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Vaccine Refusals in Intelligence Agencies Raise Concerns + More
Vaccine Refusals in Intelligence Agencies Raise GOP Concerns
Thousands of intelligence officers could soon face dismissal for failing to comply with the U.S. government’s vaccine mandate, leading some Republican lawmakers to raise concerns about removing employees from agencies critical to national security.
Several intelligence agencies had at least 20% of their workforce unvaccinated as of late October, said U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee.
Some agencies in the 18-member intelligence community had as much as 40% of their workforce unvaccinated, Stewart said, citing information the administration has provided to the committee but not released publicly. He declined to identify the agencies because full information on vaccination rates was classified.
NYC Reaches Agreement With 4 Labor Unions on Vaccine Mandate; Fire Unions Push Back
New York City announced Thursday agreements have been between four of the city’s labor unions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The unions, DC 37, Teamsters Local 237, Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association Local 831, and SEIU Local 300, who collectively represent approximately 75,000 employees (excluding members employed at DOE or H+H), have signed the agreement on the mandate, which includes exemption requests and leave policies.
Firefighters’ unions say they were offered the same pact and have made the city a counterproposal, including a permanent option for weekly coronavirus testing instead of inoculation.
NYPD COVID Vaccine Exemption Requests Up in the Air for Foreseeable Future
It’s going to take a while to go through the more than 6,000 accommodation requests filed by NYPD employees who want to avoid getting the COVID vaccine, NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Friday.
Cops filing for the accommodation on health or religious grounds were told that it could take upwards of a month before they receive a decision on their applications, police sources said. If it’s denied, the cop can appeal the decision, extending the fight over the COVID jab further, Shea noted.
LAFD Union Says Vaccine Mandate Could Lead to Public Safety Threat
The Los Angeles firefighters union warned Thursday of service delays if the city loses firefighters because of a mandate requiring its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 President Freddy Escobar said the Los Angeles Fire Department could see a loss of resources and staff positions similar to the budget cuts in the department during the 2008 economic downturn.
Escobar, speaking at a news conference outside the union’s Westlake headquarters, predicted a “devastating impact on public safety for the city of Los Angeles” if the city loses firefighters. He said ambulances and trucks can’t operate without appropriate staffing levels.
Remote Test Proctoring Apps Are a Form of Mass Surveillance
During the pandemic, the use of eproctoring technology has soared, with one major company reporting its contract base has increased by an astounding 500%.
Although some schools are returning to in-person learning, students continue to face eproctoring requirements that harm personal privacy, mentalhealth, and academic success.
Unless the use of remote proctoring apps is halted it will continue to exacerbate racism and discrimination in education and desensitize students to compulsory mass surveillance.
De Blasio to Pay Kids $100 to Get the COVID Vaccine
New York City will begin offering $100 to incentivize COVID-19 vaccines for kids ages 5-11.
The new policy will apply to New York City-run vaccine sites and comes two days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved Pfizer‘s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use for children 5-11-years-old.
The mayor also said that every public school in the city that serves children in the targeted age range will hold a dedicated vaccination day for those students beginning next week, which will cover about 1,070 sites over the course of the week by hitting roughly 200 schools per day.
How the OSHA Vaccine and Testing Mandate Might Play Out for Local Businesses
Local businesses and legal experts are poring over a 490-page document released Thursday to determine the implications of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate for large employers.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), meanwhile, said it “needs additional time” to determine whether it would be feasible to implement a similar mandate for smaller businesses with under 100 employees.
That isn’t welcome news for small business owners like Erinn Danielle, who runs Simply Erinn’s Unisex Hair Salon in Cambridge and isn’t vaccinated. She doesn’t think she should be forced to require her two employees to get vaccinated or test weekly.
All Those 23andMe Spit Tests Were Part of a Bigger Plan
23andMe Holding Co. Chief Executive Officer Anne Wojcicki’s plan was to turn genetics from the rarefied work of high-end labs into mainstream health and quasi entertainment products. First she’d sell tastemakers on her mail-in spit kits as a way to learn sort-of-interesting things about their DNA makeup, such as its likely ancestral origins and the chance it would lead to certain health conditions.
Eventually she’d be able to lower prices enough to make the kits broadly accessible, allowing 23andMe to build a database big enough to identify new links between diseases and particular genes.
