SEATTLE (AP) — The omicron-fueled surge that is sending COVID-19 cases rocketing in the U.S. is putting children in the hospital in close to record numbers, and experts lament that most of the youngsters are not vaccinated. “It’s just so heartbreaking,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious-disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It was […]

NEW YORK (VINnews) – Mayor-elect Eric Adams held a news conference unveiling his plans to combat COVID in New York City as he prepares to take office this weekend. Adams said the plan is to, “Keep our city open. That’s the goal. We can’t shut down our city again.” As for existing mandates regarding vaccines […]

JERUSALEM (JTA) – As the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads across Israel, scientists in the country are worried about a new infectious disease threat: an avian flu that has killed thousands of wild birds migrating through Israel in the past month and has already spread to Israeli poultry farms. Thousands of crane carcasses from […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Israeli government is opposed to allowing the wives of Avreichim to stay home with their children on sick leave. The Knesset rejected a bill submitted by UTJ MK Uri Maklev which proposed allowing a woman who is employed and has a husband studying in kollel to receive sick leave for her […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Less than nine months after the tragic death of 45 people in Meron during Lag Ba’Omer celebrations, police are taking no chances and have prohibited the organizers of the annual memorial for Baba Sali from conducting an event at his tomb in Netivot. The organizers however are now touting the memorial ceremony […]

JERUSALEM (VINnew) — A young woman has been found dead in her Jerusalem apartment. Police say that she took her own life. Her friend stressed that she was not one of the victims of Chaim Walder but added that it is possible the whole story regarding Chaim Walder had aroused deep and difficult emotions as […]

ISRAEL (VINnews) — Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa, wrote a sharply-worded letter to Israeli President Yitzhcak Herzog on Wednesday, saying that contrary to media reports, the Omicron strain is much less dangerous than previous strains, and South African Jews should be allowed to enter Israel. The Rabbi said that other countries such […]

NEW YORK (AP) – CLAIM: New York lawmakers will vote Jan. 5 on a bill that would allow for the “indefinite detention of the unvaccinated.” THE FACTS: The claim is misrepresenting a bill, first introduced in the New York state legislature in 2015, that would allow for the temporary detention of individuals infected, or suspected […]

CHICAGO (AP) — More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to the highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant. The previous mark was 250,000 cases per day, set in […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In the wake of the Israeli government’s attempts to promote a new conversion arrangement which will allow every city rabbi to perform conversions, Chief Rabbi Lau sent a sharp letter to Prime Minister Bennett. Rabbi Lau said that if the head of the Rabbinate’s Conversion Directorate, Moshe Waller, would be fired as […]