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Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy as the Precious Metal Shines

Three junior gold mining investments to buy as precious metals increasingly shine in the market feature two funds and a stock. The three junior gold mining…

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Three junior gold mining investments to buy as precious metals increasingly shine in the market feature two funds and a stock.

The three junior gold mining investments to buy offer heightened risk and reward due to the volatile nature of commodities that traditionally serve as inflation hedges. When inflation climbs, precious metals such as gold and silver usually rise, as well as shine.

Metal prices were “quite favorable” in first-quarter 2023, with average prices per ounce of $1,892 for gold and $22.55 for silver, according to a recent research report of BofA Global Research. Gold futures soared to $2,032.60 on Tuesday, April 11, marking a 24.5% jump since falling to $1,630.90 about six months ago on Nov. 3. BofA Global Research proved prescient with its prediction several weeks ago that the price of gold would top $2,000 per ounce.

Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy as the Commodity’s Price Climbs High

“Gold’s price moves based on several factors,” said Bob Carlson, who leads the Retirement Watch investment newsletter and recommends different portfolios of his favored stocks and funds. “Many think of gold as an inflation hedge and, in general, it is. But gold also is sensitive to other factors. When interest rates rise, that often hurts gold’s price because it doesn’t pay income. Gold also is correlated with the amount of liquidity in the economy. When the Fed reduces liquidity, as it did in 2022, that tends to put downward pressure on gold.”

Carlson, who also serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fairfax County (VA) Employees’ Retirement System, said gold’s price tends to rise when inflation climbs in the United States. The price of gold zooms yet more when longer-term inflationary expectations increase in the United States, he added.

Despite inflation rising through most of 2022 and staying up, expectations for inflation remained fairly low, Carlson said. Futures markets indicated that most investors expect inflation’s ascent to be temporary. They most likely anticipate inflation falling fast, so expectations of low long-term inflation hurt gold in 2022, he added.

Since gold is a “crisis hedge,” that outlook by investors recently has driven up the precious metal’s price, Carlson said. Banking woes in the United States and elsewhere, rising probability of a recession in 2023, verbal sparring between leaders in America and Russia, China and Iran, as well as other risks, have heightened uncertainty to give gold a boost, he added.

Retirement Watch leader Bob Carlson meets with Paul Dykewicz.

Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy as Shields

“Investors should have some exposure to gold in their portfolios unless they believe the potential for crises is low,” Carlson said. “Stocks of gold mining companies tend to move in the same direction as gold but are more volatile. The stocks will rise more than gold in bull markets and decline more than gold in bear markets.”

Gold mining funds basically serve as leveraged plays on the precious metal, Carlson counseled. The companies have high fixed costs but low variable costs. When the price of gold rises above a company’s cost of production, most of the price hike goes to the miner’s bottom line, he added.

But many mining companies now make their revenues less volatile by entering into contracts that sell much of their future production at fixed prices. They’ll profit less from gold price increases but reduce the fallout from price decreases.

Shares of mining companies do not always move in line with gold. A company may have management or labor problems, carry too much debt, or have other characteristics that cause its share price to decline when gold’s price is rising.

Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy Offer Risks and Rewards of Volatility

ETFs provide many ways to invest in stocks of gold mining companies. For the adventurous investor, there are ETFs that aim to earn two to three times the change in indexes of the companies, on both the upside and downside, through leverage. There also are funds that sell short the shares for those who are bearish on the sector.

Most investors should look at funds that either actively invest in gold miners or aim to track an index of the miners. Almost all the ETFs invest in miners of other precious metals mining or some diversified miners aside from pure gold mining companies.

Those who want to be aggressive can put some money in an ETF that focuses on smaller mining companies, known as junior miners. These, of course, have more risk, because younger companies are more vulnerable than the established miners, Carlson counseled. But the junior miners also provide greater potential for gains, especially if they are acquired by larger miners, he added.

