Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

A-B Tech is rolling out vaccine incentives ahead of the upcoming school year.

Any students enrolled in Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College's academic, continuing education or workforce programs who provide proof of aCOVID-19 vaccination will receive a $150gift card to the colleges bookstore.

Students can show their government ID and proof of vaccination at the Bailey Student Services Center from Aug. 5 to Oct. 15.

We hope to encourage more students to get fully vaccinated as we prepare to return to in-person fall classes, A-B Tech Vice President of Student Services Terry Brasier said.

College and vaccines: UNCA and A-B Tech, unlike Brevard College, will not mandate COVID-19 vaccine

A-B Tech kicked off the vaccine incentive program Aug. 5 at its New Student Welcome Day. During the event, the Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services offered Pfizer and Moderna shots.

The health department also is investing in vaccine incentives. Anyone 18 and older getting their first dose can receive $100 prepaid Mastercards from the state. People driving someone to their first dose are eligible for $25 cards.

'Sense of urgency': COVID-19 surge spurs new recommendations in Buncombe

Money for the A-B Techs gift cards will come from the schools federal COVID relief funds, Brasier said. As of June 30, the school had received more than $13 million from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.

A-B Tech also has used federal relief funds to offer tuition assistancefor students impacted from the pandemic.

Recent high school graduates can receive as much as $2,800 from the relief funds, and students whose jobs were affected by COVID-19 could get anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000.

Shelby Harris is a reporter covering education and other topics.She can be reached at sharris@citizentimes.com oron Twitter @_shelbyharris.

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A-B Tech to offer COVID-19 vaccine incentives - Citizen Times

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. Turning Point Church is encouraging people to get vaccinated by raffling off cash.

People who came out to its vaccination clinic Sunday were able to enter for a chance to win $1,000.

If people arent going to be motivated by money, theyre not going to be motivated by anything, said Ashanti Tate. Ashantis husband is the current pastor at Turning Point Church.

We need people vaccinated yesterday, said Tate. We need them vaccinated immediately. I realized that our COVID cases were one of the top in the country. That just didnt sit well with me.

However, when the COVID-19 vaccine first came out, the African American community was hesitant to take it.

Our history. and things that have been done to people of color, a lot of it with them not knowing what was done to them, whether it was giving them medications that they didnt know about, or withholding medications for treatment, said Michelle Williams, a registered nurse. In the 50s, there was an African American woman that was being treated for cancer, and her cancer cells were taken from her.

Now, Williams says the apprehension has gone beyond that.

The hesitancy you see now transcends color, it transcends all races, it transcends economic background, people that are hesitant to get the vaccine can no longer be lumped into a particular category, said Williams.

Jordan Valley Community Health Center administered the vaccines at the event.

The vaccine does not make you bulletproof, said Bob Stephens, coordinator of Mobile Vaccination Unit. it certainly is a very good tool for keeping you from being very critically ill, or even going in the hospital or dying from COVID.

Williams says the vaccines are not just for your protection.

This pandemic does not touch one person, said Williams. If Im not taking the vaccine for me, I need to take it for you. Everyones talking about their own freedoms, and what that means, being a hostage to this pandemic is not freedom. And with freedom comes responsibility. And we have to be responsible for each other because we are a community.

A total of 22 people received a COVID-19 vaccine at the event.

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Church raffles $1,000 to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine - KOLR - OzarksFirst.com

CAIRO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Egypt on Monday received its first shipment of one-shot Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) COVID-19 vaccines, obtaining 261,600 doses in cooperation with the African Union, the health ministry said.

The J&J vaccines will be distributed to 126 vaccination centres specifically for those who want to travel abroad, Khaled Megahed, assistant health minister for media and ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

Egypt recently began locally producing Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccines, through a deal between the Chinese company and Egypt's Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA).

The country has also received shipments of the Sputnik, Sinopharm and Oxford-AstraZeneca shots, including via COVAX, a global agreement established by the Geneva-based GAVI vaccine alliance and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the equitable distribution of vaccines.

Egypt is reporting 54 new infections on average each day, 3% of the peak, with the highest daily average reported on June 19, according to the Reuters COVID-19 Tracker. The country has reported 284,641 infections and 16,566 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began.

