MARQUETTE — To given students a much-needed break during the COVID-19 pandemic, Northern Michigan University has scheduled a wellness day for Wednesday.

President Fritz Erickson made the announcement earlier this week after the Associated Students of Northern Michigan University sent him a formal recommendation for the university to cancel classes on two wellness days.

“As you may recall, Northern began the semester a week later and canceled spring break so that there would be less travel among students, faculty and staff, and a lesser risk of travelers bringing COVID-19 to other places or back from their spring break destinations,” Erickson said in a Tuesday letter to students, faculty and staff. “I know students are really missing spring break and I’ve been waiting all winter to be able to call a snow day, but no snow.

“After discussing the ASNMU proposal with the Executive Council, we have decided to try a wellness day for students on Wednesday, March 31. As would be done during our traditional spring break, Northern will remain open for business, but no day or evening, or on-campus, off-campus or Global Campus classes will be held.”

Faculty will let students know how to complete the work scheduled for that day, he wrote.

“If the effort goes well and students find it helpful to their state of mind, we’ll consider another in April,” Erickson said.

He also cautioned the students to take proper safety protocols.

“The COVID-19 update this week is Marquette County numbers are going up, but NMU’s active case numbers are back to low levels,” Erickson said. “Please follow pandemic protocol not only when on campus, but also when out in the community as well. If you are traveling, please develop a plan for how to keep the people you interact with at your destination site and upon your return safe.

“This might include testing and/or self-quarantining. And, of course, be diligent about following pandemic protocols on both ends of your travel. Having individuals bring COVID-19 and variants of the virus back to campus is an ongoing concern.”

‘Snowbirds’ offered help

The Luce-Mackinac-Alger-Schoolcraft District Health Department said that with the onset of spring and the return of many “snowbirds” to the Upper Peninsula, it wants those individuals to know it is ready to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to them.

Any resident — year-round or seasonal — in those four counties age 16 and older can sign up on the vaccination wait lists at LMASDHD.org. Those with medical conditions will be prioritized.

As appointments become available, individuals will be called or receive an email asking them to go online to schedule an appointment. Anyone experiencing issues with accessing the online forms may call these offices: Luce County, 906-293-5107; Mackinac County, 906-643-1100; Alger County, 906-387-2297; or Schoolcraft County, 906-341-6951.

Free COVID testing is available at the LMAS Regional Lab in Newberry Monday through Friday. Interested individuals should call 906-293-5107, extension 363, to make an appointment. Testing also is available at the four hospitals in the LMAS counties.

“Even when you are fully vaccinated, please help take care of each other by continuing to mask and social distance in public places or with people who do not live in your immediate household,” LMAS urged residents in a news release. “With the more easily transmissible B.1.1.7 variant in the Upper Peninsula, it is more important than ever that people get vaccinated and follow the simple protocols that have been in place over the last year.

“Remember, masks, distancing and the vaccine will only work when a significant majority of us do these small things to protect not just ourselves, but each other.”

Attorneys general take on social media

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 11 other attorneys general calling on Facebook and Twitter to take stronger measures to stop the spread of anti-vaccine and COVID-19 disinformation on social media platforms.

In Wednesday letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the attorneys general urged both leaders to immediately and fully enforce company guidelines against vaccine misinformation to “prevent needless infection and death” and to hasten the road to recovery.

According to the letters, false information regarding the safety of coronavirus vaccines by “a small number of individuals lacking medical expertise and often motivated by their own financial interests” has reached more than 59 million followers on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter, which they said threatens to undermine vaccine acceptance and harm the nation’s recovery.

The letters indicated that people spreading anti-vaccine information have used these platforms to disproportionately target people of color and Black Americans — communities that, the attorneys general noted, have already suffered the worst health impacts of the virus and whose vaccination rates are already lagging.

“The availability of safe and effective vaccines means the end of this pandemic is finally in sight,” Nessel said in a statement. “However, disinformation threatens that. The rampant disinformation being disseminated across social media platforms directly undermines all efforts to safely and quickly distribute vaccines and limit further loss of life.”

The letter alleges specific instances of Facebook and Twitter having failed to enforce their existing guidelines, including:

≤ Twitter and Facebook have yet to remove from all their platforms the accounts of prominent anti-vaxxers who have repeatedly violated the companies’ terms of service. Digital media research groups estimate that as of March 10, 12 anti-vaxxers’ personal accounts and their associated organizations, groups and websites are responsible for 65% of public anti-vaccine content on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

≤ Facebook has failed to consistently apply misinformation labels and popups on Facebook pages and groups that discuss vaccines or COVID-19. For example, the company neglected to apply warning labels on dozens of Facebook groups that anti-vaxxer Larry Cook created for his followers. At the same time, the company has mistakenly flagged pro-vaccine pages and content in ways that have undermined pro-vaccine public education efforts.

≤ Facebook has allowed anti-vaxxers to skirt its policy of removing misinformation that health experts have debunked by failing to prevent them from using video and streaming tools like Facebook Live and sites like Bitchute, Rumble and Brighteon to evade detection.

The letter came as Zuckerberg, Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were set to testify Thursday at a joint hearing of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee and the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding social media’s role in promoting extremism and misinformation.

Veterans to benefit from act

Bipartisan legislation supported by U.S. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills, to expand free COVID-19 vaccine access to veterans and their families has been signed into law by President Joe Biden.

The SAVE LIVES Act, which Peters cosponsored earlier this month, will permit the Department of Veterans Affairs to allocate free vaccination services to all veterans, veteran spouses, caregivers and recipients of the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

SAVE LIVES stands for Strengthening and Amplifying Vaccination Efforts to Locally Immunize all Veterans and Every Spouse.

The act will enable them to get COVID-19 vaccines regardless of whether they are enrolled in VA health care. The bipartisan bill will also direct the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that the VA’s vaccine allocation matches this potential increase in the eligibility criteria.

“Our veterans and their families have sacrificed so much in service to our country,” said Peters, a member of the Armed Service Committee, in a statement. “I am pleased President Biden has signed into law the SAVE LIVES Act, which will allow all veterans, their caregivers and their loved ones to receive free COVID-19 vaccines through the VA. This legislation will make a difference as we work to expand access to vaccines and defeat this virus.”

The SAVE LIVES Act will expand the VA’s authority to provide vaccines to:

≤ veterans who are not eligible for enrollment in VA’s health care system, including veterans without compensable service-connected disabilities and veterans who have incomes above a certain threshold;

≤ caregivers of veterans who are enrolled in various VA home-based and long-term care programs;

The SAVE LIVES Act will expand the VA’s authority to provide vaccines to:

≤ veterans who are not eligible for enrollment in VA’s health care system, including veterans without compensable service-connected disabilities and veterans who have incomes above a certain threshold;

≤ caregivers of veterans who are enrolled in various VA home-based and long-term care programs;

≤ veterans living abroad who rely on the Foreign Medical Program;

≤ spouses of veterans; and

≤ CHAMPVA recipients, who are spouses or children of permanently and totally disabled veterans or of veterans who have died from service-connected disabilities.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.