Thread by @kazweida

In today’s thread we’re discussing opposition to vaccine mandates. Specifically red states that are suing and blocking the enforcement of vaccine requirements.

How worried should we be and will this undermine our progress in combatting the pandemic?

(THREAD)

(2) Thus far, vaccine mandates have been an effective tool to ensure safety in key industries like public service, healthcare & transportation

But they haven’t been without controversy. Especially rules for private businesses going into effect in January

washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…

(3) Because these mandates work so well, the GOP is especially interested in challenging them. After all, their goal is to prolong the pandemic so it undermines Biden. They don’t care what that costs.

There are a slew of red states suing.

npr.org/2021/11/05/105…

(4) Some states like Utah have actually gone out of their way to ban vaccine requirements and mandates, seeking to override the federal mandate.

There seems to be some consensus this won’t work legally but that won’t stop them from trying.

fortune.com/2021/10/20/why…

(5) In fact, a recent stay on the mandate from a federal appeals court is attracting a lot of attention. The judges in question are Trump appointees and they seem to think OSHA enforcement of vaccine requirements or testing for the workplace is overreach.

rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

(6) I’m no legal expert but everything I’ve seen suggests vaccine requirements are perfectly legal & have established precedent.

However, while these legal challenges are sorting themselves out, we’re facing some ugly fallout that’s much more concerning.

news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-re…

(7) I’m more worried about red states staging revolts like the stunt in Oklahoma. Even the slightest encouragement for this sort of behavior is going to light a fire under our smoldering COVID surge.

This winter will be another deadly & devastating one.

armytimes.com/news/your-army…

(8) And this sort of approach provokes violence at every turn against elected officials and healthcare workers. In a system already under stress, the last thing we need is another showdown.

We rely on these folks to save lives.

cnn.com/2021/10/28/hea…

(9) I think ultimately the resistance by red states will be largely futile. The unvaccinated will get the vaccine or they’ll get sick this winter. Some of them will die.

But that won’t stop the GOP from undermining public health for political points.

forbes.com/sites/alisondu…

(END) Thanks for stopping by for our Sunday thread, suggestion courtesy of @jpbergl . Come back next weekend and we’ll do this again.

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