Something remarkable has been happening in a pocket of rural Southwestern Colorado.  Bruce Evans is chief of the Upper Pine Fire Protection District in the city of Bayfield, which is 18 miles east of Durango in La Plata County. Both his 33-person crew and the approximately 12,000 people they serve in the Four Corners region look to their chief  — who has 37 years of experience in emergency services —as a trusted leader.  Which is why 200 people came when the district hosted what was reportedly one of the first COVID-19 vaccine clinics at a firehouse in the state earlier this year.  Read editorial, including commentary by Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH. >>

Many people have asked: Is it legal for employers or the government to require the shots? Center Director Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH says, “The answer to your question, are vaccination mandates legal, is yes. They are clearly legal under U.S. law and under the U.S. Constitution, and that has been litigated repeatedly and essentially always comes up with the same answer.”  He said things have been that way since the early 1900s, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld smallpox vaccine mandates.  View the interview>>