ETFs that focus on junior miners include Sprott Junior Gold Miners (NYSE Arca: SGDJ) and VanEck Junior Gold Miners (NYSE: GDXJ), Carlson said.

Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy: Sprott Junior Gold Miners

Sprott Junior Gold Miners Exchange Traded Fund seeks investment results that correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the Solactive Junior Gold Miners Custom Factors Index (Ticker: SOLJGMFT). That index aims to track the results of small-capitalization gold companies whose stocks are listed on regulated exchanges.

The index uses a rules-based methodology that is designed to focus on junior gold stocks with market capitalization between $200 million and $2 billion. In addition, the Index emphasizes junior gold producers with the strongest revenue growth and junior exploration companies with stock price momentum.

Another feature of using the fund is that the index it tracks is reconstituted on a semi-annual basis each November and May. That reallocation incorporates the latest factor scores into the selection and weighting process.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

The fund most recently featured 43 holdings and held $118 million in net assets. The top 10 holdings in the fund accounted for 54.6% of its total assets. The five top positions and their weightings in SGDJ are Torex Gold Resources Inc. (OTCMKTS: TORXF), 6.38%; Equinox Gold Corp. Ordinary Shares Class A (NYSE: EQX), 6.26%; OceanaGold Corp. (OTCM: OCANF), 6.01%; Perseus Mining Ltd. (XTSE: PRU), 5.95%; and Novagold Resources Inc. (NYSE: NG), 5.66%.

Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy: VanEck Junior Gold Miners

VanEck Junior Gold Miners is an ETF chosen not only by Carlson but by Michelle Connell, who heads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management. For those seeking an aggressive ETF with heightened risk and rewards due to its focus on junior gold miners, GDXJ offers “long-term upside potential,” Connell told me.

“Many countries are looking at moving away from the U.S. dollar,” Connell said. “This de-dollarization could lead to lower demand for U.S. securities. Lower demand for U.S. securities means higher interest rates will be needed to attract investors.”

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Increased interest rates will “put a floor” under inflation, Connell counseled. She predicted that inflation will stay fairly high or exceed 2% going forward.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Geo-Political Risk Lifts Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy

“Gold will be attractive not only because of continued inflation, but because of geo-political risk,” Connell continued. “GDXJ has lower risk than its peers due to its high level of current investors and it trades almost 7.5 million shares a day.”

Such liquidity is important if investors want quick access to their money without taking a “haircut” on the seller’s proceeds, Connell said. On a one-, three- and five-year basis, GDXJ has been less volatile than Sprott Jr. Gold Miners ETF, she added.

“Due to gold’s recent appreciation, I would not be rushing in to buy these funds,” Connell said.

Instead, investors could start with a small position and dollar-cost average into the position size that they think political uncertainty and inflation warrant. The top five holdings and their weightings in GDXJ are Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS), 7.05%; Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC), 5.25%; Alamos Gold Inc. Class A (NYSE: AGI), 4.70%; Endeavor Mining PLC (XTSE: EDV), 3.88%; and B2Gold Corp. (NYSE: BTG), 3.72%. 

Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy: SSRM

SSR Mining Inc. (NASDAQ/TSX: SSRM), headquartered in Denver, Colorado, describes itself as a free-cash-flow-focused gold company with four producing operations located in the United States, Turkey, Canada and Argentina. Those mining operations, combined with a global pipeline of quality development and exploration assets, have helped the company during the last three years to produce an average of more than 700,000 gold-equivalent ounces annually.

SSRM has 10 analysts following it with an average price target of $21 a share, offering investors roughly 35% upside in the next 12-18 months, Connell counseled. For the past 10 years, the company has outperformed its peer group, she added.

“Another positive… is that the company does not overpay for acquisitions,” Connell continued.

The company, too small to be a senior gold miner and too big to fit neatly into the role as a junior gold miner, is characterized by BofA as a mid-tier gold producer.

