States Grapple With Employer Covid Vaccine Mandates

Anchorage Daily News: Balancing Workers’ Rights With Responsibility, Alaska Employers Navigate COVID-19 Vaccine Policies
The calls for a boycott started as soon as word got out last month that Alaska Industrial Hardware was requiring workers get vaccinated for COVID-19. The business is a fully owned subsidiary of Bering Straits Native Corp., where the board of directors in mid-March voted to mandate vaccinate for all employees unless they are approved for medical or religious exemptions. Officials say the board’s decision reflected the disproportionate toll the virus is taking on Alaska Native people, particularly elders. (Hollander, 4/10)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Education And Empathy: N.H. Health Officials Turning Focus To The Vaccine Hesitant
Around 60 percent of eligible Granite Staters have already been vaccinated against COVID-19 or booked an appointment. Now, public officials say, they’re beginning to work harder on reaching those who either need more information or aren’t sure yet they want to get the vaccine. The Winnipesaukee Public Health Network has spent the last few months focusing on vaccine distribution for vulnerable populations like the homebound and the homeless. (Fam, 4/12)

Health News Florida: Here’s How Veterans In North Florida Are Getting Vaccinated Through VA 
The SAVE LIVES Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in March, gives Veteran Affairs medical facilities across the country the legal authority to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all veterans. Prior to this act, only veterans enrolled in VA Health Care could get vaccinated. All veterans, regardless of their health care enrollment status, can now get vaccinated. (Shebovsky, 4/12)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: In Louisiana, Young People Can Get A COVID Vaccine. But Does Everyone Want It?
By early April, when getting a vaccine might be as easy as strolling up and rolling up a sleeve, providers haven’t seen the same banging-down-the-door enthusiasm from young people since the state lifted all requirements nearly two weeks ago. “The younger crowd isn’t calling us,” said Lisa Carr, co-owner of Carr Drugs in Algiers, one of the first pharmacies to give out vaccines in the state. “I don’t know if they’re going to mass vaccination sites, or if they are waiting for a good reason to have to get the vaccine like a trip or return to college.” Though younger people are getting the vaccine by the thousands, they’re not showing up in the same numbers as people over 40, according to data from the Louisiana Department of Health. (Woodruff, Killett and Daniel, 4/10)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Health Experts Advise People To Keep Wearing Masks, Even After The State's Order Expires On Saturday
One day before the Utah Legislature’s expiration date on a statewide mask order arrives, health experts are telling Utahns to keep wearing their masks to ward off the spread of COVID-19. “We need to be respectful to businesses when they ask for masking, because it is still relevant — both to their patrons who are coming in, but also their workers,” Dr. Kristin Dascomb, infectious diseases physician and Intermountain Healthcare’s medical director for infection protection for employee health, said Friday during Intermountain’s weekly COVID-19 briefing over Facebook Live. (Means, 4/9)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: UNH Graduation Will Check For Proof Of COVID Vaccine— Is This The Future Of Large Gatherings? 
A large college graduation is the stuff of nightmares for epidemiologists during a global pandemic. The sheer number of people that attend violates one of the cardinal rules of public health — gather, if you gather at all, in small groups— a hundred fold. Family members who’ve traveled from across the country to sit in densely packed sports stands spew spittle as they scream their graduate’s name. Thousands of people embrace each other at almost every opportunity — they hug friends, kiss family, shake professors’ hands. (Rosenbluth, 4/12)

In other covid news from the states —

AP: California Lifts COVID-19 Limits On Indoor Worship Services
California on Monday lifted its limits on indoor worship services in the face of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that struck down the coronavirus public health mandates. However, the state Department of Public Health guidelines still said indoor gatherings were “strongly discouraged” and advised limiting the numbers to 25% of a building’s capacity for the two-highest levels of the state’s four-tier COVID-19 restrictions. The recommended capacity for the two lower levels — those areas with moderate to minimum spread — is 50% capacity. (Jablon, 4/13)

Houston Chronicle: From 983 Cases To 3: How COVID Killed The Flu In Houston
What medical officials worried would be a “twindemic” at the end of last year — the concurrence of influenza and COVID-19 sicknesses overwhelming Houston’s hospitals — turned out surprisingly well. At Memorial Hermann, just three patients tested positive for influenza during the 2020-2021 flu season, compared to 983 patients during the 2019-2020 flu season. Doctors test for both flu and COVID-19 as a precaution. The same public health measures that prevent SARS-CoV-2 from spreading — masks, social distancing and regular hand-washing — kept influenza strains from sickening people. (Wu, 4/12)

WLRN 91.3 FM: Miami-Dade Restaurants Prep For Easing Of COVID Restrictions 
Miami-Dade County will be open for business past midnight beginning next week for the first time since July. County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the lifting of a COVID-related curfew this week. The announcement allows restaurants and bars to return to pre-pandemic hours of operation but Michael Beltran, chef and owner of Ariete Hospitality Group said it doesn’t mean all restaurants will be able to operate full throttle right away. (Perdomo, 4/12)

WMFE: Orange County Launches Mobile COVID-19 Vaccination Program
Orange County is launching a mobile COVID-19 vaccination program for people in underserved communities. The first site in the mobile COVID-19 vaccination program will open at Barber Park on Monday. Residents 16 and older can get the Pfizer vaccine Monday through Friday at the site. Up to 1,000 doses will be available each day. (Prieur, 4/12)

Axios: The Pandemic's Impact On Tampa Bay's Ports 
The impact of COVID-19 on Tampa Bay's Port Tampa and Port Manatee came down to two things: home goods and fruit, according to an analysis by logistics software company Descartes. Port Manatee shifted from importing mostly fruit to larger items, like refrigerators and air conditioners. At Port Tampa, fruit juice — usually the third-ranked commodity — declined 81.6% in import volume. Import values of juice plummeted by $122.7 million. (San Felice, 4/12)