Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
At Least 3 Corporate Giants Say They Will Defy Texas' Ban On Vax Mandates
Bloomberg: IBM, American Air, Southwest Snub Abbott and Back Biden on Shots
International Business Machines Corp., American Airlines Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. will follow President Joe Biden’s mandate requiring that employees be vaccinated against Covid-19, defying an order from the Texas governor blocking such actions. The decisions Tuesday set up an immediate challenge to Republican Governor Greg Abbott by three of the state’s largest employers. Companies with business operations in Texas have been caught between Abbott’s decree and a White House measure that says federal contractors must require the shots. (Schlangenstein, 10/12)
New York Post: Southwest CEO Gary Kelly Blames Biden For Vaccine Mandate
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly says he’s against making his employees take the COVID-19 vaccine, but President Biden has forced his hand with the federal mandate. “I’ve never been in favor of corporations imposing that kind of a mandate. I’m not in favor of that, never have been,” Kelly told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. (Crane, 10/12)
NPR: United Airlines Must Delay Its Vaccine Mandate For Workers Seeking An Exemption
A federal judge in Texas ordered United Airlines to temporarily halt its plan to put unvaccinated employees on unpaid leave if they have requested an exemption from the company's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. United Airlines announced Aug. 6 that the Chicago-based airline was requiring all 67,000 of its U.S.-based employees to be vaccinated. At the time, the airline said about 90% of pilots and 80% of flight attendants had already been vaccinated. But for the small portion of employees that refused to get a coronavirus vaccine and requested either a medical or religious exemption from United, the company said it would place those workers on unpaid leave. (Diaz, 10/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Southwest Pilots Warn Fatigue, Frustration Could Fuel Further Outages
The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which represents Southwest’s 9,000 pilots, has blamed the airline’s management and what it describes as poor planning for the trouble. The union raised alarms over the summer that pilots were being stretched thin by frequent reassignments that have led to longer work days and extended trips. Without changes, problems like this weekend’s could crop up again, union president Capt. Casey Murray said in an interview Monday. (Sider and Calfas, 10/12)
And the Biden administration responds to Texas' attempts to block the mandates —
Bloomberg: Biden Admin. Slams Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Ban On Covid Vaccine Mandates
The White House criticized Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s order banning businesses and other entities from enforcing Covid-19 vaccine mandates even as the Biden administration encourages employers to adopt them. The move fits “a familiar pattern that we’ve seen of putting politics ahead of health,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. She added later: “It’s not based on what is in the interest of the people you are governing. ”Abbott, a Republican, signed an order Monday banning vaccine mandates for workers and for consumers in his state. The order argued that the Biden administration is “bullying” private entities to implement vaccine mandates “in another instance of federal overreach,” setting up a showdown between his state and the federal government. (Epstein, 10/12)
Dallas Morning News: Psaki Mocks ‘Renowned Travel Expert’ Ted Cruz For Blaming Southwest Woes On Pending Vaccine Mandate
The White House mocked Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday over his claim that a federal vaccine mandate that hasn’t taken effect yet caused thousands of Southwest Airlines flight cancellations this weekend. “I know world renowned business travel and health expert Senator Ted Cruz has made that point,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, alluding to his widely ridiculed trip to Cancun as millions of Texans remained in cold homes without electricity after a winter storm. Dallas-based Southwest has blamed bad weather on Friday for a cascade of operational problems that prompted it to cancel more than 2,000 flights. Other airlines had no such problems. (Gillman, 10/12)
In related news —
The Washington Post: Texas Ban On Vaccine Mandates Sharpens Battle Lines
The nationwide fight over coronavirus vaccine mandates gained intensity this week as top Republicans and their conservative allies escalated attacks on public health strategies aimed at curbing the pandemic, drawing corporate America into the center of a burgeoning cultural and political clash. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) sought to ban covid-related mandates in the country’s second-largest state, while Republicans seized on flight disruptions at Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, saying they were caused by employees protesting mandates. That assertion was disputed by company and union officials. (Linskey, Nirappil and Duncan, 10/12)
AP: Texas Order Reflects Growing GOP Vaccine Mandates Hostility
With the governor of Texas leading the charge, conservative Republicans in several states are moving to block or undercut President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for private employers before the regulations are even issued. The growing battle over what some see as overreach by the federal government is firing up a segment of the Republican Party base, even though many large employers have already decided on their own to require their workers to get the shot. The dustup will almost certainly end up in court since GOP attorneys general in nearly half of the states have vowed to sue once the rule is unveiled. (Whitehurst, 10/12)
Houston Chronicle: Houston Healthcare Institutions Weigh Effects Of Gov. Abbott's Order On COVID Vaccine Mandates
Houston hospitals and healthcare institutions that require employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine are still reviewing the implications of Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent executive order, stating that “no entity” can mandate vaccines in the state. Houston Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, the first two Houston-area medical institutions to implement such requirements, say the order will have no immediate effect because their workforce is fully vaccinated. (Gill, 10/12)
Also —
Bloomberg: Vaccines Could Have Spared 22,000 Lives In Texas And Florida
More than 22,000 lives could have been spared in Texas and Florida, states where governors have spoken out against mask and vaccine mandates, if they had vaccinated three-quarters of their adult populations. If 74% of Texans and Floridians had been vaccinated by the end of August, they could have collectively had 95,000 fewer hospitalizations and 22,000 fewer deaths, a study published Oct. 8 in the scientific journal Lancet found. If this rate had been reached by the end of July, as in Massachusetts and Connecticut, Texas and Florida could have seen 650,000 fewer hospitalizations each. The two states had vaccinated less than 60% of their adult population by the time the study was conducted. (Saraiva, 10/12)
