Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Flurry Of Vaccine Mandates Announced On Heels Of FDA Full Approval
CNBC: White House Covid Officials Urge Employers To Mandate Vaccines: 'Now Is The Time'
White House Covid officials called for private employers to mandate vaccines at a briefing Tuesday, one day after the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to Pfizer for its coronavirus vaccine. Many companies have responded to this summer’s surge in Covid cases by rolling out vaccine requirements for all or part of their U.S. staff, including Google, Facebook and United Airlines. But others have avoided vaccine mandates, both to give the FDA time to approve a full license and to keep vaccine-hesitant workers from leaving. (Towey, 8/24)
The Hill: American Medical Association Calls For Public, Private Sectors To Mandate Vaccines
The American Medical Association (AMA) on Tuesday urged the public and private sectors to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations, saying the move is key to getting control of the pandemic. The call comes one day after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully approved the Pfizer vaccine, a step that is expected to lead more companies to pull the trigger on mandating vaccination for their employees. The AMA, the country's leading doctors group, is seeking to speed that process along. (Sullivan, 8/24)
In news on business' vaccine mandates —
AP: From CVS To Goldman Sachs, FDA Move Prompts Vaccine Mandates
From Walt Disney World to Goldman Sachs, a flurry of private and public employers are requiring workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 after the federal government gave full approval to the Pfizer shot. And the number is certain to grow much higher. For the past eight months, coronavirus shots were dispensed in the U.S. under emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. Some workers and unions objected to getting the vaccine — and some employers were reluctant to require it — because it had yet to receive FDA full approval. That happened on Monday. (Wiseman and Pisani, 8/24)
The Washington Post: Companies Move To Mandate Coronavirus Shots As FDA Grants Full Approval To Pfizer Vaccine
A growing number of companies were moving to impose vaccine requirements as the Food and Drug Administration issued full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, eliminating one of the central remaining arguments used by the vaccine-hesitant. CVS Health, Deloitte and Walt Disney Co. said they would add or expand vaccine requirements for workers — while in a sign of increasing vaccine requirements at sporting events, Louisiana State University said Tuesday it will require all spectators at Tiger Stadium over the age of 12 to provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative test. (McGregor, 8/24)
The New York Times: Goldman Sachs Mandates Vaccines For Its Workers And Visitors
Goldman Sachs told employees on Tuesday that it will require anyone who enters the bank’s U.S. offices, including clients, to be fully vaccinated starting on Sept. 7, making it the most prominent Wall Street bank to issue such a broad requirement. The announcement, in a memo obtained by The New York Times, came a day after the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a move that many large corporations had been seeking before making mandates. (Hirsch, 8/24)
Axios: United CEO: Mandating COVID Vaccine Was A No-Brainer
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby tells Axios that his early decision to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all of his nearly 67,000 U.S. workers was an easy one: He's already seen too many employees die. “For me, the fact that people are 300 times more likely to die if they’re unvaccinated is all I need to know," Kirby said. "It's about saving lives." (Muller, 8/25)
The Wall Street Journal: Disney Strikes Vaccine Deal With Unions, As Labor Groups Negotiate Mandates
Walt Disney Co. DIS 0.46% reached a deal with unions representing workers at Disney World in Florida that will require workers to show proof of Covid-19 vaccinations, among the first private-sector unions to reach such a deal. The deal between Disney and the Services Trades Council Union will require around 40,000 workers to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 22, according to the agreement, with exemptions considered for medical or religious reasons. (Hufford and Abdel-Baqui, 8/24)
Reuters: Credit Suisse Tells Unvaccinated U.S. Staff To Work From Home, Memo Says
Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) has asked all non-vaccinated staff in the United States to work from home beginning Sept. 7, as it pushes back its return-to-office plans over concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. A full return to the office has been delayed until Oct. 18, Switzerland's second-largest lender told U.S. employees last week, while those without the COVID-19 shot have been told to stay home until receiving the vaccination or new guidance. (8/25)
On education and local government mandates —
NPR: An LAFD Captain Is Under Investigation After An Anti-Vaccine Mandate Video Rant
A Los Angeles City Fire Department captain who railed against the city, the department and his own union leaders over an imminent vaccine mandate for all city workers is under an internal investigation. "I am so hopping mad right now, you have no idea. My head could pop," Capt. Cristian Granucci told viewers as he launched into a 12-minute video rant on Monday in which he threatened to sue the local firefighters union and the city. (Romo, 8/25)
Axios: Ohio State University To Mandate Vaccines For Students, Staff
Ohio State University will require all students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the fall semester, the institution announced Tuesday. OSU, with some 66,000 students and 30,000 staff, is one of the first large state universities to impose such a widespread vaccine mandate that isn't just for students, the New York Times notes. (8/24)
AP: Philadelphia School Board Votes To Require Vaccine For Staff
The Philadelphia School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to mandate that its 20,000 teachers and staff members be vaccinated against COVID-19, but details of when the mandate would go into place are still being worked out, school district officials said. The move comes amid other state and local mandates for teacher vaccinations in the last week including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s mandate Monday that teachers and school staff statewide be vaccinated by Oct. 18 or submit to regular testing. New York City Public Schools also issued a no-option vaccination mandate for the city’s 148,000 public school teachers and staff Monday. (8/24)
Also —
CNBC: Covid: CDC Study Shows Unvaccinated People 29 Times More Likely To Be Hospitalized
Unvaccinated people are about 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 than those who are fully vaccinated, according to a study released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new study, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, also found that unvaccinated people were nearly five times more likely to be infected with Covid than people who got the shots. The results are based on data from Los Angeles County between May 1 and July 25, the agency said. (Lovelace Jr., 8/24)
NBC News: Vaccine Hesitancy Unlikely To Disappear Because Of FDA Approval
The time federal regulators spent studying vaccines may never satisfy some people's concerns, said Brian Labus, an infectious disease epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "If you don't already trust the government, why would it matter now?" Labus said. "If the ultimate goal in their mind is to not get vaccinated, there are a multitude of reasons they will come up with." While some health experts are optimistic a fully approved Covid vaccine can change minds, they said their guidance to patients and the public remains the same. (McCausland and Ortiz, 8/24)