Later, this research would fuel the creation of drugs the company could tailor to different genetic profiles. 23andMe would become a new kind of health-care business, sitting somewhere between a Big Pharma lab, a Big Tech company, and a trusted neighborhood doctor.
Biden Says He Didn’t Want to Resort to Sweeping COVID Vaccine Mandates
President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the move to issue sweeping vaccine mandates for federal contractors, healthcare workers, and private-sector employees.
Biden said in a statement, echoing claims made last week by his COVID-19 advisor, Jeff Zients, “There have been no ‘mass firings’ and worker shortages because of vaccination requirements. Despite what some predicted and falsely assert, vaccination requirements have broad public support.”
“While I would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary, too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good,” Biden said. “So I instituted requirements — and they are working.”
Lawsuits Over Workplace Vaccine Rule Focus On States’ Rights
More than two dozen Republican-led states filed lawsuits Friday challenging President Joe Biden’s vaccine requirement for private companies, setting up a high-stakes legal showdown pitting federal authority against states’ rights.
The lawsuits ask courts to decide whether the administration’s effort to curtail the pandemic represents a federal power grab and usurps the authority of states to set health policy. At least 26 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule.
“This mandate is unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise,” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a court filing in the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of 11 states.
California Town Declares Itself a ‘Constitutional Republic’ to Buck COVID Rules
A northern California town has declared itself a “constitutional republic” in response to COVID-19 health restrictions imposed by the governor, in the latest sign of strife between the state’s government and its rural and conservative regions.
The city council in Oroville, located at the base of the Sierra Nevada foothills about 90 miles from the capital of Sacramento, adopted a resolution this week stating it would oppose state and federal orders it deems to be government overreach.
Republican Governors Lead Attack on Biden Vaccine Mandate
Republican governors began filing lawsuits on Friday to stop the Biden administration‘s requirement that nearly 2 million U.S. employers get workers tested or vaccinated for COVID-19, saying it trampled civil liberties.
After President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said on Thursday he will enforce the mandate starting Jan. 4, the states of Florida, Georgia and Alabama jointly sued in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
“The federal government can’t just unilaterally impose medical policy under the guise of workplace regulation,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference on Thursday.
City, County Employees Protest COVID Vaccine Mandates
About 100 City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County employees are protesting their vaccine mandates, saying they’d rather get fired than vaccinated.
The workers are carrying signs and chanting downtown, saying getting the shot should be a matter of individual choice and they believe the mandates are a violation of their rights.
Gov. McMaster to Keep Cabinet Agencies From Enforcing Federal Vaccine Mandate
Gov. Henry McMaster has pledged to fight a federal vaccine policy. He spoke Thursday in Columbia, saying he was “stunned” by the latest Biden administration move.
“I will issue an Executive Order barring any South Carolina cabinet agency from issuing or enforcing any vaccine mandate,” he said.
“This is garbage and it’s unconstitutional so we will be fighting it. OSHA does not have the authority for this kind of mandate,” Attorney General Alan Wilson said.
San Francisco Will Require Children Ages 5 to 11 to Show Proof of Vaccine to Access Businesses + More
San Francisco Will Require Children Ages 5 to 11 to Show Proof of Vaccine to Access Businesses
Children of San Francisco: Prepare to keep your vaccination cards close by. The California city has announced that kids ages 5 to 11 will soon need to show proof they have received the coronavirus vaccine in order to gain access to indoor businesses and activities such as restaurants and gyms.
We definitely want to wait and make sure that children have an opportunity to get vaccinated,” San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Susan Phillip said Tuesday during a virtual town hall on the city’s YouTube channel.
Truck Drivers, Facing Shortages, Expect More to Quit Over Biden Vaccine Mandate
President Joe Biden‘s directive requiring businesses employing more than 100 workers to implement vaccine mandates or have unvaccinated workers be tested weekly will go into effect Jan. 4, the administration said Thursday. And that mandate does not include an exemption for the nation’s truckers.
Tom Bevan, the president of Real Clear Politics, said: “So all the biggest trucking companies in America, who already face major driver shortages, will see a percentage of their workforce quit,” Bevan wrote. “[The] supply chain crisis is going to get much worse, very soon.”
With many truckers unvaccinated, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) warned that the industry could lose as much as 37% of its workforce. The ATA said trucks haul more than 72% of U.S. freight. If the trucking industry lost a significant percentage of drivers, it could put an additional strain on the supply chain.