Egypt's prime minister said in June the government's aim was to vaccinate 40% of the population of more than 100 million against COVID-19 by the end of this year.

Reporting by Yousef SabaEditing by David Holmes

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Egypt receives first batch of J&J COVID-19 vaccines - Reuters

More events continue to promote the vaccines and areas with the lowest vaccination rates are seeing the biggest jumps in people getting first doses.

DALLAS In case anyone had missed the message, a 16-foot tall video board and a panel of speakers greeted shoppers at Walmart in southern Dallas Sunday.

This vaccine is safe, a pediatrician said in a pre-recorded video message on the board.

From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the board played loops of messages in English and Spanish as a team of people with the Texas Department of State Health Services provided information at a tent set up next to the front door.

Most often people think its a concert, said Robert Santiago with the state health department. Were out here doing outreach, talking about the COVID vaccine.

Its the 18th site and 15th city theyve traveled to in Texas to share information and promote the vaccine.

We get other people who dont know the first thing, Santiago said. That you dont need an appointment and that its free.

Kassondra Vines walked up wanting to know if her grandkids could be vaccinated, but ranging from ages 3 to 10, they just miss the 12-year-old cut-off for eligibility for the Pfizer vaccine.

Im kind of sad because I want to feel safe with them going back into the schools, Vine said.

Now eight months after vaccines became available in the U.S., just 59% of those eligible are fully vaccinated.

Some people are scared, Vines said. Theyre scared of just not knowing. I think scared is not knowing.

Sunday in an interview with ABC News, NIH director Dr. Francis Collins called the 50%-mark a failing of Americans.

Its time. In fact, its past time but its not too late, Collins said. We would not be in the place where we are with this Delta surge if wed been more effective with getting everybody to take advantage.

There is good news, though. The number of people in Texas getting their first COVID vaccine dose has more than doubled from where it was a month ago, according to data from the state health department.

The biggest increases have been in surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth areas like Johnson, Parker and Rockwall counties and other areas that have remained hesitant.

In this side of town, theres a lot of people that dont know, Vines said. If they would get out and spread the information a little more, maybe more people would understand.

The popup provided a basketball hoop, gift cards and popsicles to people who stopped by if signs and a sales pitch for a free, life-saving vaccine werent enough.

We talk to the pharmacist, Santiago said. We asked them if theyre busier than normal and they absolutely say, Yes.'"

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are surging in Texas, and, in case anyone missed the message, theres a cure to stop it.

Roll up your sleeve, Collins said. Become part of the winning team.

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COVID-19 vaccinations increasing rapidly in Texas as hospitalizations spike - WFAA.com

GREENWOOD, ArkansasMichael Lejong fully intended to get vaccinated for Covid-19, his wife said, standing in the pavilion that the prominent architect designed for his hometown.

But he was relatively young, very healthy and not overly concerned about the virus. He wanted to get his shots separately from his wife, so he could care for her if she had adverse side effects. She got hers immediately in April and he put his off.

In late June, he began feeling sick and tested positive for Covid-19. A week of mild symptoms turned into extreme fatigue. On July 3, he was admitted to a nearby hospital with low oxygen levels; on the 15th, doctors put him on a ventilator. He died four days later.

The death of the 49-year-old Greenwood native, father of two, community leader, mountain biker and outdoorsman, has rattled this western Arkansas town, where it seems like nearly everyone knew Mr. Lejong. It comes amid a spate of other recent deaths and skyrocketing hospitalizations in a region where many are deeply skeptical of the Covid-19 vaccines, and doctors and political leaders are trying everything to persuade a reluctant populace to take them.

Its personal now because he knew so many people, said his widow, Katie Lejong. Before, it was happening somewhere else.

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Neighbors Deaths From Covid-19 Have an Arkansas Town Reassessing Vaccines - The Wall Street Journal

Despite months of public and private efforts to make vaccines widely accessible, about 40 percent of adults in the United States are not yet fully vaccinated. As coronavirus cases surge, overwhelming hospitals in some parts of the country, colleges and universities, private employers, and states and cities are imposing vaccine mandates for employees, students, and customers. With new evidence suggesting that the delta variant is more transmissible than prior strains and that a majority of the remaining unvaccinated are unlikely to seek out vaccination, the United States urgently needs to use all available tools to increase vaccination rates and avoid continued surges, along with their health and economic impacts. The Medicare and Medicaid Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage are untapped levers the federal government can use to support this effort.

