Now Vaccine Mandates Are Blamed For Supply Chain Delays
Postal service and logistics firms express concern that vaccine mandates will cause delays in the supply chain and mail. And more lawsuits are filed against the federal rules. In California, state officials are examining exemptions to vaccinations granted by doctors.
Reuters:
U.S. Postal Service Warns Vaccine Rules Could Affect Deliveries
The U.S. Postal Service raised concerns on Wednesday that the Biden administration's new rules requiring large employers to require vaccinations or weekly COVID-19 testing could result in "high levels of absenteeism" and affect deliveries. Last week, the Labor Department issued rules that require businesses with 100 or more employees to mandate weekly testing or vaccines by Jan. 4. The rules also require that employers ensure unvaccinated employees working in-person must wearing masks by Dec. 5. (Shepardson, 11/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Many Logistics Firms Are Avoiding Covid-19 Vaccine Requirements Amid U.S. Mandate Debate
Freight transportation companies are cautiously stepping around a Covid-19 vaccination requirement while trade groups fight the federal mandate in court. Companies including United Parcel Service Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and others that manage warehouse staffers, truck drivers and other employees across logistics networks in general aren’t requiring employees outside of some office workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Many firms say they are encouraging staffers to get vaccinated while mandating protection measures in workplaces. (O'Neal, 11/10)
CNBC:
Retail And Trucking Trade Groups Sue Biden Administration To Overturn Vaccine Mandate
National industry groups representing retail, truckers and independent businesses sued the Biden administration Wednesday over its vaccine and testing requirements for private companies, claiming they would cause “irreparable harm.” The National Retail Federation, the National Federation of Independent Business and the American Trucking Associations, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in their lawsuit that businesses would lose employees, incur “unrecoverable compliance costs” and face deteriorating conditions in “already fragile supply chains and labor markets.” (Kimball, 11/10)
The New York Times:
States Sue U.S. Over Vaccine Mandate For Health Care Workers
Ten states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to block the Biden administration’s coronavirus vaccine mandate for health care workers, on the heels of a court decision that temporarily halted the broader U.S. requirement that workers of all large employers be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. The new suit, filed in U.S. District Court in eastern Missouri, claims the rule issued last week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services “threatens with job loss millions of health care workers who risked their lives in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic to care for strangers and friends in their communities.” (Abelson, 11/10)
The White House notes vaccine rules are working —
CIDRAP:
White House: COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements Are Working
Today, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said vaccine requirements are working, as the nation is averaging 300,000 first shots per day, the highest rate since early this summer. This week, 9 million vaccines were administered in the United States. "The simple truth is vaccine requirements are working, reducing the number of unvaccinated Americans by 40% from this summer to under 60 million," Zients said. (Soucheray, 11/10)
Bloomberg:
Fewer Than 1% Of NYC Workers On Leave Due To Vaccine Mandate, De Blasio Says
Fewer than 1% of New York City’s workforce is on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a briefing. There number of those off the job for failing to comply with the inoculation requirement dropped to 2,600 Wednesday. That’s down from 9,000 on Nov. 1 when the mandate took effect. Workers who submitted requests for accommodations from the requirement have been allowed to continue working while being tested. As of Wednesday, there are 12,400 such requests pending, the mayor said. Those are being reviewed and de Blasio said that once final decisions are made, “most people will ultimately make the decision to get vaccinated, and we welcome that.” (Chen, 11/10)
But hesitancy remains, and many seek exemptions —
The Wall Street Journal:
California Scrutinizes Doctors As Parents Seek Exemptions From School Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate
As some California parents scramble for ways around a new Covid-19 vaccine mandate for schools, the state is increasingly scrutinizing doctors issuing suspicious medical exemptions. Dr. M. Kelly Sutton is among them, accused by the Medical Board of California of improperly exempting several students from required school vaccines. She disputes the findings though acknowledges considering parent input when granting exemptions, not a recognized reason in the state. (Hobbs, 11/10)
The CT Mirror:
Religious Exemptions To Vaccine Rules More Common Among State Workers
Health care workers in state agencies are claiming medical or religious exemptions to vaccine mandates at a higher rate than health care workers outside government, data show — an imbalance that some say raises questions about whether the state is handing out exemptions too easily. In general, 10% to 12% of health care workers in most executive branch agencies are getting tested for COVID after claiming an exemption, instead of getting vaccinated. By comparison, about 2% to 6% of health care workers at the state’s top hospitals are testing for COVID after claiming exemptions instead of being vaccinated, a CT Mirror survey of nine hospital systems found. (Pananjady, 11/11)
Dallas Morning News:
One In Five Dallas Residents Is Opposed To Getting COVID-19 Vaccine, Study Shows
One in five residents in Dallas has no intention of getting the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new study published this month in Scientific Reports. More than half of these people say that nothing will convince them. Even assurance from family members or their doctors was “unlikely” to be persuasive. (Wilkerson, 11/10)
Also —
Houston Chronicle:
Black Clergy Promoted COVID-19 Vaccines Twice As Often As Evangelicals And Catholics, Study Finds
Clergy from historically African American denominations were more than twice as likely as Catholic and evangelical clergy to promote COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new study from the Hartford Institute for Religious Research. Researchers found about 62 percent of all clergy advocated for inoculations. But the report lays bare the stark denominational differences in approaches to the pandemic, which researchers also found caused “severe conflict” in seven percent of all churches. (Downen, 11/10)
