7 Things: Shelby supporting Britt’s campaign with millions of dollars, Brooks campaign casts doubt on recent polls, UAB doctor says vaccine better than natural immunity and more …

7. COVID-19 hotspots developing in the northern and western U.S.

• While Alabama, Florida and Texas have seen a decline in the spread of the coronavirus over the last few months, virus hotspots are developing across the country. This outbreak leads experts to believe that no one is out of the woods yet, but the media seems less than interested in focusing on the fact California’s COVID-19 rate is more than double Florida’s in the same way they were blaming Florida for the nation’s numbers.
• No region seems to be safe. A Vermont college says a Halloween party spike has led to the cancellation of social gatherings, while in Michigan, the Detroit metro area is seeing a spike in cases. New Mexico has an above-average vaccination rate but has run out of ICU beds, and Colorado’s governor signed an executive order allowing any resident 18 or older access to a COVID-19 booster shot.

6. Carnival cruises are starting again in March

• In Mobile, Carnival Cruise Line operations will resume on March 5, 2022. Cruises sailing from Mobile were initially shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
• Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said, “Alabamians are ready to cruise again and they want to do it from their home state.” He added that they “have been working closely with our partners at Carnival to help clear the way for their return.” Stimpson has regularly stressed how important the cruise industry is for the Mobile economy.

5. Temporary hold granted on January 6 records

• The U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C. has granted a hold on documents related to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol being released. It was set for documents to be released today by the National Archives.
• The documents were going to be released to a House committee investigating the riot, but former President Donald Trump appealed the court’s decision to not grant executive privilege.

4. Palmer: “Build Back Better” will bring us to bankruptcy

• U.S. Representative Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) has criticized the cost of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan and the negative impact it could have on the country. Palmer and other Republicans expressed these concerns in a letter to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
• Palmer stated, “The nation will have to build back from the brink of bankruptcy, should this legislation ever become law,” and added that he’s requesting the CBO to conduct an analysis of the spending “so that Congress and the American people have a real understanding of just how much this monstrosity will cost. Independent groups have consistently said this bill is not paid for and will increase the deficit. This analysis will expose all of the bill’s budget gimmicks and hopefully end this misleading effort to run our country over the fiscal cliff.”

3. The hard sell on vaccines for children is on

• Some within the medical community, including at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are advocating for children ages five to 11 to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Dr. Karen Landers of the Alabama Department of Public Health advised that 18% of current cases are “Children in the 0-17 age group.” Recent reports show that over a million kids have received the vaccine so far.
• UAB’s David Kimberlin said that even if children have had the coronavirus previously, “please go get the vaccine, because that’s the way you can best protect yourself and ensure you’re not going to get infected again.” Kimberlin added that “if you have an opportunity to prevent” coronavirus infection, “I would think that any parent would want to prevent those risks.”

2. Brooks camp doesn’t believe the latest Senate polling

• Data from multiple polls has been released, one internal and one independent, showing U.S. Senate candidate Katie Britt leading in the race narrowly ahead of U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville), but Brooks’ campaign doesn’t believe the latest numbers.
• While discussing the internal poll from the Britt campaign that was released first, Brooks campaign co-chair Stan Mcdonald called it a “piece-of-crap poll,” and added that it’s “deceptive. It is illusory. It is not real. It is garbage.” The internal poll has been criticized for being an online survey, but two other polls show a tightening race as well.

1. Shelby getting behind Katie Britt

• In the U.S. Senate race, it was anticipated that U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) would support Katie Britt, as she formerly served as his chief of staff, but now Shelby will put $5 million of his own campaign funds behind her campaign. This financial support is good news for her campaign, which will clearly be flush with cash.
• A spokesperson for Shelby, Blair Taylor, said Shelby “will continue to back her as the race develops in whatever ways are most appropriate, as he believes she is the best candidate to serve the people of Alabama.” U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) has said he factored in Shelby’s support of Britt when he launched his campaign.