United States: Vaccine obligation clears teeth, but seems to be working

Los Angeles, United States | When American officials announced that they would introduce the obligation to vaccinate against COVID-19 in administrations and companies, some predicted waves of dismissals or resignations that could jeopardize a weaker economic recovery.

Also read: The majority of American employees must be vaccinated by January 4th

This is not the case and the vaccine responsibility that President Joe Biden reiterated Thursday seems to have paid off.

Putting aside a few pockets of resistance, a large number of Americans who waited or were reluctant finally received their injections.

“Executive orders, by far, seem to be the most effective way available to us to determine who is not eligible to be vaccinated,” said Dr. Bradley Pollack, a professor of public health sciences at the University of California, Davis. “It’s really cool,” he said in an interview with the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

In early November, more than 58% of the American population was fully vaccinated, compared to just 50% when the first vaccine obligations were announced in August.

From January 4, 2022, the government on Thursday determined that tens of millions of American employees affected by the move must receive their final dose of the vaccine, or undergo at least one test a week.

They are employees of companies with more than 100 people, health workers and contractors from federal agencies.

“Vaccination is the best way to get out of this pandemic,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

This rule affects more than two-thirds of American workers. Other private sector employees are already subject to similar obligations decreed by their employers, such as United Airlines. The airline has warned its 67,000 employees that they will face layoffs if they do not receive shots on time.

As of Thursday, only 2,000 of them had asked for an exemption for medical or religious reasons and most of the rest had received injections.

At meat giant Tyson Foods, which saw its operations severely damaged at the start of the epidemic, 120,000 employees were due to be vaccinated on November 1st.

According to the New York Times, their vaccination rate rose to 96% on Thursday from less than 50% in early August.

The U.S. military, which has a very strict policy in this area, has 95% vaccine coverage.

If we trust AFL-CIO, the country’s leading union group, to welcome “a step in the right direction”, many employees have accepted this responsibility.

Refractive fields

Some sectors have resistance, often denying the responsibility placed on them more than the vaccine. Although many deaths have occurred due to the epidemic in these professions, it is particularly prevalent among law enforcement or firefighters, whose vaccination rates are often below average.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff said only 43% of his police officers were vaccinated against the coronavirus. Sheriff Alex Villanueva called on the county to suspend this responsibility, saying it “weakens the ability to ensure public safety.”

In Chicago, several thousand police officers are at risk of ending up on unpaid leave.

And in New York City, only half of city workers who apply for medical or religious exemption are police officers. No major religion prohibits its followers from receiving the vaccine, which is considered safe and effective by health officials.

Reluctance is seen in all sections of American society.

Caleb Masi, who works for NASA, was among dozens of protesters this week in the center of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles.

Like other federal employees, he faces dismissal if he does not provide proof of vaccination by December 8.

He applied for a religious exemption but was told he was ready to lose his job. “I can swear to you that I will never receive this vaccine,” he assured AFP, adding that someone had denied him “no choice”.

Many elected officials, mostly Republicans, have denied these responsibilities, trampling on sacred personal liberties and likening them to “dictatorships.”

Many American states, such as Texas, have banned all vaccination requirements on their soil.

Fueled from the summer by the Delta variant, the epidemic has already killed more than 750,000 people in the United States.