SSRM seeks positive cash flow when pursuing other miners to purchase, Connell said. Since diversifying well beyond Argentina in 2014, the miner has consistently delivered production that beats expectations, she added.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

However, SSRM faces some fallout due to the closure of its mine in Turkey, Connell said. The company has taken a hit due to the earthquake-related closure of its mine in Turkey, Connell continued.

Connell told me she found it interesting that 16 hedge funds own the stock. One fund sold the stock last year when it appeared fully valued. Since then, the same hedge fund bought shares again.

Key appeals of SSRM are its strong cash balance of $600 million, along with $4.1 billion in stockholders’ equity, Connell continued.

Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy Omit SPDR Gold ETF

SPDR Gold ETF (GLD) is far from a junior gold mining investment, but it is a current recommendation of Mark Skousen, PhD, in his Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter. GLD is up close to 25% since his recommendation of GLD in Forecasts & Strategies.

“Gold is a long-term hedge against inflation and geo-political instability,” Skousen wrote to his subscribers in the April 2023 edition of his investment newsletter.

Mark Skousen heads Forecasts & Strategies.

GLD, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in November of 2004, has traded on NYSE Arca since December 13, 2007. SPDR Gold is the world’s largest physically backed gold exchange-traded fund.

The fund’s sole assets are physical gold bullion and sometimes cash. Since GLD is not leveraged to the price of gold to the extent of miners, its gains in the last year were not as volatile as the exploration and production companies or the junior miners.

Three Junior Gold Mining Investments Aim to Tap into Rising Gold Prices

Jim Woods, who heads the Bullseye Stock Trader advisory service, recommended a gold stock last week, along with a related call option. The Bullseye Stock Trader advisory service, offering both recommendations of stocks and options, is nearing a 7.7% gain in the stock in less than two weeks. 

Jim Woods heads Bullseye Stock Trader.

Leaked Pentagon Documents Show U.S. Government Leaders Expect Stalemate in Russia’s War Against Ukraine

A leaked U.S. Defense Department (DoD) document that became the source of social media posts offered a dim view of ending Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine anytime soon. Another indicator that the war could drag on is Russia’s successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Tuesday, April 12, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Further fallout may follow Finland’s official joining if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Tuesday, March 4, more than doubling the alliance’s border with Russia. The move came after Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, as Finland sought to enhance its national defense.

Despite spurring Finland’s leaders to seek NATO membership to deter Russia’s brutal aggression, the administration of Vladimir Putin warned of “retaliatory measures.” Russia now faces the prospect that NATO forces could be positioned near its border, if needed to defend Finland.

“Finland is stronger and safer within the alliance, and the alliance is stronger and safer with Finland as its ally,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

With a goal of avoiding a direct conflict with Russia, Finland President Sauli Niinistö said the country’s desire is to promote stability in Europe. Finland, along with Sweden, sought expedited NATO membership just weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Sweden, in contrast, has been slowed in its progress to join NATO by dissent from Turkey. Despite both Finland and Sweden having reputations and traditions as peaceful nations, Turkey claims both countries, especially Sweden, are weak in responding to terrorist organizations. Turkey identified Kurdish groups among those that pose a security threat to its national interests.

In early March 2023, Sweden presented a draft law to its parliament aimed at outlawing support of or participation in terrorist organizations. Sweden’s leaders expressed hope such action would reduce Turkey’s opposition to it joining NATO.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Finland in a tweet for joining NATO, which he called the “only effective security guarantee in the region amid Russian aggression.”

CDC Shows the Number of People with Vaccinations Against New Bivalent Variant of COVID-19 Keep Rising

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported rising vaccination rates against COVID-19 and its bivalent variant. The CDC announced that 270,045,602 people, or 81.3% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of April 5. Those who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 230,418,632 of the U.S. population, or 69.4%, according to the CDC. Also on April 5, the United States had given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 52,023,617 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 20.1%. Vaccinations tend to help consumers feel comfortable to shop at stores, travel and otherwise spend money.

