Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More States, Cities, Companies, Schools Refine Their Vaccine Mandates
Los Angeles Times: L.A. To Require City Workers To Get COVID Vaccines Or Tested
Los Angeles will require city employees to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing to show they have tested negative, Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council President Nury Martinez announced Tuesday. Garcetti, announcing the new requirements, cited “an alarming spike in cases among our city workforce. ”The plan is expected to be rolled out through a mayoral order issued Wednesday, following a meeting of a city committee focused on employee relations that will discuss how the new requirements will be implemented. (Alpert Reyes, Dolan and Money, 7/27)
The New York Times: In California, A Mix Of Support And Resistance To New Vaccine Rules
Gabriel Montoya, an emergency medical technician, watched in horror as gasping patients overwhelmed the intensive care unit at Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center in southeastern Los Angeles County late last year. Eight out of 10 admissions were infected with Covid-19 at one point. “Even with all that — with the amount of people who died, the amount we saw intubated,” Mr. Montoya said, he and his fellow union leaders have had trouble getting even half of the 300 rank-and-file members in the hospital’s emergency room vaccinated. (Hubler, Albeck-Ripka and Karlamangla, 7/27)
Modern Healthcare: Ascension Tells Its Workers To Get Vaccinated
Ascension employees will have to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the 146-hospital system announced Tuesday. Ascension's mandate follows many health systems across the country that have also required employees to get vaccinated. The St. Louis-based chain's new policy applies to all employees, including administrative and remote workers, as well as those employed by Ascension subsidiaries. "As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and new variants of the virus emerge, Ascension continues to focus on ensuring our associates are protected—for the safety of patients and visitors, our associates, our families and loved ones, and the community. Like many health systems across the country, including in many of our markets, we are moving to require our associates to be vaccinated against COVID-19," the health system said in a news release. (Kacik, 7/27)
WJCT 89.9 FM Jacksonville: Mayo Clinic In Jacksonville Requiring Employees To Be Vaccinated
The Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville is requiring employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 17 or complete a "declination process." The requirement extends to all Mayo Clinic facilities. Staff who decline to be vaccinated against COVID-19 must complete education modules and will be required to wear masks and socially distance when on campus. Although it didn’t cite an exact percentage, the Mayo Clinic said it has had high rates of voluntary staff vaccination. (Bortzfield, 7/27)
Axios: Cal State Universities Mandate COVID-19 Vaccination For Students, Faculty
The California State University system announced Tuesday it will require students, faculty and staff on-campus this fall to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The school system is the nation's largest four-year public university system, with about 485,550 students on 23 campuses. Tuesday's decision came without the Food and Drug Administration's full approval of the vaccine. (Frazier, 7/27)
Bloomberg: Vaccine Pressure Grows As Patience Runs Thin For U.S. Employers
As a resurgence in Covid-19 cases prompts more U.S. employers to require vaccinations, workers who object face a common response: Get a shot or get another job. In the past six weeks alone, a federal judge in Texas dismissed a lawsuit by employees who had sued over a Houston Methodist Hospital order, and another in Indiana blocked a challenge to Indiana University’s policy for its students and staff. At the same time, a growing number of private and public employers -- including, on Monday, California and New York City -- are telling workers that they must get vaccinated or face mandatory testing. The alternative is to go the route of more than 150 Houston hospital employees who were fired or resigned as of late June after refusing to get the jab. (Young, 7/27)
In other updates on the vaccine rollout —
ABC News: Lollapalooza COVID-19 Rules Depend On Vaccination Status
Organizers of Chicago's Lollapalooza festival have a strict message for music lovers who want to attend all four days of the event: Get vaccinated, or get tested for COVID-19 more than once during the weekend. The outdoor event, which typically draws hundreds of thousands of fans over the course of the festival, runs from July 29 through Aug. 1. To gain entrance to the festival, ticket holders must either show a printed copy of their vaccine card, a vaccine record or a negative COVID-19 test taken in the past 72 hours. (Schumaker, 7/27)
The Hill: Tennessee GOP State Senators Urge Residents To Get COVID-19 Vaccine Amid Surge
More than half of the Republican state senators in the Tennessee legislature signed an open letter on Tuesday calling on residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as cases once again surge in the state and across the country. "Although we have made progress, COVID-19 is not over. There has been a recent spike in the number of cases, which includes the virus’s more contagious delta variant. A strong majority of these cases are among those who are not vaccinated. And virtually all of those currently hospitalized with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated," the lawmakers wrote, according to a report in the Tennessean. (Choi, 7/27)
CNBC: Charles Barkley: Sports Leagues ‘Should Force Guys To Get Vaccinated'
“Yes, I’m vaccinated,” says NBA legend Charles Barkley. “Everybody should be vaccinated. Period.” “The only people who are not vaccinated are just a--holes,” he says. The 58-year-old NBA Hall-of-Famer says he personally thinks sports leagues should force players to get vaccinated. (Scipioni, 7/27)
