medical marijuana program, and has three investigators scheduled to start by Nov. 1. But Edney said the agency, along with others in state government, is facing a long lag time of several months in getting new hires “onboarded,” officially hired and on payroll. This is a problem for all positions, including nurses, and not just for medical marijuana, Health Department officials said. Edney said the agency is operating with a 47% job vacancy rate.

Perry earlier in the board meeting said the state Personnel Board is “constipated” in getting new hires in. Later, Edney said of the marijuana program, “I am struggling with a very immature program. It is now stuck in that constipation mode.”

Other cultivators had complained that Mockingbird Cannabis was being allowed to grow, in greenhouses and a plastic covered “hoop house” at a secondary site, 12 miles from its main operations on Springridge Road near Raymond. Other cultivators said they were told they had to limit their cultivation to one site, and that they were not allowed to grow in greenhouses.

On Wednesday, Cannabis Program Director Kris Adcock told board members that Mockingbird has a “tier VI” cultivation license that provides for unlimited growing, or canopy, space. She said this means the company can grow at multiple locations, unlike those with smaller more limited licenses.

Health Department inspectors on Sept. 14, after receiving complaints likely from competitors, found that a Mockingbird grow site was out of compliance with several state growing regulations. Among the department’s findings at the site: Mockingbird was growing plants in greenhouses with tarp or clear plastic walls (some rolled up and some with large holes in them) and lax security that included a loosely chained back fence gate with a padlock. 

State regulations say “all cultivation activities must take place in indoor, enclosed, locked and secure facilities” that have a “complete roof enclosure supported by connecting permanent walls, constructed of solid materials extending from the ground to the roof.” The regulations also specify a long list of stringent security requirements including “commercial grade locks on all external doors.”

Health Department inspectors, records show, also found that Mockingbird was growing plants without the required state “seed-to-sale” tracking tags attached.

Mockingbird representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comments after the Wednesday board meeting. But in a lengthy interview last week, the company’s CEO said it had corrected problems the Health Department pointed out and it plans to have marijuana product available soon — likely the first for the new program.

But Adcock told board members Wednesday that numerous recent reports about marijuana being available to patients soon is probably overly optimistic, in part because there will be a “bottleneck” from lack of testing companies and state investigators.

Adcock was asked by the board about the state’s “seed-to-sale” tracking system, whether it truly tracks every plant grown.

“If they tagged it and put it in the system,” Adcock said.

The post Mississippi medical marijuana regulation ‘stuck in constipation mode’ appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The bivalent COVID-19 booster – which provides protection against both the original strain of the virus as well as the Omicron variant – now accounts for most of the vaccine doses administered around the state. But only about 45,000 Mississippians have gotten it since it became available in September. 

People ages 12 and older are eligible for the new booster shot, as long as it has been at least two months since the last dose. All COVID-19 vaccines are free. 

Mississippi’s low bivalent booster uptake is in line with the national trend: Only about 4% of people eligible in the U.S. have received the new boosters. 

The state is currently seeing low numbers of cases and hospital and ICU admissions, state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said at a meeting of the state board of health on Wednesday. But the winter is likely to bring a surge in cases as people spend more time indoors, and public health experts are worried that thousands of people will die needlessly. 

An analysis by the Commonwealth Fund found that if vaccination rates remain flat over the fall and winter, 75,000 people could die who could have been protected by a booster. 

Mississippians can make an appointment for the bivalent booster at the health department website. Vaccine appointments are also available at the federal website vaccines.gov. 

People can get the updated booster even if they have not gotten an earlier booster shot. That means that if you got two doses of Pfizer, Moderna or Noravax, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson, you qualify for the new booster as long as two months have passed since your last dose. You are also eligible if you got a booster dose more than two months ago.

The updated booster shot was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about six weeks ago. The state health department announced bivalent booster appointments were available at county health departments starting on Sept. 13.  

Byers explained that as COVID-19 circulates and evolves, new variants arise that may evade immunity conferred by a vaccine or prior infection. The new booster provides broader protection than the original vaccine.

