History of Vaccine Mandates

[nett]

I have a hard time understanding why a vaccine mandate for government employees who work from home is necessary.

Exactly what is this about, other than authoritarianism and political control?

It’s about reaching herd immunity and bringing the pandemic to an end.

and....that's why work from home employees need to be vaccinated. lol ok

[Ken]

I have a hard time understanding why a vaccine mandate for government employees who work from home is necessary.

Exactly what is this about, other than authoritarianism and political control?

It’s about reaching herd immunity and bringing the pandemic to an end.

and....that's why work from home employees need to be vaccinated. lol ok

Do people only spread the virus at work and nowhere else?

That would explain why retired people and old folks never catch Covid I guess.

[Josh]

I have a hard time understanding why a vaccine mandate for government employees who work from home is necessary.

Exactly what is this about, other than authoritarianism and political control?

It’s about reaching herd immunity and bringing the pandemic to an end.

Exactly how is that an employer's business?

If there should be a vaccine mandate, the government should simply mandate it on every man, woman, and child across the whole country, not have private employers (or public employers) mandating it.

Employers should not be the arbiters of enforcing public health. Should employers also start mandating healthy eating and ordering obese people to lose weight or get fired?

[Ken]

I have a hard time understanding why a vaccine mandate for government employees who work from home is necessary.

Exactly what is this about, other than authoritarianism and political control?

It’s about reaching herd immunity and bringing the pandemic to an end.

Exactly how is that an employer's business?

It is everybody’s business because it affects all of us.

[Josh]

It is everybody’s business because it affects all of us.

So does people being fat.

Ultimately, people should be allowed to work and provide a living for themselves without having to submit to specific new experimental drugs and treatments, like the vaccines (which are still under an EUA and not FDA approved - Cominarty isn't planned to be available until 2024).

And no, it doesn't "affect all of us" any more than colds and flus have always affected everybody. That doesn't mean YOU get some right to force everyone else to take experimental treatments just because YOU like them. If your vaccine is so effective, then why do I need to get vaccinated? How does it affect YOU?

[Bootstrap]

I have a hard time understanding why a vaccine mandate for government employees who work from home is necessary.

Exactly what is this about, other than authoritarianism and political control?

This is about the same kinds of vaccine mandates we have had through most of the history of this country. And it's about a pandemic. None of these vaccines has led to fascism or communism. This is actually pretty normal stuff. Private industry is also doing mandates for their employees.

Clearly, Biden wants to get as many people vaccinated as he can, and he has the legal authority to mandate vaccines for federal employees and the military. We are still averaging more than 1,800 Covid-19 deaths a day in this country, I think that's what this is about. In their words:

To protect the health and safety of the federal workforce and to promote the efficiency of the civil service

They don't want their employees to get sick and drop out of work, they don't want them to infect others.

There are exceptions, including legal exceptions.

Federal employees must be fully vaccinated other than in limited circumstances where the law requires an exception. In particular, an agency may be required to provide a reasonable accommodation to employees who communicate to the agency that they are not vaccinated against COVID-19 because of a disability or because of a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. Determining whether an exception is legally required will include consideration of factors such as the basis for the claim; the nature of the employee’s job responsibilities; and the reasonably foreseeable effects on the agency’s operations, including protecting other agency employees and the public from COVID-19. Because such assessments will be fact- and context-dependent, agencies are encouraged to consult their offices of general counsel with questions related to assessing and implementing any such requested accommodations.

[Ken]

It is everybody’s business because it affects all of us.

So does people being fat.

Yes, and I would advocate for public policy that helps fight obesity as well. For example:

• Improved walking and biking infrastructure in urban areas so that people have safe healthier alternatives to getting in their cars for every single errand
• Stop subsidizing suburban and exurban sprawl that fuels a car-centric lifestyle and return to older and more productive forms of urban landscapes
• Stop subsidizing the production of unhealthy processed foods by big ag.
• Stop subsidizing fossil fuel production
• Reduce the obsession with standardized testing in schools and replace it with improved fitness. A lot of low income schools have discontinued PE and recess in favor of increased standardized test prep.

But we are not talking about obesity here, we are talking about pandemics. And I also favor public health measures that help bring the pandemic to an end.

[Josh]

But we're not talking about that, Ken.

We're talking about a mandate like "Be at a BMI of 24 or lower by November 15 or get fired".

How is it any different?

[Josh]

I have a hard time understanding why a vaccine mandate for government employees who work from home is necessary.

Exactly what is this about, other than authoritarianism and political control?

This is about the same kinds of vaccine mandates we have had through most of the history of this country. And it's about a pandemic. None of these vaccines has led to fascism or communism. This is actually pretty normal stuff. Private industry is also doing mandates for their employees.

Then why is the government forcing private industry with over 100 employees to mandate vaccines?

That actually sounds very much like fascism or communism. Telling people they aren't allowed to work unless they get an untested, experimental vaccine, made out of aborted fetal tissue, that is proving to have very serious side effects like causing heart attacks in young people.

[Bootstrap]

This is about the same kinds of vaccine mandates we have had through most of the history of this country. And it's about a pandemic. None of these vaccines has led to fascism or communism. This is actually pretty normal stuff. Private industry is also doing mandates for their employees.

Then why is the government forcing private industry with over 100 employees to mandate vaccines?

For the same reason OSHA regulates other things: to keep your co-workers safe.

I don't think the OSHA restrictions apply to people working at home, they seem designed to protect co-workers who work together. But I haven't read this closely:

Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace

It seems to be related to other measures taken to protect against Covid-19.

That actually sounds very much like fascism or communism.

Actually, it sounds a lot like the United States during a pandemic. Really, almost everything the American government does seems to strike you as fascism or communism. The government really can tell you what to do in some spheres. Under all forms of government. During a pandemic, governments do that. Under all forms of government.

America has done this since the beginning.