To date, more than 500,000 health care workers have contracted the coronavirus and 1,673 have died from COVID-19. Unvaccinated health care workers put patients at high risk, given that their jobs require close interaction with unvaccinated patients and others who are immunocompromised and at higher risk for complications. Yet by the end of May,1 in 4 hospital workersstill had not been vaccinated at all.

Congregate settings, such as long-term care (LTC) facilities, are particularly susceptible to the spread of infectious disease. In December 2020, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that health care workers and LTC facility residents be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccination to protect those at the highest risk of severe illness and death. Yet according to an analysis of 300 LTC facilities published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 46 percent of aides and 57 percent of nursesproviders who have the most patient contacthad been fully vaccinated by the beginning of April, with 1 in 3 aides declining the vaccine. Partial vaccination of staff provides insufficient protection: COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred through spread among unvaccinated workers even in LTC facilities with high vaccination rates among residents. As of March 2021, residents and staff of LTC facilities accounted for almost one-third of COVID-19-related deaths in the United States.

According to one public health expert, vaccinating workers in nursing homes is a national emergency. In addition, a CDC presentation obtained in late July by The Washington Post asked its audience to consider vaccine mandates for HCP [health care personnel] to protect vulnerable populations; it did not, however, propose any mechanism for expanding mandates.

As the largest payers of health care in the United States, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have a variety of regulatory policy tools that can support COVID-19 vaccine administration. One of the most powerful tools the Biden administration has at its disposal is the Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and Conditions for Coverage (CfCs), the federal health and safety standards that health care organizations must meet in order to participateand receive funding from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Under Section 1861(e) of the Social Security Act, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has the authority to adopt proposed CoPs that are found to be necessary in the interest of the health and safety of the individuals who are furnished services in hospitals. Other health care providers must similarly meet health and safety standards.

Although, typically, CMS must go through notice-and-comment rulemaking to modify Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage, the agency may waive this process and instead adopt changes through interim final rules when it finds there is good cause, meaning that notice-and-comment rulemaking is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. CMS has already waived notice-and-comment rulemaking when amending these health and safety standards in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, in August 2020, CMS added new universal hospital COVID-19 data reporting requirements and critical access hospital CoPs to support virus tracking, prevent spread, and protect the health and safety of patients. CMS invoked a good-cause exception to notice-and-comment rulemaking as well as the typical 30-day delay in a rules effective date, stating that time is of the essence in controlling the spread of COVID-19 and that universal resident and staff testing will assist public health officials in detecting outbreaks and saving lives.

More recently, in May 2021, CMS issued an interim final rule establishing new requirements for educating LTC residents and staff about COVID-19 vaccines and for offering the vaccine. Again, CMS explained that these changes were critically important given the ongoing pandemic, as it would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest for [CMS] to undertake normal notice and comment rulemaking procedures under these circumstances. Moreover, the agency explained it could not afford sizable delay in effectuating this [change] due to the ongoing crisis.

CMS should now update these standards to mandate that health care and LTC staff and contractors, as well as health care providers with hospital privileges, are vaccinated against COVID-19; the emergence of the delta variant, stalling vaccination rates, and the threat to patient safety posed by unvaccinated health care workers have created the need for action beyond staff education and vaccine access. It is in the public interest to increase vaccination rates without delay, and mandatory vaccinations for health care workers are of critical importance in protecting patients health and safety. Providers would have eight weeks from the effective date of the rule to ensure compliance, allowing the time needed for full vaccination. CMS should also evaluate whether it can impose civil monetary penalties, set to increase over time, for noncompliant organizations.

Importantly, CoPs and CfCs are national in scope, making them a powerful tool to effectuate change when there is local or regional reluctance. For instance, in 1965, federal officials required hospitals to desegregate to be eligible for Medicare reimbursement, leading more than 1,000 hospitals to integrate their medical staffs and hospital floors in less than four months.