Ford to Impose COVID Vaccine Mandate On Most of Its 32,000 Salaried Workers
Ford Motor will require U.S. salaried employees to be vaccinated by Dec. 8 or face unpaid leave, CNBC has learned.
The automaker on Tuesday sent out a message to Ford’s roughly 32,000 salaried employees about the mandate. Ford will consider religious and medical exemptions for employees who can’t get the vaccines, according to company spokeswoman Monique Brentley.
At this time, employees who refuse to get vaccinated and do not have an approved medical or religious accommodation will be put on unpaid leave with job protection for up to 30 days, the company said in an emailed statement. It was immediately unclear what happens after those 30 days.
Key Takeaways as U.S. Sets Jan. 4 Vaccine Mandate Deadline
Millions of U.S. workers now have a Jan 4. deadline to get a COVID vaccine.
The federal government on Thursday announced new vaccine requirements for workers at companies with more than 100 employees as well as for workers at healthcare facilities that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients. It also extended a deadline for federal contractors.
The Biden administration says 70% of all adult Americans are now fully vaccinated. The new rules are aimed at the tens of millions who remain unvaccinated. Here are the key takeaways:
Kaiser Permanente Nurse Escorted Out After Religious Exemption for COVID Vaccine Denied
California’s vaccination for healthcare workers took effect Sept. 30 which allows religious or medical exemptions, however, nurse Tori Jenson’s religious beliefs didn’t make the cut at Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center in Kearny Mesa.
“I am being escorted out of Kaiser Permanente Hospital for my religious beliefs because I don’t want to get the jab,” said Jensen in an Instagram video. Jensen is no longer a nurse at Kaiser Permanente.
“‘It has been determined that your request is not based on a sincerely held belief in a religious doctrine, or teaching that prevents you from obtaining any COVID-19 vaccine, therefore your request has been denied,'” Jensen reads as she is looking at an email from Kaiser Permanente.
Nets Would Welcome Kyrie Irving Back if New Mayor Lifts Vaccine Mandate
Could a mayoral victory for Eric Adams also be a huge win for the Nets and Kyrie Irving?
New York’s newly minted mayor-elect said Wednesday that he plans to revisit the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate once he takes office in January. It’s Irving’s refusal to adhere to that mandate that got him effectively banished.
We need to revisit how we are going to address the vaccine mandates,” Adams said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” If revisiting them ends up being removing them, it sounds like the prodigal point guard could return.
The Big Questions We Need to Ask About Vaccine Passports
As governments, companies and individuals navigate the rules and norms of this new phase of the pandemic — where part of the population is vaccinated and part is unvaccinated — technology will play a pivotal role
And a growing number of governments, airlines and other organizations are experimenting with digital vaccination certificates, or “vaccine passports,” to allow people to participate in activities like indoor dining or international travel.
Some people may have legitimate privacy or security concerns about digital certificates but still want to use them to get back to a semblance of normal life. Others may be adamantly opposed to any imposition of authority in their lives, whether that’s coming from the government or their employer.
Chicago Police Union Head Renews Call for Thousands of Officers to Disobey Vaccine Reporting Mandate
As the share of Chicago police officers following Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s vaccine reporting mandate grows, the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara said Wednesday he wants more than 1,000 officers to disobey direct orders to comply in the hopes of jamming the Police Department with a flood of paperwork.
“Our position on the portal is the same: Do not comply with the portal,” Catanzara said about the city platform for reporting vaccination status. “The goal now is to have over a thousand or 2,000 officers subject themselves to disobeying a direct order. They can never process that many.”
U.S. Blacklisting of NSO Group Shows View of Major Technology Company as a Grave Threat
The U.S. commerce department’s blacklist is usually reserved for America’s worst enemies, such as Chinese companies that have been accused of aiding human right abuses, and Russians who proliferate biological and chemical weapons programmes.
But on Wednesday, Israel’s NSO Group joined their ranks, marking a rare decision by the Biden administration to include a major technology company that is closely regulated by the Israeli government on its list of entities that threaten U.S. national security.
Also included on the list was another Israeli surveillance company, Candiru, whose technology was recently alleged by researchers at Citizen Lab, working in conjunction with Microsoft, to have been used by its foreign government clients to target members of civil society with “untraceable” spyware.
Baltimore City Teachers Could Soon Be Fired for Refusing COVID Vaccine. Here’s When.
