NYC vaccine mandate; Supreme Court on Maine vaccine rule: COVID updates
New York Metropolis is bracing for a plethora of potential issues — together with mounting trash, closed firehouses and fewer police and ambulances on the streets — as town’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate looms and hundreds of municipal staff stay unwilling to get the pictures.
Cops, firefighters, rubbish collectors and most different metropolis staff confronted a 5 p.m. Friday deadline to indicate proof they’ve gotten a minimum of one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Staff who do not comply will probably be placed on unpaid go away beginning Monday.
Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Affiliation, mentioned the arduous deadline “units town up for an actual disaster.”
Individuals who refuse to get vaccinated are actually a giant issue within the continued unfold of the virus. Backers of mandates say New Yorkers have a proper to not be contaminated by public servants unwilling to get the pictures.
Practically one-fifth of metropolis workers lined by the approaching mandate had but to obtain a minimum of one vaccine dose as of Thursday, together with 21% of police personnel, 29% of firefighters and EMS staff and 33% of sanitation staff, in line with metropolis information. Metropolis jail guards have one other month to conform.
COVID-19 is the main reason behind demise of regulation enforcement officers within the U.S., killing 498 officers because the begin of 2020 in comparison with 102 gun deaths, in line with the Officer Down Memorial Web page, which tracks police fatalities.
In the meantime, healthcare staff in New York state will now not have the choice of spiritual exemption to the state vaccine mandate after a federal appeals panel on Friday rejected arguments that the mandate did not adequately shield these with spiritual objections
Additionally within the information:
► Khloe Kardashian and her daughter, 3-year-old True Thompson, have examined constructive for COVID-19 and are quarantining, she said in a tweet. That is Kardashian’s second time testing constructive, as she was beforehand contaminated in 2020. The truth star is vaccinated, she mentioned.
► “Piano Man” singer Billy Joel revealed he continued to pay members of his band’s wage through the COVID pandemic although they weren’t enjoying reveals. “I wished to deal with the band,” he told Howard Stern.
📈At present’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded 45 million confirmed COVID-19 circumstances and greater than 743,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. International totals: Greater than 245 million circumstances and 4.9 million deaths. Greater than 191 million People – 57% of the inhabitants – are absolutely vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘 What we’re studying: Well being officers, docs and different medical suppliers say you possibly can safely get your flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine on the similar time. Here’s what you need to know.
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Vaccines provide extra safety than earlier an infection, new research says
Vaccines stop COVID-19 greater than earlier infections do, in line with a brand new research launched by the CDC Friday.
Adults within the research who have been hospitalized after both having a earlier an infection or receiving their vaccine have been greater than 5 instances extra prone to have COVID if they’d a earlier an infection however have been unvaccinated than those that have been absolutely vaccinated and had no prior an infection.
The research may assist sway some who’re hesitant to get vaccinated towards COVID citing immunity from a previous an infection as defending them.
“Vaccine-induced immunity was extra protecting than infection-induced immunity towards laboratory-confirmed COVID-19,” the research mentioned. “All eligible individuals ought to be vaccinated towards COVID-19 as quickly as doable, together with unvaccinated individuals beforehand contaminated with SARS-CoV-2.”
Information for the research was collected throughout 9 states and 187 hospitals, and included greater than 7,000 individuals.
The research additionally discovered that the advantage of vaccination in comparison with prior an infection with out vaccination was larger with Moderna than Pfizer, per earlier research displaying Moderna’s larger effectiveness.
Supreme Court docket received’t cease vaccine mandate for Maine well being staff
The Supreme Court docket on Friday declined to block a vaccine mandate for health care workers in Maine over objections that it would not embrace a non secular exemption, the most recent instance of the excessive courtroom steering away from the difficulty.
The swimsuit targeted particularly on the dearth of a non secular exemption. The courtroom’s ruling, which got here over the objection of three of its conservatives, permits the state requirement to stay in place whereas litigation continues.
In a concurring opinion, Affiliate Justice Amy Coney Barrett famous the courtroom has “discretionary judgment” about whether or not to take an emergency attraction just like the Maine case. With out that, she wrote, “candidates may use the emergency docket to power the courtroom” to present a “deserves preview in circumstances” on a “quick fuse.” The courtroom’s emergency docket has come underneath appreciable criticism in current weeks for doing precisely that.
– John Fritze, USA TODAY
FDA authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for youths 5-11
The Meals and Drug Administration on Friday voted to advocate Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5 to 11, however steps stay earlier than youngsters will be capable to obtain injections.
The FDA cleared kid-size doses – only a third of the quantity given to teenagers and adults –for emergency use, and as much as 28 million extra American youngsters could possibly be eligible for vaccinations as early as subsequent week.
Yet another regulatory hurdle stays: On Tuesday, advisers to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention will make extra detailed suggestions on which children ought to get vaccinated, with a last determination by the company’s director anticipated shortly afterward.
Iowa invoice says these fired over COVID vaccine mandates may get unemployment
Iowans may have wider latitude to say medical and non secular exemptions from employer COVID-19 vaccination mandates — and would qualify for unemployment advantages if a enterprise fires them for not complying — under a bill state lawmakers approved Thursday.
The invoice would mark a big change in the way in which Iowa approaches vaccination necessities by employers if Gov. Kim Reynolds indicators it into regulation.
“Not solely do I plan to signal this laws, however I’m dedicated to doing much more,” she mentioned in a Thursday information launch.
The Republican invoice specifies that workers who refuse the vaccine and are fired wouldn’t be disqualified from advantages.
The invoice moreover says employers “shall” waive a vaccine requirement for an worker who submits a press release that receiving the vaccine could be “injurious” to their well being or well-being, or that it conflicts “with the tenets and practices” of a faith the worker adheres to or belongs to.
– Ian Richardson, Des Moines Register
Florida governor calls federal mandate ‘heavy-handed,’ sues Biden admin
Florida has filed a lawsuit in federal courtroom to dam the Biden administration from finishing up a measure to require vaccinations towards COVID-19 for federal workers and contractors.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made the announcement at a information convention Thursday morning the place he described the mandate for federal contractors as “heavy-handed” and an overreach by the federal authorities. He mentioned Florida will search a preliminary injunction that may block the federal rule from taking impact Dec. 8 as scheduled.
Thursday’s announcement is the most recent salvo in DeSantis’ ongoing battle with the administration of President Joe Biden over federal vaccine necessities. Biden says the vaccine mandate will assist carry an finish to the pandemic.
DeSantis additionally blasted a pending rule from the Occupational Security and Well being Administration that may compel corporations with 100 or extra workers to require vaccinations or frequent COVID-19 assessments for staff.
– Gary White, The Ledger
5% of unvaccinated adults have left a job due to a vaccine requirement
Because the federal authorities prepares to unveil new vaccination guidelines for workplaces, 5% of unvaccinated adults say they’ve left a job due to a COVID-19 vaccination requirement, according to a survey released Thursday.
That represents 1% of all adults, in line with the nonpartisan Kaiser Household Basis, which performed the survey of 1,519 adults Oct. 14-24.
The White Home is reviewing an emergency Labor Division rule requested by President Joe Biden spelling out vaccination guidelines for companies with 100 or extra workers. When launched, the rule will fill within the particulars on how staff at bigger companies should get vaccinated or be examined often for the coronavirus.
Individually, federal workers and contractors should get inoculated except they qualify for an exemption.
— Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY
Contributing: The Related Press