Vaccination rates vary significantly from region to region and from state to state. In areas with low vaccination rates, employersincluding health care and LTC employersmay be less likely to adopt mandates on their own. State and local officials who have been resistant to public health measures such as masking are unlikely ever to adopt vaccine requirements for all workers in health care, as California has done, or for all nursing home staff, as Massachusetts has done. Some states even have passed laws to limit employer-mandated vaccination. Yet patients, facility residents, and health care workers in all communities deserve the protection afforded by vaccination.

A consistent, national policy is necessary to overcome employers perceived financial disincentive to mandate vaccination. While hospitals and other health care employers are well aware of the risks of transmission, the concept of a self-imposed vaccine mandate presents them with a conundrum: In a tight labor market, they fear imposing new restrictions will cause them to lose workers to competing institutions at a time when they are already short-staffed. However, a federal rule requiring full vaccination in virtually all health care jobs would level the playing field, ensuring that no individual facility is disadvantaged by mandating employee vaccination.

The movement to ensure that all health care workers are fully vaccinated is gaining momentum. More than 50 health care professional societies and organizations have urged all health care employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect the safety of patients, residents, and communities. Meanwhile, dozens of medical centers and hospital systems, including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, are requiring their workers to get vaccinated. While this movement is encouraging, it is unlikely that all health care and LTC facilities will independently adopt worker vaccination mandates without federal policy intervention.

Making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid would protect vulnerable patients, set a positive example for other employers, and contribute to the national effort to contain the virus.

Jill Rosenthal is the director of Public Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. Emily Gee is the senior economist for Health Policy at the Center. Maura Calsyn is the vice president and coordinator for Health Policy at the Center.

To find the latest CAP resources on the coronavirus, visit ourcoronavirus resource page.

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Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination for Health Care Workers as a Condition for Medicare and Medicaid Participation - Center For American Progress

The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is wreaking havoc on the US right now. It accounts for 89 percent of the 85,000 daily reported Covid-19 infections among Americans. Delta is more transmissible than earlier strains of SARS-CoV-2, and it increasingly is putting younger, healthier people in the hospital compared to what we witnessed in 2020. But some good news: The data is in, and Covid-19 vaccines are working. It's time to get a shot.

The vaccines might not prevent you from catching Covid-19 entirely. Delta can still break through, but the point of being vaccinated is that, even if you do contract the Delta variantor any other variantyou'll have a much milder illness. Breakthrough caseseven mild onesare still quite rare. So far, less than 7,000 people (0.004 percent) of the 160+ million fully vaccinated people have developed a case of Covid-19 severe enough to cause hospitalization or death.

The three vaccines used in the US have been taken by hundreds of millions of people around the world by now, and they've been found to be safe and effective. All three use unique technologies to stimulate an immune response in your body, but none of them involve injecting a live virus into your arm. In short, they cannot get you sick with Covid-19.

Vaccines, along with social distancing, masks, and smart policy decisions regarding reopening businesses, will be our ticket out of this hellish mass experience. States, territories, and our one state-like district (DC) all have wide latitude to set their own Covid-19 policies and procedures. Advice and paths to a Covid-19 vaccine are going to differ based on which part of the US you live in, but we've put together a guide that should give you an accurate overview of how to get the jab.

If this guide (or any other) may help others get vaccinated, please send them a link.

Updated August 2021: We've updated information on where to find vaccination appointments, statistics about the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, and which vaccines are available for kids age 12 and over.

Table of Contents

Step 1: Check Your State's Rollout Process

All adult Americans, regardless of age or preexisting health conditions, are able to sign up for a vaccination appointment. Also, children age 12 and up are able to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Odds are that a vaccine appointment is already available near you. About 90 percent of the population in the US has a vaccine site within 5 miles of where they live.

There's no federal or nationally centralized list onto which you sign up for a vaccine. Each state, territory, and freely associated state has sign-up information available on its own health department website.

Here is a list of health department websites for each state.

Some health department sites are more helpful than others, offering telephone hotlines, statewide sign-up lists, and eligibility checkers that will say whether you can get a vaccine yet if you answer a few questions about your age, gender, profession, and health conditions. Other states merely direct you to a list of vaccination providers to call yourself.

