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72% Of Unvaccinated Workers Vow to Quit if Ordered to Get Vaccinated

CNN Business reported:

A large number of unvaccinated workers say they’ll quit their jobs if their employers follow upcoming federal rules to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a think tank concentrating on health issues, found 37% of unvaccinated workers say they will quit their jobs if forced to either get vaccinated or take weekly COVID tests. And if their employer mandates vaccines and doesn’t offer the testing option, 72% of the unvaccinated workers say they will quit.

If the surveyed unvaccinated workers follow through on their threats to quit, it would lead to somewhere between 5% to 9% of workers leaving their jobs, depending upon what rules they face.

Judge Denies NYPD Union’s Bid to Halt COVID Vaccine Mandate

CBS News reported:

A Staten Island judge denied a police union’s request to temporarily halt the implementation of the city’s vaccine mandate that is set to take effect Nov. 1.

“Today’s ruling sets the city up for a real crisis. The haphazard rollout of this mandate has created chaos in the NYPD,” PBA President Patrick J. Lynch said in a statement. “City Hall has given no reason that a vaccine mandate with a weekly testing option is no longer enough to protect police officers and the public, especially while the number of COVID-19 cases continues to fall.”

The union plans on filing an immediate appeal to the ruling. The NYPD could not immediately be reached for comment.

Vax Mandate Could Force FDNY Companies to Close, as NYPD Faces Street Cop Shortage

New York Post reported:

The FDNY is preparing to shutter as many as 20% of all Big Apple fire companies — and take an equal portion of its ambulances off the streets — ahead of the impending deadline for all city workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

On Wednesday, the FDNY said just 65% of its firefighters, fire officers and EMS workers had been vaccinated despite Mayor Bill de Blasio’s order that all city workers receive at least one dose or face suspension without pay on Monday.

The widespread resistance by firefighters “is going to take about 40% of us out” and could lead to response times of “seven minutes or more,” an FDNY member suggested.

Bill Would Remove ‘Conscience’ as Basis for Refusing Vaccine

Associated Press reported:

Illinois law has for more than four decades protected those who oppose providing or receiving medical treatment because of their religious beliefs. Now Democrats want an exception to allow repercussions for those who refuse vaccinations in the battle against COVID-19.

Long considered a shield for physicians whose religious beliefs precluded their performing abortions, the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act has become a pandemic lightning rod. Lawsuits invoking it are challenging employers trying to enforce rules requiring testing for or inoculation against the coronavirus.

Florida Sues Biden, NASA Over COVID Vaccine Mandates for Federal Contractors

Fox News reported:

The state of Florida is suing President Biden, NASA and a number of officials and agencies within the Biden administration over its “unlawful” COVID-19 vaccine mandates requiring government contractors to get vaccinated, saying the rule interferes with Florida’s employment policies and “threatens” the state’s economy.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Gov. Ron DeSantis filed the lawsuit, first obtained by Fox News, against Biden, NASA, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, and officials within the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Defense over the mandates, which require all workers in the executive branch be vaccinated against COVID-19, and require federal contractors to mandate vaccinations and ensure workers are fully vaccinated by Dec. 8.

Facebook Isn’t Telling the Whole Story About Its Mental Health Research

The Verge reported:

Ever since The Wall Street Journal published internal Facebook research that found Instagram harmed the well-being of teenage girls, the company’s defense has been to minimize and dismiss its own findings — saying documents were only relevant for internal product development. That’s nonsense, social science researchers say.

Though Facebook’s work by itself is limited, it fits into a larger set of data — including from researchers outside the company — that suggests social media can have harmful effects on mental health. And even if that context didn’t exist, Facebook’s work alone suggests something bad enough is going on that it should cause concern.

Chicago FOP to Ask Judge to Block COVID Vaccine Mandate at Hearing Thursday

ABC 7 Chicago reported:

The fight over Chicago’s vaccine mandate continues Thursday.

The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police will be back in court to ask a judge to block the city’s requirement for city workers to reveal whether or not they are vaccinated. The union has filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order to be issued against the mandate.

COVID Vaccine Waivers Were Given to Some Massachusetts Prison Guards, Then They Were Told It Was ‘in Error’

MassLive reported:

A Massachusetts prison guard says it would be catastrophic if he lost his job over Gov. Charlie Baker’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The correction officer, who spoke to MassLive on the condition of anonymity, said he was initially approved for a religious exemption under Baker’s order, which required more than 40,000 Executive Department employees and contractors to be fully immunized by Oct.17.

But the officer — alongside multiple other state prison guards, according to family members who also spoke to MassLive on the condition of anonymity — was thrown a curveball weeks later. He’s worried it could trigger a staffing shortage at facilities across Massachusetts.

Minnesota Doctors Silenced Over COVID Views: ‘If It’s Happening to Someone Else, It Could Happen to You’

Fox News reported:

Two Minnesota doctors are speaking out after being silenced for reiterating the importance of individual rights as it pertains to COVID-related policies.

Dr. Scott Jensen, a GOP gubernatorial candidate in the state, faces a fifth investigation in just one year for emphasizing the importance of natural immunity, and Dr. Jeffrey Horak was reportedly terminated from his role of 15 years as a veteran of general surgery after speaking at a local school board meeting.

The pair joined “Fox & Friends” on Thursday to discuss the repercussions of being “canceled,” and emphasize the importance of protecting individual rights despite the global pandemic.

Should Doctors Peddling COVID Disinformation Lose Their License? — A Group of Physicians Is Pushing the Federation of State Medical Boards to Do Just That

MedPage Today reported:

On this week’s episode, Eve Bloomgarden, MD, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, who is a member of No License for Disinformation, a non-partisan grassroots coalition taking on disinformation by healthcare providers, joins us to explain how they plan to push for action against those who spread false information.

The following is an abridged transcript of her interview with “Track the Vax” host, Serena Marshall:

Noem Order Aimed at Easing Exemptions for Vaccine Mandate

Associated Press reported:

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem issued an executive order Wednesday aimed at ensuring that state employees can easily obtain medical and religious exemptions from federal vaccine mandates.

Noem said the move was necessary to ensure that employees aren’t forced to get COVID-19 vaccinations under President Joe Biden’s initiative, which covers not only people directly paid by federal contracts but also anyone who works to support them.

State lawmakers have said South Dakotans are being denied medical and religious exemptions from feds and have called for a special session to stop it. Noem spokesman Jordan Overturf said Noem’s exemptions are “explicit and offer a clear path” for state workers to opt out of the shots.

FDNY Union to Protest NYC Vaccine Mandate Thursday Outside Gracie Mansion

CBS New York 2 reported:

Members of the FDNY union are expected to rally Thursday in protest of New York City’s vaccine requirement, which includes first responders.

As CBS2’s John Dias reports, the fire union invited thousands of workers to rally outside Gracie Mansion, taking their concerns right to the mayor’s home. “I’m assuming the commissioner is telling the mayor, ‘We got this.’ I’m telling you, you’re wrong,” Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro told CBS2.

A high ranking FDNY source told CBS2 as many as 20% of fire companies could close, and their ambulance fleet may beimpacted as well, if the mayor doesn’t budge on his mandate. Ansbor said, simply put, there will be deaths. “I don’t think the mayor understands what’s going to happen on November 1,” he said.