The three junior gold mining investments to buy offer investment hedges against inflation and calamitous crises. Any of the three junior gold mining investments to buy could create outsized profits but also incur significant setbacks, depending on where inflation goes and what international crises may cause chaos.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. He is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The uplifting book is great gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases.

The post Three Junior Gold Mining Investments to Buy as the Precious Metal Shines appeared first on Stock Investor.

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International

Beloved mall retailer files Chapter 7 bankruptcy, will liquidate

The struggling chain has given up the fight and will close hundreds of stores around the world.

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March 10, 2024

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It has been a brutal period for several popular retailers. The fallout from the covid pandemic and a challenging economic environment have pushed numerous chains into bankruptcy with Tuesday Morning, Christmas Tree Shops, and Bed Bath & Beyond all moving from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.

In all three of those cases, the companies faced clear financial pressures that led to inventory problems and vendors demanding faster, or even upfront payment. That creates a sort of inevitability.

Related: Beloved retailer finds life after bankruptcy, new famous owner

When a retailer faces financial pressure it sets off a cycle where vendors become wary of selling them items. That leads to barren shelves and no ability for the chain to sell its way out of its financial problems. 

Once that happens bankruptcy generally becomes the only option. Sometimes that means a Chapter 11 filing which gives the company a chance to negotiate with its creditors. In some cases, deals can be worked out where vendors extend longer terms or even forgive some debts, and banks offer an extension of loan terms.

In other cases, new funding can be secured which assuages vendor concerns or the company might be taken over by its vendors. Sometimes, as was the case with David's Bridal, a new owner steps in, adds new money, and makes deals with creditors in order to give the company a new lease on life.

It's rare that a retailer moves directly into Chapter 7 bankruptcy and decides to liquidate without trying to find a new source of funding.

Mall traffic has varied depending upon the type of mall.

Image source: Getty Images

The Body Shop has bad news for customers  

The Body Shop has been in a very public fight for survival. Fears began when the company closed half of its locations in the United Kingdom. That was followed by a bankruptcy-style filing in Canada and an abrupt closure of its U.S. stores on March 4.

"The Canadian subsidiary of the global beauty and cosmetics brand announced it has started restructuring proceedings by filing a Notice of Intention (NOI) to Make a Proposal pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada). In the same release, the company said that, as of March 1, 2024, The Body Shop US Limited has ceased operations," Chain Store Age reported.

A message on the company's U.S. website shared a simple message that does not appear to be the entire story.

"We're currently undergoing planned maintenance, but don't worry we're due to be back online soon."

That same message is still on the company's website, but a new filing makes it clear that the site is not down for maintenance, it's down for good.

The Body Shop files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

While the future appeared bleak for The Body Shop, fans of the brand held out hope that a savior would step in. That's not going to be the case. 

The Body Shop filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the United States.

"The US arm of the ethical cosmetics group has ceased trading at its 50 outlets. On Saturday (March 9), it filed for Chapter 7 insolvency, under which assets are sold off to clear debts, putting about 400 jobs at risk including those in a distribution center that still holds millions of dollars worth of stock," The Guardian reported.

After its closure in the United States, the survival of the brand remains very much in doubt. About half of the chain's stores in the United Kingdom remain open along with its Australian stores. 

The future of those stores remains very much in doubt and the chain has shared that it needs new funding in order for them to continue operating.

The Body Shop did not respond to a request for comment from TheStreet.   

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Government

Are Voters Recoiling Against Disorder?

Are Voters Recoiling Against Disorder?

Authored by Michael Barone via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The headlines coming out of the Super…

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15 hours ago

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March 9, 2024

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Are Voters Recoiling Against Disorder?

Authored by Michael Barone via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The headlines coming out of the Super Tuesday primaries have got it right. Barring cataclysmic changes, Donald Trump and Joe Biden will be the Republican and Democratic nominees for president in 2024.