Back to Table of Contents

Step 2: Find Places You Can Get Vaccinated

Check out VaccineFinder, built by Boston Children's Hospital and the CDC, to locate available vaccines near you, and follow its Twitter account for updates. Other places to check include:

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Covid-19 Vaccination Guide: Why It's Safe, Where to Go, What to Expect - WIRED

I'm USA TODAYeditor-in-chief Nicole Carroll, and this is The Backstory, insights into our biggest stories of the week. If you'd like to get The Backstoryin your inbox every week,sign up here.

Today, ourfront pageencouragespeople to get the COVID-19 vaccine. I agree completely with the message because overwhelming evidence shows vaccines save lives, but wonderif it willmake a difference. Those against the shot areadamant in their beliefs.

One of them is my brother.

About 2,000 people a week in the U.S. are dying from COVID-19, mostly infected by the fast-spreadingdelta variant,according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.About 99% ofdeaths today arepeople who did not get vaccinated. Patients dying in hospitals are telling loved ones they regret not getting the vaccine.

First of all, he doesn't trust it. He's worried about long-term effects years down the road.

I pointed out that all three U.S. vaccines went through rigorous clinical trials. Moderna was tested on 30,000 people,Pfizer on nearly 44,000,Johnson and Johnson on more than 39,000.Side effects, including pain at the injection site, headache, fatigue and nausea, were mild to moderate and resolved within a few days.

And since then, about 165 million Americans (about 50%) have been fullyvaccinated.Long-term side effects are extremely unlikely, according to the CDC, because historically vaccine monitoring has shown side effects appear within six weeks.

A study out Wednesday, published by JAMA, showed that for every 1 million Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, only 60 developed heart problems.Complications were short-lived.

My brother, Chris Carroll,also says fully vaccinated people are getting breakthrough viruses, so why bother. The vaccinated can getCOVID. Sen. Lindsey Graham announced this week he tested positivedespite being vaccinated. But, as Graham pointed out, those with the vaccine generally have mild cases and are far less likely to die than the unvaccinated.

Fully vaccinated people made up nearly three-quarters of COVID-19 infections afterFourth of July events in Provincetown, Massachusetts.CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement the findings "raised concern that, unlike with other variants, vaccinated people infected with delta can transmit the virus." But experts agree the outbreak, where seven were hospitalized and no one died,could have been much worse without vaccines.

And breakthrough infections overall are rare.A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of data available from 23 states and Washington, D.C., found the rate of breakthrough cases among the fully vaccinated was below 1% in each state. More than nine in 10 COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths were in people either not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

Not really, he said, as the FDA is a government organization, and maybe President Joe Biden pressured them to approve it."He's going overboard trying to sell it," Chris said. "Because Bidenwants me to get it so bad, that makes me skepticalof getting it."

So does politics play into his decision not to get a vaccine? Absolutely, he says. He doesn't trust the president.But the vaccine was developed under President Donald Trump, I pointed out. "He was under pressure" to get a vaccine quickly to reopen the economy, Chris replied.

Chris is a Christian conservative and lifelong Texan. He's bothered by the pressure to get what he calls "the jab," such aslotteries, financial incentives, employer mandates.

Will these types of mandates encourage him to get the vaccine? "No." He had COVID-19 late last year, and while there are people now sick for a second time, he isn't worried about getting it again. He said blood tests have confirmed he has COVID antibodies, and he feels comfortable with his natural immunity.

However, it'snot known exactlyhow long antibodies from infection lastor how mutations of the virus may impact that. Researchpublished Feb. 5in Science magazine found natural immunity can last at least eight months. More recent research,published May 24in Nature, detected cells producing coronavirus antibodies in patients at least 11 months after they had mild COVID-19 cases.

Chris doesn't look down on those who get the vaccine. He thinks vaccines are purely a personal choice.

For example, unvaccinated people can keep the virus spreading to those unable to get vaccines, like kids or those with weakened immune systems. Does he worry his individual decision can harm others?

"Government does have a role to play in community safety," he said. "We should have a police force, a military to protect people, food and water safety. But that's a bit different than requiring the masses to take something."

And what about those who can't get vaccinated, like kids, shouldn't we protect them?

"How many kids were killed in car accidentsversus kids killed by COVID," he asked. "Should I be out there driving? There is always some risk.I feelmore at risk by driving my car around.

"I don't want to see any kids die;I've actually had a child who died. If I believed me taking this vaccine would stop kids from dying, I would take it."

