Latest news with #MattDrew
Daily Mail
25-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Women's Euros ticket sales 'mirroring men's tournament' - with over 500,000 sold ahead of kick-off next month
Ticket sales for the upcoming Women's European Championship in Switzerland have already come close to matching those of Euro 2022 before a ball has even been kicked – and, according to industry figures, the ticket acquisition data is 'mirroring what you would see from a men's Euros'. Just over 500,000 tickets have already been sold for this summer's tournament, compared to the 575,000 sold during the Lionesses' successful campaign on home soil three years ago. It's a monumental figure given several factors – particularly the smaller appetite for football in Switzerland compared to the UK, and the fact that the stadiums themselves are smaller. England's first game against France next Saturday – the fourth best-selling fixture so far – is being held at Letzigrund, a stadium with a capacity of 30,000. In comparison, their opening group-stage match at Euro 2022 took place at Old Trafford, where 68,871 were in attendance. Matt Drew, who oversees business development at Viagogo, the leading ticketing marketplace, revealed that only 15 per cent of ticket sales have been for the showpiece final at Basel's St Jakob-Park. This reflects a more even distribution of purchases compared to the 2022 event, where a 'disproportionate' number of tickets were concentrated on the final. Drew said: 'In England in 2022, 87,000 people went to the final. So that had a really significant impact on total ticket sales. They're going to beat that number this year with smaller venues. What that tells you is that there's a much more significant spread of attendance across the games. 'We're seeing a huge amount of interest in the opening matchday, the opening game, and the other one on that day, and obviously, just for the other big group-stage games throughout the tournament. It's a sign of the considerable maturity of the event. The ticket acquisition data is mirroring what you would see from a men's Euros or a mature event. 'It's a sign of tremendous progress in the space and the fact that the growth of women's football is being driven by fans going to games.'
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bills targeting childhood vaccine and mask requirements advanced by NH House Republicans
House Bill 361 would forbid public schools in the state from requiring students to wear masks in school. The bill does not apply to safety equipment worn in sports or during science lab activities. (Getty Images) During a busy two days of voting last week, the New Hampshire House of Representatives approved several Republican-backed bills seeking to lift or prevent certain public health-centered requirements for children. Two of these bills target childhood vaccination requirements. The first, House Bill 357, was passed by the House on March 27 in a 195-174 vote. The bill would forbid the state's commissioner of health and human services from choosing which vaccines children in New Hampshire are required to receive. All mandatory vaccines would have to be chosen and enacted by the Legislature under this bill. If it were to pass — and the Legislature doesn't enact further legislation requiring them — varicella, Hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccines would stop being mandatory among children in July 2026. Diphtheria, mumps, pertussis, poliomyelitis, rubella, rubeola, and tetanus vaccines would remain mandatory as they are required by state statute, not the commissioner. The Legislature previously gave the commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to choose what vaccines are mandatory for children in addition to the ones already mandatory by state statute. Lori Weaver is the current health commissioner. Children can be exempted from these requirements if a physician certifies that the vaccine would be detrimental to their health or if the parents say it goes against their religion, per state law. That would not change under this bill. Speaking in favor of the bill on the House floor, Rep. Matt Drew, a Manchester Republican, argued the legislation 'is not actually about vaccines.' 'This bill is about the exercise of state power, specifically the power to violate the bodily autonomy of innocent children,' Drew said. 'We may choose to do that. This body has the power to do that given a good reason. … But it is not something that should be done lightly.' He argued the Legislature should not let the Department of Health and Human Services decide when to do that. 'This is our job,' he said. 'We should do it publicly and by statute.' Only one Democrat — Rep. Jonah Wheeler of Peterborough — voted in favor of the bill. Rep. Lucy Weber, a Walpole Democrat, argued this bill would 'remove decision-making from a nonpartisan evidence-based process led by doctors, epidemiologists, infectious disease experts as it has been done for decades and hand it over to the state Legislature to be a political football.' HB 357 will now be considered by the Senate. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee is expected to hold a hearing on it soon. The full Senate and governor will also need to approve the bill for it to be enacted. House Bill 679, which was also passed last week, seeks to bar the state and health and human services commissioner from requiring any vaccine for children that has not been shown in clinical trials to prevent transmission of a disease. It was approved through Republican support (Wheeler was again the only Democrat voting in favor) in a 204-165 vote. Rep. Trinidad Tellez, a Hooksett Democrat, argued that even when a vaccine doesn't directly prevent transmission, if it prevents someone from getting the illness in the first place, it prevents that person from transmitting it. 'Vaccines are most effective when most of us get vaccinated because collectively that provides herd immunity,' Tellez said. 'When most people are vaccinated there is less of that illness in the community, and as a result, there is decreased transmission.' She said the bill 'isn't based on science and introduces an impossible standard.' 'Vaccines are not created nor tested to prevent transmission,' she continued. 'Rather they decrease disease severity and how much we see of it.' She said the bill will likely eliminate mandates for most vaccines as she believes pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to go back and test for transmission. Drew, the Manchester Republican, was again in favor of this bill. 'Once again, this bill is not about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines,' Drew said. 'This bill is about whether the state should mandate — force — children to get certain vaccines.' HB 679 is also on its way to the Senate, and the Health and Human Services Committee is set to hold a hearing on it. The bill will need the full Senate and governor's approval to be enacted. House Bill 361, which was passed in a 203-164 vote last week, would forbid public schools in the state from requiring students to wear masks in school. The bill does not apply to safety equipment worn in sports or during science lab activities. The bill comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic where many schools instituted mask mandates in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus. Those mandates saw intense backlash from parents who believed this was government overreach, that masks weren't effective, and that they had adverse effects on kids. However, the issue proved contentious as other parents were concerned about the risk of their child contracting the virus and thus wanted their classmates wearing masks. Rep. Kristen Noble, a Bedford Republican, argued these masks negatively impacted students' learning, speech, physical health, emotional well-being, and social development. She also said that students who can't wear masks because of their disabilities need to be protected from future mask mandates. 'We cannot let this be a local decision,' Noble said. 'A proper risk-benefit analysis for children must be done based on facts and not fear. That is a task that should be left to experts at the state. School boards were in the middle of two very vocal opinions on masking. No matter what the school boards decide, they lose. They should never have that responsibility placed on them again.' She said the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Public Health wrote in a letter recently that 'decisions on face masks should be based on individual choice and informed by a person's own assessment and acceptance of risk from infectious diseases rather than from universal requirements.' She pointed out that the bill doesn't stop anyone from wearing a mask, including those who are immunocompromised or who want additional protection due to a family member being sick or immunocompromised. However, the bill does stop schools from requiring others to wear a mask to protect those people. This bill was also passed against the wishes of most House Democrats, who argued the bill doesn't take into account the changing nature of medical and scientific understanding and takes away the freedom of school districts to respond to health situations in their district. Two hundred of the bill's 203 votes in favor came from Republicans; two Republicans voted against it. Rep. Hope Damon, a Croydon Democrat, asked her colleagues ahead of the vote to 'please pause for a moment' and 'step back from the understandably strong emotions around our shared concerns around pandemic experiences and the impacts of masking during that time.' She argued school districts should have the flexibility to require masks if extreme circumstances occur in their local community. 'Imagine that you are an 8-year-old second-grade student, Lydia,' Damon said. 'You've had surgery to remove a brain tumor and are now undergoing chemotherapy. As many of us personally know, chemo saves lives, but also has profound effects. Most commonly, it greatly reduces immunity, which makes our little girl very vulnerable to any contagious illness. Lydia, who has always thrived in school, has not been able to attend for over a month. Now, her oncologist has authorized her return to school with the qualification that she and her classmates routinely wear masks to protect her from what would likely be a fatal illness. Lydia is elated, yet under HB 361, Lydia would not be able to return to school because the school district could not require her fellow students to mask.' HB 361 will also be considered by the Senate with the Senate Education Committee set to hold a hearing on it soon. It also needs the full Senate and governor's approval to become law.