The future of COVID-19 vaccines may look a lot like the flu shot, with new versions available regularly to protect against the evolved virus. 

“That’s the kind of thing we see with the flu vaccine every year,” Byers said. “One because your immunity may wane but also because it gives you protection against those current viruses circulating and causing illness.”

So far, the vast majority of bivalent boosters in Mississippi have gone to people over age 50, according to data Byers presented at the meeting. 

The rate of booster uptake has increased week over week since early September but appears to be dropping off as of mid-October. 

Only 52% of Mississippians are fully vaccinated, compared to 67% of Americans, according to the state vaccination report released Oct. 1.

But when it comes to booster uptake, the country as a whole looks like Mississippi: In both the U.S. and in Mississippi, only 48% of people have gotten at least one booster shot. The U.S. lags behind countries like the United Kingdom, where more than 70% of adults have gotten a booster.  

A poll by KFF, a health care policy nonprofit, found that only half of American adults said they have heard about the updated shots. 

Nearly 1 million Mississippians have been infected with COVID-19. The virus has killed at least 13,000 people in the state. 

The post As winter surge approaches, few Mississippians get updated COVID-19 booster appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A suspicious package was delivered to the Washington office of Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson as he prepares to lead another hearing investigating efforts of former President Donald Trump and his supporters to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election.

What is being called the last Jan. 6 Committee hearing before the November midterm elections is scheduled to begin at noon on Thursday. It is slated to be aired by most cable news channels, but not Fox, and will again focus on efforts of Trump supporters to invade the U.S. Capitol to try to block Congress from certifying the election results.

READ MORE: ‘An attempted coup’: Rep. Bennie Thompson tells the world what happened on Jan. 6, 2021

Against that backdrop, various national news outlets reported on Tuesday that law enforcement descended on Thompson’s congressional office after a suspicious package was found. Thompson has been in the national news throughout the year as chair of the Jan. 6 Committee. He was appointed to the post by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Late Tuesday, the Democrat and only second African American from Mississippi to serve in Congress in the modern era, said on social media, “A suspicious package was delivered to my office in D.C., and it is under investigation. All the staffers in my office are safe. We will continue to monitor the issue and update you all with more information.”

A report by CNBC said the U.S. Capitol police investigated mail containing “concerning language” and possible “suspicious powder or substance.” Reports concluded that no dangerous substance was found in the letter.

Thompson has been outspoken in his belief that the depth and seriousness of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol should be revealed for the nation to see. Most Republican politicians in Washington, including members of the state’s congressional delegation with the exception of Rep. Michael Guest, opposed the investigation.

READ MORE: Rep. Bennie Thompson’s Mississippi colleagues have no comment on his Jan. 6 hearings

The committee already has found bombshell evidence, including testimony that Trump tried to go to the Capitol as his supporters were invading on Jan. 6 and that he rejected pleas for hours by Republican elected officials and members of his staff to make a statement to stop the attack.

“We still have significant information that we have not shown to the public,” Thompson told The New York Times.

Among the topics that could be discussed Thursday include information gathered by documentary filmmakers, the role of the Secret Service on that day as Trump expressed interest in going to the Capitol and possible details of the testimony of Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Ginni Thomas testified to the committee behind closed doors.

She supported efforts to throw out the votes of millions of people to ensure Trump was reelected. Her husband was the only member of the nation’s high court to oppose efforts to provide texts such as his wife’s to the committee.

One of the multiple texts from Thomas now in the committee’s possession reads: “Biden crime family & ballot fraud co-conspirators (elected officials, bureaucrats, social media censorship mongers, fake stream media reporters, etc) are being arrested & detained for ballot fraud right now & over coming days, & will be living in barges off GITMO to face military tribunals for sedition.” The email was sent to Trump’s chief of staff.

PODCAST: Rep. Bennie Thompson discusses Jan. 6 committee work

The post Rep. Bennie Thompson deals with ‘suspicious’ mail as he prepares for another high-profile Jan. 6 hearing appeared first on Mississippi Today.