Medical experts agree that vaccines and masking can help control the spread of the virus, including to kids.

In 2019,612 children younger than 13 died in motor vehicle traffic crashesand more than 97,000 were injured.

The American Academy of Pediatrics said that as of July 29, almost 4.2 million children have tested positive for the virus,nearly 72,000 of them in the last week.That's almosttwice as many as the 39,000 infections from the previous week. Since May2020, more than 17,000 kids have been hospitalized with COVID-19; 358 have died.

Two children withCOVID-19died over the weekend in Tennessee,according to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.

"It's important for everyone to know that we're seeing sicker kids, we're seeing more kids be admitted that are sick with actual COVID illness, and that those kids, some of them are in our intensive care unit and some of them are intubated," Le Bonheur's Dr. Nick Hysmith, a pediatric infectious disease specialist, toldMemphis Commercial Appeal reporterLaura Testino.

My brother says he'snot sure that's true.

On Tuesday, the CDC's Walensky said it is, telling reporters, "For the amount of virus circulating in this country right now largely among unvaccinated people, the largest concern that we in public health and science are worried about is that the virus …(becomes)a very transmissible virus that has the potential to evade our vaccines in terms of how it protects us from severe disease and death."

Still, he said, "How many things have they been wrong on?"

And that, in the end, is his biggest problem. Trust.

"It's hard to believe anything," he said. "There is so much information out there, and so much bad informationout there. There is so much distrust.For me, I try to read everything I can, pray for wisdom, and make the choice I feel is best for myself and my family.

So, back to my first question. Can professional journalists make a difference? We're giving it everything we have.

We are fact checking statements in the news, giving you original sources so you can see the evidence for yourself. Our expert health reporters followed the trials carefully, watchdogging the process and the results.

And we've got reporters across the country reporting first-hand what is going on in different communities, talking to health care workers, COVID patients, grieving families, stressed out parents.

There is no higher calling in journalism than to give people accurate information to help them make decisions that can save lives.

"We don't knowwhat to believe," my brother said."We don't know who to trust."

We know that trust is earned.

We work to earn your trust with every story, every day.

Delta variant: Why the respiratory illness is so easily transmissible

The Delta variant is one of the most contagious respiratory illnesses. Find out why its easily transmissible.

Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

Nicole Carrollis the editor-in-chief of USA TODAY. Reach her at EIC@usatoday.com orfollow her onTwitterhere.Thank you forsupporting our journalism.You cansubscribe here.

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The Backstory: My brother is one of millions who won't get the COVID-19 vaccine. I asked why. Here are his reasons, my responses. - USA TODAY

Utah law applies to vaccines under emergency authorization. Full FDA authorization for the Pfizer vaccine is expected by Labor Day.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People are vaccinated against COVID-19 at the former Provo High School gym at 1125 N. University Ave. on July 28, 2021.

| Aug. 6, 2021, 11:45 a.m.

| Updated: 7:19 p.m.

Editors note The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.

Utah has a law, passed earlier this year, that blocks state and local governments from requiring vaccinations against COVID-19.

The ban extends to state colleges and universities, which cannot require students, faculty or employees to get vaccinated. Public schools are also blocked from requiring vaccinations.

But the prohibition soon may fall by the wayside.

HB308, which passed almost unanimously during the 2021 session, blocks government from requiring that people receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a term of employment or even as a requirement for attendance or participation in an activity. But the bill applies only to vaccines that are authorized for emergency use. Right now, all three of the vaccines being administered in the U.S. from manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are under emergency authorization by the federal government.

Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, sponsored the vaccine mandate ban. He told fellow lawmakers during a legislative hearing in February that people may be uneasy with a vaccine that was under only emergency approval.

Usually a vaccine takes four years to develop, Spendlove said. They were able to develop this in nine months. We dont know what the side effects are. We havent been able to do long-term studies on the effects. We need to encourage people to get the vaccine, but we need to draw the line at allowing the government to mandate that people get this vaccine right now.

The Food and Drug Administration is moving to give full approval to the Pfizer vaccine as early as next month. It was originally thought final authorization would come later in the fall, but the FDA is accelerating its timeline and aiming for Labor Day or sooner. When that approval is granted, Utahs ban on governmental entities requiring that particular vaccine ends. The same applies to other vaccines when they win full authorization.

