Covid Rules Eased In San Francisco; Boston Vax Mandate Paused By Judge

Los Angeles Times: San Francisco Eases Mask, Vaccination Proof Rules As Omicron Recedes
San Francisco will ease its COVID-19 mask order for vaccinated gym members and office workers, and will relax rules requiring proof of vaccination when entering large indoor sports arenas, restaurants, bars and gyms, allowing unvaccinated people to enter if they show proof of a recent negative test. The move comes as the Omicron surge is flattening after weeks of record-setting infections. San Francisco has one of California’s most robust rates of vaccination and has a relatively high booster rate. (Lin II, 1/27)

AP: Judge Pauses COVID Vaccine Mandate For Certain City Workers 
Boston’s vaccination mandate won’t go into effect on Monday for some city workers, following a judge’s order Thursday. A Massachusetts Appeals Court judge issued a temporary stay on the mandate for unionized firefighters and certain unionized police officers challenging it. The judge ruled the vaccine mandate will be paused pending a review of a lower court order. (1/27)

The Hill: Mississippi Bill Would Bar Requiring Vaccination For Employees With 'Sincerely Held Religious Objection' 
Mississippi's Republican-controlled state House on Thursday passed a bill that would bar public and private employers from requiring workers with a “sincerely held religious objection” to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The proposed bill, HB 1509, would also prohibit a number of government entities, including state agencies, public colleges and city and county governments from withholding services or denying employment to unvaccinated people. (Oshin, 1/27)

In other news about covid mandates —

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Culinary Union Members Call On Health District To Investigate Hotel And Casinos For Violating State Law
Culinary union members called for justice and daily room cleanings during a rally Thursday in front of the Southern Nevada Health District. Hundreds of guest room attendants and other hotel and casino workers gathered in the parking lot around 5:30 p.m., demanding the department investigate employers for violating a law that in part requires hotels and other lodging facilities in Clark and Washoe counties to have daily room cleanings. Union leaders said they’ve heard from workers that daily room cleanings have not been happening. The law, which was approved in August 2020 and was amended in June, requires daily room cleanings, enhanced cleaning, hand washing, masks and training, and testing and contact tracing. It covers more than 300,000 workers in Nevada, according to the union. (Wilson, 1/27)

Los Angeles Times: California Settlement Limits ICE From Re-Detaining Immigrants Freed Because Of COVID
Immigration authorities must preserve coronavirus safety measures that allow for social distancing and vaccination mandates for staff and detainees at two California detention facilities, according to a class-action lawsuit settlement reached Thursday. The settlement also limits the authority of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to re-detain hundreds of immigrants who were released as a result of the lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups filed the lawsuit in April 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, to challenge unsafe conditions at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility in Bakersfield and the Yuba County Jail, north of Sacramento. (Castillo, 1/27)

New Hampshire Public Radio: N.H. Lawmakers’ Spread Of COVID-19 Misinformation Shows No Sign Of Stopping
As Speaker Sherman Packard testified before the House Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday on his proposal to bar the state from enforcing federal vaccine mandates, his comments seemed like an effort to establish the Republican-led House’s doctrine on vaccine policy: “We reject mandates, but we work to accommodate those people who would have a legitimate reason, whether it be religious, medical, or actual fear of this vaccine,” Packard said. “I know there are some people out there who have legitimate fear of this vaccine.” (Rogers, 1/28)

Also —

The Washington Post: Sarah Palin, Unvaccinated And Having Tested Positive, Again Dines Out, Flouting NYC Health Measures
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who is unvaccinated and revealed this week that she tested positive for the coronavirus, dined again at a New York City restaurant Wednesday night, flouting local health and safety measures calling for positive cases to isolate. Elio’s, an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side, has faced blowback after Palin dined indoors at the establishment on Saturday, in violation of the city’s dining mandate for people to show proof of vaccination. ... Palin was seen dining at a heated outdoor area of the restaurant. The city’s vaccine requirement does not apply for outdoor dining. (Bella, 1/27)

Politico: NYC Mayor Blasts Palin For Dining While Infected With Covid-19 
New York City Mayor Eric Adams criticized Sarah Palin on Thursday for visiting multiple Manhattan restaurants while infected with Covid-19.Palin sat for at least three al fresco meals over the last week while ignoring the city's rules and recommendations to prevent the spread of the virus. On Thursday, the mayor's office said her behavior was putting New Yorkers at risk. (Anuta, 1/27)

The Washington Post: Marvel Star Evangeline Lilly Attended Anti-Coronavirus Vaccine Mandate Rally 
Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly — known for her role on the TV series “Lost” and as the Wasp in Marvel’s films — said she went to an anti-vaccine-mandate rally in D.C. last weekend to support “bodily sovereignty.” The demonstration, which took place on the National Mall, appeared to be the same event where political scion and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. referenced Anne Frank in a speech to imply that Jews had more freedoms during the Holocaust than unvaccinated Americans do today. (Kennedy later apologized after he was widely rebuked, including by the Auschwitz Memorial.) (Cheng, 1/28)

The Hill: Jewish Groups Sound The Alarm As Anti-Vaccine Mandate Movement Invokes Holocaust 
Jewish groups are on high alert after a spate of recent incidents in which individuals opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates have invoked the Holocaust to argue against vaccinations.  The most notable example came last weekend when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at an anti-vaccine mandate rally in Washington, D.C. appeared to suggest that unvaccinated Americans have fewer freedoms than Anne Frank.  (Schnell, 1/27)

AP: Anti-Mask Anger Forces Colorado Children's Museum To Close 
A Colorado children’s museum is the latest casualty of harassment by people angry over mask mandates designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus, for decades a popular downtown attraction primarily devoted to those age 8 and under, temporarily closed on Wednesday because of escalating harassment of staff by adult visitors angry over a mandate requiring anyone age 2 and older to wear a mask in indoor public spaces. (Anderson, 1/27)

The Boston Globe: Father Of Unvaccinated Man Denied Heart Transplant Says His Son Has Received A Heart Pump
The family of a Massachusetts man who claims he’s been denied a heart transplant because he’s not vaccinated against COVID-19 is speaking out this week, saying they are devastated over a hospital policy that says he isn’t eligible to have the procedure. David Ferguson Jr., known as D.J., has been receiving treatment at hospitals around Boston since late November after suffering complications from atrial fibrillation and deteriorating heart failure, according to a fundraising appeal set up by his mother, Tracey Ferguson. The 31-year-old was told by Brigham & Women’s Hospital officials that he is ineligible for the transplant, according to the fundraising post, because he has not been vaccinated against the deadly virus. (Bowker, 1/27)