California Bill Would Require K-12 School Kids To Get Covid Shots
Meanwhile in Boston a vaccine mandate for city employees seems to have worked, with over 94% of the workforce vaccinated. The city has extended the deadline for a week. Separately, one Bostonian has been removed from a heart transplant list for refusing a vaccine.
Los Angeles Times:
California School Kids Must Get COVID Vaccine Under New Bill
California students would be required to be immunized for COVID-19 under a bill introduced Monday, offering backup to districts such as L.A. Unified that have struggled with their own mandates while igniting familiar backlash from anti-vaccine activists and parents who say the state should not make medical decisions for their children. Senate Bill 871, by state Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), would add COVID-19 vaccines to California’s list of required inoculations for attending K-12 schools, which can be skipped only if a student receives a rare medical exemption. If passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, the measure would supplant a more limited COVID-19 vaccine mandate for schools that was created by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year. (Gutierrez and Blume, 1/24)
The Boston Globe:
More Than 94 Percent Of Boston City Workers Vaccinated, As Mayor Wu Extends Deadline For Showing Proof Of COVID Vaccine
The city of Boston will give its workforce one more week to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before employees are placed on unpaid leave, a temporary but noticeable concession in what has become an acrimonious dispute between Mayor Michelle Wu and several first responders unions. More than 94 percent of municipal employees are already complying with the mandate, Wu said Monday. (Platoff and Andersen, 1/24)
Fox News:
Boston Patient Removed From Heart-Transplant List Because He’s Not Vaccinated Against COVID: Report
The parents of a 31-year-old in need of a heart transplant at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital said their son has been removed from the transplant list because he has not been vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a report. The hospital told CBS Boston that its policy is in line with other transplant programs in the U.S. that require the vaccine because it fits under the lifestyle behaviors of the candidates. The statement said it is the hospital’s goal to "create both the best chance for successful operation and also the patient’s survival after transplantation." David Ferguson, the father of the patient DJ Ferguson, told the station that his son was at the front of the line to receive the organ, but was removed because he refuses to take the vaccine. (DeMarche, 1/25)
KHN:
With A Vaccine Mandate Looming, Nursing Homes Face More Staffing Problems
Jamie Smith, a staffing agency nurse who loves end-of-life care, said she has been warmly welcomed by staffers and residents at Frontier Health & Rehabilitation in this conservative St. Louis suburb. That’s even though she has not been vaccinated against covid-19. But leaders of the nursing home, where 22 residents died from covid before vaccines were available, likely won’t be able to employ unvaccinated people like Smith for much longer. The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 upheld a federal mandate requiring health care workers at facilities that receive Medicaid or Medicare funding to be fully vaccinated. If all staffers — excluding those with approved religious or medical exemptions — aren’t fully vaccinated, the facility will lose that money. (Berger, 1/25)
And Sarah Palin tests positive for covid after allegedly violating New York City's vaccine mandate —
The New York Times:
Sarah Palin, Who Is Unvaccinated, Recently Dined Indoors In New York City Before Testing Positive.
Sarah Palin, who is not vaccinated against the coronavirus, dined indoors Saturday night at Elio’s, an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that regularly draws celebrities, despite New York City’s requirement that all indoor guests show proof of vaccination. She tested positive for the virus on Monday. “We just made a mistake,” said Luca Guaitolini, a manager for the restaurant, who was not working Saturday night but confirmed Ms. Palin’s visit. In an interview on Monday, he said that the restaurant checked vaccination cards for all first-time customers but not for regulars who come each week, and that Ms. Palin had dined with a longtime guest, whom he declined to name. (Krishna, 1/24)
USA Today:
Sarah Palin Tests Positive For COVID, Delaying Trial
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's day in court over defamation claims against the New York Times was put on hold Monday after she tested positive for the coronavirus. Federal Judge Jed Rakoff said the trial, which had been set to start Monday, can begin Feb. 3 if Palin has recovered. "She is, of course, unvaccinated," Rakoff said in announcing three Palin tests came back positive for the virus. Palin, the Republican candidate for vice president in 2008, has urged people not to get vaccinated, telling an audience in Arizona last month that "it will be over my dead body that I'll have to get a shot." She previously was infected last March. (Bacon, Ortiz and Tebor, 1/24)