The disciplinary process has begun for Baltimore City School teachers who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine. Those teachers who do not get vaccinated could be fired in December.
Baltimore City Schools announced in September that all employees, including teachers, are required to receive the COVID-19 vaccination by Nov. 1, or face being fired. That deadline has now passed.
City Schools has about 10,000 employees, half of which are teachers. According to these numbers, about 1,300 employees, around 500 of which are teachers, are not vaccinated and may soon lose their jobs.
Vaccine Mandates Are Surging in Job Listings
Job listings are requiring applicants get vaccinated in increasing numbers, and the trend appears poised to continue.
The number of job postings mandating candidates have a COVID-19 vaccine doubled since the end of September, according to an analysis published Tuesday by Ladders, a career site for higher earners.
The share of listings requiring a vaccine remains low relative to the overall number, however. About 10,000 job posts — 5% of the total — required a COVID-19 vaccine as of Oct. 31, according to the analysis.
Google Wants to Work With the Pentagon Again, Despite Employee Concerns
Three years after an employee revolt forced Google to abandon work on a Pentagon program that used artificial intelligence (AI), the company is aggressively pursuing a major contract to provide its technology to the military.
The company’s plan to land the potentially lucrative contract, known as the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, could raise a furor among its outspoken work force and test the resolve of management to resist employee demands.
Now, as Google positions cloud computing as a key part of its future, the bid for the new Pentagon contract could test the boundaries of those AI principles, which have set it apart from other tech giants that routinely seek military and intelligence work.
Democratizing the New Data Economy: How Big Tech Is Taking Our Data and How We’re Going to Take It Back
A few short years ago, the Economist made a rather bold statement — that the world’s most valuable resource is data, not oil. At the time, few realized how true this statement was, but Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Oracle have clearly known about the tremendous value of data for decades.
In the last 20 years, these companies have been working in the shadows to collect, harness, and control the near-limitless power of data. Today, they dominate the global digital advertising market, which is expected to reach $179.77 billion in value by the end of 2021. But it’s not just about advertising — nearly every single industry in the world depends on the information technology systems these companies provide.
Indiana Governor Working to Challenge Federal COVID Vaccine Mandate
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb directed state officials on Thursday to work on a lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden‘s federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate, calling it an “outreach of the government’s role.”
Holcomb released a statement Thursday instructing the Indiana Department of Labor to join forces with the Attorney General, working on a lawsuit that would put to question the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency temporary standard mandating tens of millions of workers to receive the COVID vaccine or submit to weekly testing.
Air Force Says Nearly 8,500 Miss Deadline for COVID Shots + More
Air Force Says Nearly 8,500 Miss Deadline for COVID Shots
Nearly 8,500 active duty members of the Air Force and Space Force have missed the deadline for getting COVID-19 vaccinations, including 800 who flatly refused and nearly 5,000 with pending requests for a religious exemption, the Air Force said Wednesday.
Tuesday was the Air Force deadline for all active duty members to receive vaccinations. The Air Force deadline was the first of all the military services, providing an initial glimpse into how America’s military will handle the mandate.
The Air Force said that by Dec. 2 it would complete its review of requests for medical and religious exemptions. Thus far, a total of 1,866 requests for medical or administrative exemptions have been approved. It said zero requests for religious exemptions have been approved.
New York Health Workers Ask Supreme Court to Block State’s Vaccine Mandate
Healthcare workers in New York have gone to the Supreme Court to challenge the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, arguing it violates their religious liberty rights.
This challenge is nearly identical to a recent case brought by healthcare workers in Maine. Last week, the court allowed Maine’s mandate to go forward over the objection of three justices.
The latest dispute is brought by a nurse, Diana Bono, who lost her job because she has religious objections to the mandate, as well as two others who say they face the “imminent loss” of their employment and a group called We The Patriots USA Inc.
They are suing the state, arguing that while the mandate allows an exemption for those with medical objections, there is no exemption for people with religious objections.
Vaccine or Test: Biden Advances Sweeping New Mandates for Private Sector
It’s likely to become President Joe Biden’s most hotly contested COVID policy yet: a sweeping nationwide safety standard for the American workplace that demands large businesses require their employees to either get the vaccine or test regularly.
The temporary emergency rule would apply to every U.S. private business that employs 100 workers or more — from grocery clerks to meatpacking plant employees — impacting some 80 million Americans.