(Left) President Joe Biden delivers remarks on canceling student debt at Culver City Julian Dixon Library in Culver City, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2024. (Right) Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump stands on stage during a campaign event at Big League Dreams Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nev., on Jan. 27, 2024. (Mario Tama/Getty Images; David Becker/Getty Images)

With Nikki Haley’s withdrawal, there will be no more significantly contested primaries or caucuses—the earliest both parties’ races have been over since something like the current primary-dominated system was put in place in 1972.

The primary results have spotlighted some of both nominees’ weaknesses.

Donald Trump lost high-income, high-educated constituencies, including the entire metro area—aka the Swamp. Many but by no means all Haley votes there were cast by Biden Democrats. Mr. Trump can’t afford to lose too many of the others in target states like Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Majorities and large minorities of voters in overwhelmingly Latino counties in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley and some in Houston voted against Joe Biden, and even more against Senate nominee Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas).

Returns from Hispanic precincts in New Hampshire and Massachusetts show the same thing. Mr. Biden can’t afford to lose too many Latino votes in target states like Arizona and Georgia.

When Mr. Trump rode down that escalator in 2015, commentators assumed he’d repel Latinos. Instead, Latino voters nationally, and especially the closest eyewitnesses of Biden’s open-border policy, have been trending heavily Republican.

High-income liberal Democrats may sport lawn signs proclaiming, “In this house, we believe ... no human is illegal.” The logical consequence of that belief is an open border. But modest-income folks in border counties know that flows of illegal immigrants result in disorder, disease, and crime.

There is plenty of impatience with increased disorder in election returns below the presidential level. Consider Los Angeles County, America’s largest county, with nearly 10 million people, more people than 40 of the 50 states. It voted 71 percent for Mr. Biden in 2020.

Current returns show county District Attorney George Gascon winning only 21 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan primary. He’ll apparently face Republican Nathan Hochman, a critic of his liberal policies, in November.

Gascon, elected after the May 2020 death of counterfeit-passing suspect George Floyd in Minneapolis, is one of many county prosecutors supported by billionaire George Soros. His policies include not charging juveniles as adults, not seeking higher penalties for gang membership or use of firearms, and bringing fewer misdemeanor cases.

The predictable result has been increased car thefts, burglaries, and personal robberies. Some 120 assistant district attorneys have left the office, and there’s a backlog of 10,000 unprosecuted cases.

More than a dozen other Soros-backed and similarly liberal prosecutors have faced strong opposition or have left office.

St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner resigned last May amid lawsuits seeking her removal, Milwaukee’s John Chisholm retired in January, and Baltimore’s Marilyn Mosby was defeated in July 2022 and convicted of perjury in September 2023. Last November, Loudoun County, Virginia, voters (62 percent Biden) ousted liberal Buta Biberaj, who declined to prosecute a transgender student for assault, and in June 2022 voters in San Francisco (85 percent Biden) recalled famed radical Chesa Boudin.

Similarly, this Tuesday, voters in San Francisco passed ballot measures strengthening police powers and requiring treatment of drug-addicted welfare recipients.

In retrospect, it appears the Floyd video, appearing after three months of COVID-19 confinement, sparked a frenzied, even crazed reaction, especially among the highly educated and articulate. One fatal incident was seen as proof that America’s “systemic racism” was worse than ever and that police forces should be defunded and perhaps abolished.

2020 was “the year America went crazy,” I wrote in January 2021, a year in which police funding was actually cut by Democrats in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver. A year in which young New York Times (NYT) staffers claimed they were endangered by the publication of Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) opinion article advocating calling in military forces if necessary to stop rioting, as had been done in Detroit in 1967 and Los Angeles in 1992. A craven NYT publisher even fired the editorial page editor for running the article.

Evidence of visible and tangible discontent with increasing violence and its consequences—barren and locked shelves in Manhattan chain drugstores, skyrocketing carjackings in Washington, D.C.—is as unmistakable in polls and election results as it is in daily life in large metropolitan areas. Maybe 2024 will turn out to be the year even liberal America stopped acting crazy.

