All New York City Public Workers Ordered To Get Covid Shots

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Issues Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate For All Public Employees 
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an order mandating that all municipal workers must get vaccinated against Covid-19, setting up a conflict with unions that said they opposed the new rule. Mr. de Blasio’s move on Wednesday ended an existing option of weekly testing and means some 46,000 city workers need to get their first shot by Oct. 29 or potentially lose their jobs, a spokeswoman for the Democrat said. (Vielkind, Mai-Duc and Kamp, 10/20)

The New York Times: Unmasked NYPD Officers Remove Subway Rider After He Confronts Them
A New York City police officer grabs a male commuter by his jacket and pushes him through an emergency exit door at a subway station in Manhattan, video posted to social media shows. “You’re being disruptive,” the officer tells him. The man in the 35-second video clip — which has garnered more than one million views and ushered in a fresh wave of criticism of the police — said in an interview that the confrontation erupted when he asked the officer and his partner to put on masks. (Closson, 10/20)

Bloomberg: Adams, Sliwa Battle Over Vaccine Mandates In NYC Mayoral Debate
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams said he supports coronavirus vaccine mandates and would be open to students going back to remote classes if they don’t get shots in a wide-ranging debate with Republican contender Curtis Sliwa Wednesday night. In the first of two debates between the candidates, Adams sought to paint Sliwa as an unserious opponent and at times refused to engage as he taunted him. On at least two occasions, moderators asked if he wanted to respond directly to Silwa, a radio host and the founder of the Guardian Angels anticrime group, and he declined. (Chen and Akinnibi, 10/21)

In other news about covid mandates —

Fox Business: Advocate Aurora Health Fires More Than 400 Workers Over Lack Of Vaccinations: Reports
Health care company Advocate Aurora Health has fired more than 400 employees because they haven’t been vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to reports. About half the affected workers were part-timers, FOX 32 of Chicago reported, citing information from the Chicago Sun-Times. The move follows a vaccination mandate for health care workers in Illinois that was issued in August by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, the Sun-Times reported. (Calicchio, 10/21)

The Boston Globe: Mass General Brigham Employees Lose Bid To Halt Unpaid Leave Over Vaccine Mandate
On the day that 229 Mass General Brigham employees were placed on unpaid leave for failing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, a federal judge in Boston on Wednesday denied their motion to prevent the company from enforcing its vaccine mandate. Employees of the state’s largest hospital system had until Wednesday to show they had received at least one shot or be placed on unpaid leave. Those who have not received their first shot by Nov. 5 now face termination. A federal lawsuit filed by employees in US District Court on Sunday sought to halt those actions, saying the workers’ disability and religious exemptions had been wrongly denied without explanation or “meaningful interactive process” and “without a showing of undue hardship.” (Alanez, 10/20)

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Vaccine Exemption Bill Heads To Justice
If signed into law as is, House Bill 335 would force any private or public employer in West Virginia to accept religious or medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine if being vaccinated is a requirement of employment for the business. It would be the first piece of state code ever to dictate vaccine practices outside of those for public school registration. It also would be the first time the state codifies religious exemptions for any kind of vaccination. The current Department of Health and Human Resources webpage on vaccine exemptions reads, “non-medical exemptions [for immunization] have been associated with increased occurrence of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks originating in and spreading through schools.” (Coyne, 10/20)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: TSA Works To Increase Employee Vaccination Rate
Last month, President Joe Biden issued an executive order that requires federal employees to get fully vaccinated by November 22. In the order, Biden said he was doing so to ensure “the health and safety of the Federal workforce and the efficiency of the civil service.” About 60% of the TSA’s workforce has been vaccinated, “and that number needs to go quite a bit higher over the next few weeks,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske told CNN in an interview last week. But a TSA spokesman said Monday that the agency doesn’t have information on the vaccination status of all of its employees. Thus, the figure is likely not an accurate reflection of the actual vaccination rate, he said. “Thousands of TSA employees upload their vaccination every week,” TSA spokesman R. Carter Langston said in an email. He added, “We anticipate that the vast majority of TSA employees will get vaccinated.” (Yamanouchi, 10/18)

Bloomberg: Fed Survey Says Vaccine Mandates Contributing To Labor Turnover
Employers across the U.S. are struggling to attract and retain talent, and in some areas, vaccine mandates have made it even more challenging to hold onto workers, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book said Wednesday. The central bank said vaccine mandates were “widely cited” as contributing to high labor turnover, along with child-care issues and Covid-related absences. However, diving into the comments of the five regional Fed banks that mentioned vaccines, the repercussions of mandates varied. (Pickert, 10/20)

Also —

AP: Vaccine Doubts Fuel Doctor's Rise In Minnesota Governor Race
The small-town family doctor angling to become Minnesota’s next governor smiled, leaned into the camera and told his Facebook viewers that Sweden had just paused the Moderna vaccine for people under age 30 over “significant concern” about heart inflammation. Dr. Scott Jensen, clad in a white lab coat, quickly pivoted: “So what happens to military people who are threatened with a dishonorable discharge if they are unwilling to potentially put their heart health at risk?” (Karnowski, 10/21)

The Washington Post: Travis Tritt Cancels Shows With Vaccination And Mask Mandates That Are ‘Trying To Shame People’
During a week in which he announced the cancellation of four concerts at venues with coronavirus safety protocols, country artist Travis Tritt reiterated on Tuesday night to Fox News host Tucker Carlson how he was “putting my money where my mouth is” by not playing at places requiring vaccination, masks or negative coronavirus tests. (Bella, 10/20)