Details were expected to be released as early as Thursday on the rule, drafted by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA.
Unvaccinated? Don’t Count On Leaving Your Family Death Benefits
These days, workers who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 may face financial repercussions, from higher health insurance premiums to loss of their jobs. Now, the financial fallout might follow workers beyond the grave. If they die of COVID and weren’t vaccinated, their families may not get death benefits they would otherwise have received.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority no longer pays a $500,000 death benefit to the families of subway, bus and commuter rail workers who die of COVID if the workers were unvaccinated at the time of death.
FDNY ‘Sickout’ Intensifies Drama Over Vaccine Mandate
Battles have erupted between officials and first responders as COVID-19 vaccine mandates go into effect and unions representing workers ramp up their resistance to the requirements.
In New York City, an irregular number of more than 2,000 firefighters took medical leave in a “sickout” over the past week as the vaccination deadline passed. In response, these first responders have faced accusations from officials that those misusing sick leave are neglecting their oath and endangering the safety of city residents.
Worries have emerged that the move could be utilized beyond New York City and across the U.S. in a potential new phase of the pandemic.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Doubles Down On Not Enforcing Vaccine Mandate as He Warns of Mass Exodus of Deputies
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva warned Tuesday of a possible public safety threat due to a “mass exodus” of deputies from the department and blamed the county’s vaccine mandate.
Days after the county deadline, Villanueva said he wouldn’t enforce the mandate.
On Tuesday, Villanueva said only about 42% of the department’s sworn personnel have been vaccinated and 3,137 deputies are at risk of termination due to the mandate. And, the sheriff said, many unvaccinated deputies are voluntarily leaving the department to escape the vaccination requirement.
No L.A. Unified Vaccine Mandate so Far for Students Ages 5 to 11
The Los Angeles school district is not requiring students ages 5 to 11 to get COVID-19 vaccines, although the shots will be available on campus if parents want their children to be inoculated.
Students 12 and older are still required to be fully vaccinated in the L.A. Unified School District by Jan. 10, one of six schools systems in California with various versions of a student mandate.
“We are delighted to be able to offer voluntary vaccine access to students in this age group,” according to a district statement. “The COVID-19 vaccine is highly encouraged for children ages 5 to 11. However, it will not be part of Los Angeles Unified’s current student vaccine requirement.”
Analysis: Wide Array of Opponents Prepare to Fight Biden Vaccine Mandate
U.S. News & World Report reported:
The country’s first national COVID-19 vaccine mandate, expected to be unveiled by the Biden administration this week, is likely to unleash a frenzied legal battle that will hinge on a rarely used law and questions over federal power and authority over healthcare.
States, companies, trade groups, civil liberty advocates and religious organizations are expected to rush to court with demands to stop the mandate in its tracks. Two dozen Republican state attorneys general have already vowed to use “every legal option” to fight the mandate and 40 Republican lawmakers said on Wednesday they were preparing their own challenge.
Senate Republicans to Formally Disapprove, Nullify Biden Vaccine Mandate On Private Employees
More than three dozen Senate Republicans are moving to formally disapprove and nullify President Biden’s vaccine mandate on private employees Wednesday under the Congressional Review Act — the official process for Congress to eliminate an executive branch rule.
Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana is leading 41 Republican senators on Wednesday to “strike down” Biden’s rule, which mandates employees — at private businesses with 100 workers or more — to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
Republicans blasted the mandate, which Biden introduced in September, and the forthcoming formal rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is expected to be released in the coming days — calling it “unacceptable” and an order that “warrants review by Congress.”
Palmdale Wants to Challenge L.A. County’s COVID Vaccine Mandate
The city of Palmdale is looking into how it can challenge an L.A. County mandate requiring residents to show proof of vaccination to enter indoor bars, wineries, nightclubs and lounges, becoming another focal point in the debate over personal freedom and public health.
Palmdale City Council members on Oct. 20 voted unanimously to direct the city attorney to report back with options to push against the rules, whether by resolution, ordinance, lawsuit or other measure.
“It is an overreach to sit here and demand an invasive medical procedure,” Mayor Steven Hofbauer said during a phone interview Tuesday, calling the notion of a forced health measure “Orwellian.” Hofbauer chose to get vaccinated after contracting the coronavirus early this year. The mayor said he has since suffered from serious vaccine side effects, including the development of pancreatitis and pericarditis.
