Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden's Health Worker Covid Vaccine Deadline Arrives
AP: Vaccine Mandate To Kick In For First Wave Of Health Workers
Health care workers in about half the states face a Thursday deadline to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine under a Biden administration mandate that will be rolled out across the rest of the country in the coming weeks. While the requirement is welcomed by some, others fear it will worsen already serious staff shortages if employees quit rather than comply. (Lieb and Hollingsworth, 1/26)
AP: Montana Republicans Seek Leniency On Vaccine Mandates
Montana’s governor and its two Republican members of Congress are asking the Biden administration to grant exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate to federally funded health care facilities where losing unvaccinated staff might jeopardize access to medical care. Gov. Greg Gianforte, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale made the request Wednesday in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (Hanson, 1/26)
AP: Alaska, Texas Governors Sue Over National Guard Vaccine Rule
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in seeking to block the U.S. Department of Defense from mandating COVID-19 vaccines for National Guard members who are under state command. The Pentagon has required COVID-19 vaccination for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Attorneys for the two governors, in an amended lawsuit dated Tuesday, say that when National Guard members are serving the state, the federal government has no command authority. The lawsuit said the mandate is an unconstitutional overstepping of bounds. (1/27)
AP: Navy Discharges 1st Active-Duty Sailors For Vaccine Refusal
The Navy said Tuesday that it has discharged 23 active-duty sailors for refusing the coronavirus vaccine, marking the first time it has thrown currently serving sailors out of the military over the mandatory shots. The discharges came as the Navy released new COVID-19 guidance that requires all deployed sailors and air crew to be vaccinated, but relaxes some quarantine practices on ships based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Baldor, 1/26)
The Boston Globe: Boston Police Union Rejects City’s Offer That Would Incentivize Officers To Get Vaccinated
Members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association strongly rejected a proposed agreement with the city Wednesday that would have established a new benefit providing mental health and wellness days for all vaccinated officers. The agreement aimed to provide more incentives for patrol officers to get vaccinated, but it was turned down with more than 800 members voting against it out of about 900 who cast votes, union officials said. “The membership of the BPPA have spoken overwhelmingly to reject the offer that the city has made to us. It is not enough,” union President Larry Calderone told reporters at the union hall in Dorchester after voting closed. (Stoico, 1/26)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Hasn’t Cited Businesses For Defying COVID Vaccine Rules
The L.A. rules made headlines as some of the strictest in the nation. Opponents — including members of the Libertarian Party of Los Angeles County — phoned into the City Council meeting in October to decry the decision and vowed to overturn the ordinance at the ballot box. City leaders were unmoved. “This is no longer negotiable,” City Council President Nury Martinez told reporters in the fall. “The stakes are too high.” Yet more than three months after the council cast its vote, L.A. had not cited any businesses for violating those rules, despite getting hundreds of complaints about sites flouting the requirements. (Alpert Reyes and Evans, 1/26)
In school mandate news —
The Boston Globe: Mostly Educators Of Color Could Face Termination Due To Vaccine Mandate, Boston Teachers Union Says
Boston Public Schools, already struggling to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of its students, could lose dozens of educators of color when the city’s new employee vaccine mandate takes effect Monday, according to the Boston Teachers Union. The district’s potential loss of Black and Latino educators in the middle of the school year represents a significant potential unintended consequence of Mayor Michelle Wu’s policy aimed at achieving a fully vaccinated workforce and has raised questions about whether the district should have done more to coax hesitant educators toward vaccination. The loss could disrupt learning for many students and carry long-term implications in the district, where three-quarters of students are Black or Latino but only 42 percent of educators are. Studies show long-term academic benefits for students of color taught by people of their race. (Martin, 1/26)
AP: Oregon School District Loses COVID Funds For Ditching Masks
A western Oregon school board in a small, rural district that voted to defy state mask-wearing requirements will lose federal COVID-19 relief funds, according to the Oregon Department of Education. Department of Education Director Colt Gill wrote to Alsea School District Superintendent Marc Thielman and board chairman Ron Koetz this week saying federal COVID-19 funding “requires school districts to comply with all state laws and regulations,” The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. (1/26)
Bloomberg: Anti-Maskers Force Children’s Museum Of Denver In Colorado To Close
Outbursts by Covid-19 anti-maskers shuttered a U.S. children’s museum until Feb. 4. “Regrettably, some guests who object to the museum’s mask policy have been inappropriately directing their anger toward our staff,” according to a statement by the Children’s Museum of Denver in Colorado. During the museum’s shutdown, officials said they will “bolster our policies with the hope of preventing this type of behavior.” Almost one in four people screened for Covid-19 across Colorado are receiving positive test results, according to data from the state Department of Public Health and Environment. (Del Giudice, 1/26)
