Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Thousands Of NYC Workers Could Be Fired Today Over Vaccine Mandate
The New York Times: Nearly 3,000 N.Y.C. Workers Have A Day To Get Vaccinated Or Be Fired
Hundreds of municipal workers marched across the Brooklyn Bridge this week, chanting in unison for New York City to end its vaccine mandate, and carrying signs that said “Fire Fauci” and “Unvaccinated Lives Matter.” Their pleas were rejected by Mayor Eric Adams, who has reaffirmed the city’s looming ultimatum: If city workers do not get vaccinated, they are the ones who will be fired. (Fitzsimmons, 2/10)
Bloomberg: New York’s Unvaccinated City Workers Face Firing On Deadline Day
About 4,000 unvaccinated New York City employees, including police officers, teachers and firefighters, face termination Friday. Jobs are at risk for about 3,000 workers who took unpaid leave instead of getting vaccinated when the city’s mandate took effect in October, as well as about 1,000 recent hires who haven’t submitted documentation of their second shots. About 95% of the 370,000 city workers have received at least one dose. (Diaz, 2/11)
In other news about vaccine mandates —
AP: Twin Cities Lift Restaurant, Bar Vaccine-Or-Test Mandates
The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul have rescinded vaccine-or-test mandates for restaurants, bars and entertainment venues as COVID-19 cases decline rapidly. The Star Tribune reported Thursday that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter have lifted the mandates effective immediately. (2/10)
USA Today: US-Canada Border Protest Over COVID Vaccine Mandate Heightens Worries
The Biden administration, mindful that it may soon face a similar problem, is urging the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to use its federal powers to end the border blockade by truck drivers opposed to Canada's vaccine mandate and coronavirus mitigation measures. The White House said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg encouraged their Canadian counterparts to help resolve the standoff. Truckers calling themselves the Freedom Convoy are opposing a Canadian requirement that drivers entering the country be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or face testing and possible quarantine. (Ortiz, Miller and Tebor, 2/10)
AP: Bill Would Let Unvaccinated WVa Workers Get Unemployment
West Virginia lawmakers have advanced a proposal that would allow people who leave their jobs because they are denied a religious or medical exemption to the COVID-19 vaccination to receive unemployment benefits. Republican Sen. Mark Maynard, a sponsor of Senate Bill 576, said Thursday that the legislation was designed with health care workers in mind. (Willingham, 2/10)
Des Moines Register: Iowa's New Anti-Vaccine Mandate Bill Clears Its First Legislative Test In Hours-Long Hearing
Opponents of vaccination mandates crowded into a Capitol meeting room Thursday for several hours to support a bill that would widely ban vaccination and mask mandates at businesses, governmental entities and schools. ... The hearing — which extended significantly longer than most legislative subcommittee meetings — was the first test for a far-reaching bill that would specify that businesses, governments and schools couldn't fire workers based on their medical treatment status, including vaccinations. (Richardson, 2/10)
The Boston Globe: How Neo-Nazi And Antivaccine Protesters Collided At The Brigham
For nearly two years, Brigham and Women’s Hospital — like most across the country — has felt like a war zone of sorts, as waves of COVID patients have filled its ICUs and demanded heroic efforts from its workers. Now, just as the Omicron rush is fading away, the hospital has become the target of two unrelated protests that have drawn national attention and reverberated through a staff already pushed close to the breaking point. On Jan. 22, antivaccine protesters denounced what they thought was a decision by the hospital to deny an unvaccinated man a new heart. Members of the group swore and yelled at a nurse on her way to pick up food outside the hospital, said Trish Powers, a nurse at the Brigham. (Bartlett, 2/10)
