Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
NYC Announces Sweeping Vaccine Mandate For Private Businesses
AP: NYC To Impose Vaccine Mandate On Private Sector Employers
From big Wall Street banks to corner grocery stores, all private employers in New York City will have to require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the mayor announced Monday in the most sweeping vaccine mandate of any state or big city in the U.S. The move by Mayor Bill de Blasio comes as cases are climbing again in the U.S. and the worrisome but little-understood omicron variant is gaining a toehold in the nation’s largest city and elsewhere around the country. (Price, Calvan and Matthews, 12/6)
The New York Times: N.Y.C. To Mandate Vaccines For Employees At Private Businesses
The mandate, almost certain to face legal challenges and to pose difficulties for the employers tasked with enforcing it, will apply to about 184,000 businesses. It is set to take effect on Dec. 27, just days before Mayor Bill de Blasio leaves office. Mr. de Blasio described his action as a “pre-emptive strike” designed to stall another wave of virus cases amid rising concerns about the Omicron variant. (Fitzsimmons, 12/6)
The New York Times: Will Eric Adams Keep N.Y.C.’s Newest Vaccine Mandate?
The mayor-elect, who is on vacation in Ghana, intends to “evaluate this mandate and other Covid strategies when he is in office and make determinations based on science, efficacy and the advice of health professionals,” Eric Adams’s spokesman, Evan Thies, said. So even as Mr. de Blasio won ample publicity in advance of his likely run for governor, it remained far from clear what would happen to this private-sector mandate — or Mr. de Blasio’s pandemic policies in general — once he leaves office. (Rubinstein, 12/6)
In related news from New York —
Axios: Gov. Hochul Will Order Some NY Hospitals To Halt Elective Surgeries
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that some state hospitals will be ordered to halt certain elective surgeries in an effort to combat a recent COVID-19 surge, Hochul said at a press conference. New York has struggled with hospital capacity throughout the pandemic and postponed nonessential procedures before. Hochul said the program to end elective surgeries will be "targeted" and affect around 30 facilities, which are expected to be announced late Monday. (Garfinkel, 12/6)
In other covid mandate news —
Health News Florida: Appeals Court Denies Florida's Request To Halt Biden's Health Workers Vax Mandate
A divided federal appeals court Sunday rejected Florida’s request to at least temporarily block a Biden administration rule that would require health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, turned down a motion by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody for an injunction against the Biden administration rule while the Atlanta-based court considers the vaccination requirement. The decision said the state “failed to make the requisite showing for an injunction pending appeal.” Judges Robin Rosenbaum and Jill Pryor made up the majority, while Judge Barbara Lagoa dissented. The one-page decision said full opinions would be issued later. (Saunders, 12/6)
The Texas Tribune: Texas Nursing Homes Avoid Furloughs, Fines Over Unvaccinated Workers
Ronald Payne was on the verge of carrying out companywide furloughs this week at the nursing home chain he runs in Texas, letting go of anyone on staff who had not gotten at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, as mandated by the federal government. That might have meant well over 100 people at Southwest LTC Management Services’17 Texas nursing homes, he said. Instead, his facilities, along with most of the other 1,200 nursing homes in the state, were able to continue business as usual after a federal judge last week blocked the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care workers. (Harper and Astudillo, 12/7)
Dallas Morning News: Caris Life Sciences Employees Sue Company After Religious Exemptions Denied For Vaccine Mandate
Employees of an Irving-based cancer research firm sued it for its vaccination protocol, which they say is unlawful. In a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas last Tuesday, four Caris Life Sciences employees said that they had been targeted for termination if they refused to get vaccinated by Dec. 1, which they say represents “discriminatory employment practices.” (Walters, 12/6)