Chaos and disorder work against incumbents, as they did in 1968 when Democrats saw their party’s popular vote fall from 61 percent to 43 percent.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/09/2024 - 23:20

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Government

Veterans Affairs Kept COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Place Without Evidence

Veterans Affairs Kept COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Place Without Evidence

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The…

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March 9, 2024

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Veterans Affairs Kept COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Place Without Evidence

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reviewed no data when deciding in 2023 to keep its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place.

Doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in Washington in a file image. (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

VA Secretary Denis McDonough said on May 1, 2023, that the end of many other federal mandates “will not impact current policies at the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

He said the mandate was remaining for VA health care personnel “to ensure the safety of veterans and our colleagues.”

Mr. McDonough did not cite any studies or other data. A VA spokesperson declined to provide any data that was reviewed when deciding not to rescind the mandate. The Epoch Times submitted a Freedom of Information Act for “all documents outlining which data was relied upon when establishing the mandate when deciding to keep the mandate in place.”

The agency searched for such data and did not find any.

“The VA does not even attempt to justify its policies with science, because it can’t,” Leslie Manookian, president and founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund, told The Epoch Times.

“The VA just trusts that the process and cost of challenging its unfounded policies is so onerous, most people are dissuaded from even trying,” she added.

The VA’s mandate remains in place to this day.

The VA’s website claims that vaccines “help protect you from getting severe illness” and “offer good protection against most COVID-19 variants,” pointing in part to observational data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that estimate the vaccines provide poor protection against symptomatic infection and transient shielding against hospitalization.

There have also been increasing concerns among outside scientists about confirmed side effects like heart inflammation—the VA hid a safety signal it detected for the inflammation—and possible side effects such as tinnitus, which shift the benefit-risk calculus.

President Joe Biden imposed a slate of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in 2021. The VA was the first federal agency to implement a mandate.

President Biden rescinded the mandates in May 2023, citing a drop in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. His administration maintains the choice to require vaccines was the right one and saved lives.

“Our administration’s vaccination requirements helped ensure the safety of workers in critical workforces including those in the healthcare and education sectors, protecting themselves and the populations they serve, and strengthening their ability to provide services without disruptions to operations,” the White House said.

Some experts said requiring vaccination meant many younger people were forced to get a vaccine despite the risks potentially outweighing the benefits, leaving fewer doses for older adults.

“By mandating the vaccines to younger people and those with natural immunity from having had COVID, older people in the U.S. and other countries did not have access to them, and many people might have died because of that,” Martin Kulldorff, a professor of medicine on leave from Harvard Medical School, told The Epoch Times previously.

The VA was one of just a handful of agencies to keep its mandate in place following the removal of many federal mandates.

“At this time, the vaccine requirement will remain in effect for VA health care personnel, including VA psychologists, pharmacists, social workers, nursing assistants, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, peer specialists, medical support assistants, engineers, housekeepers, and other clinical, administrative, and infrastructure support employees,” Mr. McDonough wrote to VA employees at the time.

“This also includes VA volunteers and contractors. Effectively, this means that any Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employee, volunteer, or contractor who works in VHA facilities, visits VHA facilities, or provides direct care to those we serve will still be subject to the vaccine requirement at this time,” he said. “We continue to monitor and discuss this requirement, and we will provide more information about the vaccination requirements for VA health care employees soon. As always, we will process requests for vaccination exceptions in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies.”

The version of the shots cleared in the fall of 2022, and available through the fall of 2023, did not have any clinical trial data supporting them.

A new version was approved in the fall of 2023 because there were indications that the shots not only offered temporary protection but also that the level of protection was lower than what was observed during earlier stages of the pandemic.

Ms. Manookian, whose group has challenged several of the federal mandates, said that the mandate “illustrates the dangers of the administrative state and how these federal agencies have become a law unto themselves.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/09/2024 - 22:10

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