Bills to Block Mandatory Worker Vaccines Falter in the States: Stateline By Sophie Quinton | February 24, 2021
Lawmakers in at least 23 states, often encouraged by vaccine skeptics, have proposed banning employers from requiring workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or other infectious diseases. Most bills are sponsored by Republicans, who say employees shouldn’t have to choose between getting a shot and staying employed.
“I just kind of like the idea of personal freedom, and that’s one of my biggest things as a legislator,” said Republican state Sen. Dennis Kruse, who sponsored one such bill in Indiana.
Although vaccines protect individuals and communities from disease outbreaks, online disinformation has turbocharged some people’s concerns about vaccine safety and potential mandates in recent years. Some anti-vaccine activists have spread false information about the science and public policy surrounding immunizations.
New federal guidance allows employers to require workers to get COVID vaccines, though they must accommodate employees’ religious objections and ensure requirements don’t discriminate against employees with disabilities.
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Bills to Block Mandatory Worker Vaccines Falter in the States
Wendy Vottero, a nurse practitioner at Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital in Indiana, receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot from Rob Dowling, director of emergency medical service. Some state lawmakers want to prevent employers from requiring employees to be vaccinated.
Kale Wilk
The Northwest Indiana Times via The Associated Press
Lawmakers in at least 23 states, often encouraged by vaccine skeptics, have proposed banning employers from requiring workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or other infectious diseases. Most bills are sponsored by Republicans, who say employees shouldn’t have to choose between getting a shot and staying employed.
Senior advocates eye reform of Indiana nursing homes greensburgdailynews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from greensburgdailynews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tim Evans, Emily Hopkins and Tony Cook, Indianapolis Star
Published
5:19 pm UTC Jan. 23, 2021
For more than nine months, Indiana officials reassured the public that nursing homes were receiving the help they needed to handle the pandemic and protect vulnerable residents.
But the state never really got it under control.
The weekly death toll inside nursing homes is as bad as it has ever been. In all, more than 3,100 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19. Many died alone, their families unable to offer comfort or even say goodbye.
It didn’t have to be that way.
An IndyStar investigation has found longstanding, systemic problems left thousands of Hoosiers in nursing homes that are among the most poorly staffed in the nation. In some, even the simplest aspects of care are too often ignored. Now, Indiana’s long-term care residents are dying of COVID-19 at a rate that is among the highest in the U.S.