This Thought Experiment Captures Facebook’s Betrayal of Users’ Privacy
Imagine that right now the postman is reading your mail and making a note of your most private thoughts and preferences. He notices that you lean slightly to the right and read the Wall Street Journal. He begins hawking your intimate information all over town and sells it to a newspaper further to the right of the WSJ.
By selling your information, the postman becomes rich, exceedingly rich — the richest person in your community. You confront him to say that you don’t consent to being a product to be sold to the highest bidder, and find out he is reading the mail of half the people on the planet.
When experts talk about social media, you’ll hear a lot about abstract and fuzzy concepts such as the algorithm, transparency and privacy, but they all boil down to whether you want to be a commodity and have no control over who you are sold to.
Montana’s Governor Nixed a Kids’ Vaccine Campaign, so Health Officials Plan Their Own
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration quashed plans for a public service campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccinations for eligible teenagers over the summer, a former state health official said.
That has led public health and medical experts to plan their own ad campaigns, in anticipation of the administration not publicly backing shots for kids 5 and up when doses for those children roll out.
A state endorsement and ad campaign on television, radio and the internet could encourage and persuade undecided parents to get their kids vaccinated.
With Facebook, Privacy Is a Thing of the Past. Can MeWe Change That?
Most recently, we learned that Facebook circumvents user permissions on iPhone. Even if you turn off location permissions, Facebook can access your phone’s accelerometer, according to Forbes. This is a built-in tool that keeps track of the way you tilt your iPhone.
Your accelerometer is made up of motion sensors that analyze your vibrations and movements. It’s helpful when you’re using compass apps and even sleep apps. It’s also beneficial for tech companies that want to harvest your data.
Despite Zuckerberg’s disregard for privacy, other tech leaders see a better way. Take MeWe founder Mark Weinstein, for example. He’s a direct competitor with Zuckerberg, so he knows Facebook’s tricks pretty well.
From Boeing to Mercedes, a U.S. Worker Rebellion Swells Over Vaccine Mandates + More
From Boeing to Mercedes, a U.S. Worker Rebellion Swells Over Vaccine Mandates
In Wichita, Kansas, nearly half of the roughly 10,000 employees at aircraft companies Textron Inc (TXT.N) and Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N) remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, risking their jobs in defiance of a federal mandate, according to a union official.
“We’re going to lose a lot of employees over this,” said Cornell Adams, head of the local Machinists union district. Many workers did not object to the vaccines as such, he said, but were staunchly opposed to what they see as government meddling in personal health decisions.
More Than 2,000 New York City Firefighters Out Sick as Vaccine Mandate Takes Effect
Roughly 2,300 members of the New York City Fire Department claimed they were sick and didn’t show up to work on Monday as the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers went into effect.
All city workers were required to have received at least one dose of the vaccine by October 29. City leaders suspect many of those who didn’t roll up their sleeves feigned illness to avoid being disciplined for failing to comply with the health requirement. Roughly 9,000 municipal workers were put on unpaid leave Monday for failing to meet the deadline and comply with the COVID-19 mandate, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Nearly 90 NYPD Officers Forced to Go on Leave Over Vaccine Mandate
Nearly 90 officers with the New York Police Department (NYPD) are being forced to go on leave for not complying with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Commissioner Dermot Shea said Tuesday.
Shea told NY1 on Tuesday that 89 officers are on leave without pay for not complying with the mandate.
The number is a notable increase from Monday, when Shea told reporters that only 34 officers out of the roughly 35,000-strong workforce were placed on no-pay status for not complying with the mandate.
Facebook, Citing Societal Concerns, Plans to Shut Down Facial Recognition System
Facebook plans to shut down its decade-old facial recognition system this month, deleting the face scan data of more than one billion users and effectively eliminating a feature that has fueled privacy concerns, government investigations, a class-action lawsuit and regulatory woes.
Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence at Meta, Facebook’s newly named parent company, said in a blog post on Tuesday that the social network was making the change because of “many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society.”
Lawsuit Argues Augusta University Would Lose Substantial Revenue, Employees From Federal Vaccine Mandate
The Augusta Chronicle reported:
Augusta University is among the state universities represented in a lawsuit opposing President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors, arguing that the requirement violates federal law. According to the lawsuit, if the mandate goes into effect, AU would stand to lose $17.1 million in federal contracts and their 200 affiliated employees.