Leaders have been urging Utahns to get vaccinated against COVID-19, especially as the delta variant of the virus is powering a surge in new cases. Do they take the next step and require vaccinations?

When COVID-19 cases were falling and states were beginning to lift restrictions, Gov. Spencer Cox was crowing to anyone who would listen that Utah was one of the first states to ban so-called vaccine passports for government. Cox did say he believed private businesses could and should have the right to make rules about vaccinations for themselves and their employees.

The Cox administrations stance hasnt changed. On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said she and Cox said they would back businesses that made vaccinations mandatory.

We are big believers in the free market, and were also big believers in personal responsibility and consequences of action, Henderson said. My message for business owners is Governor Cox and I support you. If you decide to require your employees to be vaccinated, we support you in that.

Coxs office did not respond when asked if its stance on mandatory vaccinations for state government would change if and when the emergency approval for the Pfizer vaccine was lifted.

The federal government is requiring that employees and contractors get the vaccine. California, New York and North Carolina are also requiring state employees to do the same. Several large companies like Walmart, Walt Disney, Google, Facebook and Tyson Foods are making employees get vaccinated.

Once the vaccines win full approval from the FDA, theres nothing to stop Utahs public schools, colleges and universities, or even state and local governments, from issuing their own vaccination requirements. The Republican-controlled Legislature could stop that, but it would require Cox calling lawmakers into a special session to enact an updated ban, or legislative leaders declaring an emergency to pass a new ban.

Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, says he hopes government agencies wont implement a requirement once the emergency use authorization is lifted.

I have a tough time with government mandates, Adams said. Im encouraging everyone to get vaccinated. Before we go to a mandate, lets see if the public steps up and gets vaccinated.

It may be some time before leaders do issue a mandate.

It is way too early to speculate since the vaccines are currently only being used under an emergency use authorization, said Chloe Morroni, spokesperson for Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhalls office was also taking a wait-and-see approach to a possible mandate.

We know the sooner we get people vaccinated, the quicker we head toward the percentages we need to more widely protect our community, Lindsey Nikola, Mendenhalls spokesperson, said. Once vaccinations start getting FDA approval, the mayor will evaluate whether or not a vaccination requirement is something we need to pursue based on up-to-date vaccination percentages.

See the rest here:

How Utah's ban on mandating the COVID-19 vaccine could end next month - Salt Lake Tribune

San Franciscos sheriffs union on Friday threatened that a number of deputies will quit or retire early if they are forced to get a COVID-19 vaccine under the citys mandate.

The policy issued last month requires San Franciscos roughly 35,000 public employees to be vaccinated by Sept. 15 or risk possibly getting fired.

There are religious and medical exemptions for the mandate, however those without exemptions who still refuse to get inoculated will face repercussions [that] go all the way up to termination, said Mawuli Tugbenyoh, chief of policy for the citys Department of Human Resources.

The San Diego Deputy Sheriffs Association said on its Facebook page that the ultimatum would force officers from the already short-staffed agency to retire early or move on something it warned the city cannot afford.

If deputy sheriffs are forced to vaccinate a percentage of them will retire early or seek employment elsewhere, the statement said.

Staffing levels at the department are already low, and losing more deputy sheriffs or any first responders would affect public safety even more, the union said.

It asked San Francisco to follow state guidelines that allow regular COVID-19 testing as an alternative to vaccination.

A majority of the Sheriffs Association, which numbers about 700 is vaccinated, the union said. About 160 of its members are not vaccinated, preferring instead to wear masks and test for the virus weekly due to religious and other beliefs.

We would like San Francisco to be in alignment with the state guidelines which require vaccination or test weekly, the union said.

The union said it believes masking works, and said its members have always worn face coverings and provided them to responders and the public.

City officials slammed the unions position, saying that those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 pose an undue and unacceptable health and safety risk on employees and the public.

Vaccines are safe, effective and readily available to our employees.

The city has reported a major uptick in violence in the first half of 2021, with 119 shootings reported in the first six months of 2021, compared to 58 in the first half of last year, according to a Fox News report.

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SF sheriff's deputies threaten to quit over COVID-19 vaccine mandate - New York Post