According to the lawsuit, Augusta University, Georgia State University and the University of Georgia have a combined total of approximately 2,600 federal contracts and subcontracts.
It argues that the federal mask mandate makes an unreasonable requirement that anyone who had even fleeting contact with one of those federal contract workers would have to be at least partially vaccinated by Dec. 8. The lawsuit argues that the tally could be over 10,000 employees.
Judge Denies Order to Groups Fighting LAUSD Student Vaccine Mandate
The Los Angeles Mail reported:
A judge has denied a temporary restraining order sought by two nonprofit groups representing parents of nearly 1,500 Los Angeles Unified School District students who oppose the LAUSD’s student COVID-19 vaccine mandate on grounds such decisions should be left to the state Department of Public Health.
The judge said the groups can still seek relief later through a preliminary injunction.
Teen Screen Time Doubled During Pandemic Lockdowns — Higher Stress, Mental Health Drove up Viewing
Adolescents had more than a mean of 8 hours of screen time in the early pandemic period, almost doubling pre-pandemic totals, researchers found.
A large national sample of 5,412 adolescents found that mean screen time rose to 7.7 hours/day from pre-pandemic estimates of 3.8 hours/day at baseline, reported Jason Nagata, MD, of University of California San Francisco, and colleagues.
They noted that the stay-at-home orders, online learning, and social distancing requirements have contributed to adolescents’ increased use of digital media, but that “this has not yet been explored using U.S. data.”
The Corps’ COVID Vaccination Deadline Is Coming. Marines Who Refuse Will Be Booted
The Corps will kick out every Marine who refuses the COVID-19 vaccine and fails to receive an approved exemption by the Nov. 28 deadline, a new administrative message said.
Barring an approved administrative, medical or religious accommodation, or a pending appeal, Marines who fail to meet the deadline will be processed for administrative separation, the MARADMIN said.
General court-martial convening authorities will “retain authority to take any additional adverse administrative or disciplinary action” deemed appropriate.
The Austrian Army Dogs Join Growing Global Pack of COVID-Sniffers
Austria’s army has successfully trained two dogs to sniff out COVID-19, it said on Tuesday, adding to a mass of evidence that dogs can be deployed to identify carriers of the virus.
Trials across the world from Thailand to Britain have found dogs can use their powerful sense of smell to detect the coronavirus with a high degree of accuracy, suggesting they could be regularly deployed as an additional line of safety at large events and border entry points.
Airports in Finland and Chile began deploying dogs to screen arrivals for COVID-19 last year.
State Workers Suspended Over COVID Vaccine Mandate
The Daily News of Newburyport reported:
Hundreds of state workers have been suspended for failing to comply with Gov. Charlie Baker’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate as administration officials begin to enforce the new rules.
As of last week, at least 362 executive branch workers — which includes the governor’s office and the Departments of Education, Environmental Protection and Labor — received five- or 10-day suspensions for failing to attest they have been vaccinated or sought an exemption, according to the Baker administration.
An additional 141 executive employees have quit their jobs in response to the vaccine mandate, officials said. Of those, at least 11 workers were fired because they did not want to get the vaccine.
NorthShore Temporarily Barred From Placing Workers With Religious Exemptions to COVID Vaccine on Unpaid Leave
A Chicago federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday preventing NorthShore University HealthSystem from placing 14 employees with religious objections to getting mandated COVID-19 vaccines on unpaid leave.
The anonymous employees were granted religious exemptions by NorthShore, but were set to go on a forced leave of absence Monday, using up their limited paid time off and facing termination if they didn’t get the shots by year’s end.
Why Flying Is So Bad and About to Get Worse
Canceled flights, packed planes, rising fares and violent outbursts are the new normal for air travel. Flying is getting worse for both passengers and crews.
Staffing shortages are leading to overworked flight crews and most of the canceled flights. Vaccine mandates could lead to even more staffing shortages. Less choice in flights has led to higher ticket prices. And altercations over masks have been the cherry on the top of a miserable year for travel.
Those issues will continue well into the holiday season — and perhaps they’ll get even worse.
Amazon Lifts Mask Mandates for Vaccinated Warehouse Employees
Amazon is lifting its mask mandate for fully vaccinated warehouse workers in the U.S. (via CNBC). The company reportedly sent out a notice to operations employees, stating that vaccinated workers are no longer required to wear masks starting Nov. 2.
Masks will still be required if state or local laws mandate them, however.