With regard to the standard vaccines for schools, e.g. MMR etc. California eliminated the religious exception a few years ago. Now, the only acceptable excuses are medical.
No, the way it works here is: If you have insurance, your insurance pays. If you don’t, the government pays. In no case do you ever have to pay.
I was asked for insurance info, but hadn’t thought to bring it. So i told them i didn’t bring the info, and i got vaccinated anyway. It didn’t seem to be a big deal, and the women who did my paperwork was obviously prepared for that answer.
I just had to show my provincial health card, at the drive-through that the health authority was running.
I’m encouraged. However, only 5 states have done so thus far: California, Maine, New York, West Virginia, and Mississippi. I hope other states brave the anti-vaxxers and follow suit. Until then, I’ll continue to be worried.
I was assured my insurance covered the full cost, no out-of-pocket for me at all.
No patient has to pay a cent for these shots. To the best of my knowledge, this is a nationwide policy. At least here in CA, there city-run shot clinics, pharmacies are giving shots, and my major HMO is running their own shot clinics.
The ACA dictates that preventive treatments, and vaccinations like flu shots in particular, be provided at no cost to the patient. (Is this for ALL patients? Or all patients with some kind of ACA-compliant coverage? Or just for patients who bought their coverage through those on-line ACA portals?)
Yet, I wonder who really pays in the end. If shot clinics bill the patients’ insurance, do the insurance companies eat the cost, or do they send the bill in turn up to Medicare or some Gov’t office to pay it?
ETA: BTW, (off-topic a bit) I’ve been eating saltine crackers with peanut butter all day. This is also a very effective thing to use in mousetraps.
My understanding is that the federal govt has paid for the vaccine itself, and the service of injecting it into your arm is paid for by your insurance policy, or the state if your don’t have insurance.
Worried about vaccine passports? Join the Mamalitia!
To jump back up to mandates:
I’m not sure it was clear that I believe there are fewer restrictions on private entities than on government entities. For instance, private schools can fire a teacher for legal non-marital sexual relations. I’m pretty sure public schools can’t do that.
I suspect similar dynamics for vaccines.
There’s also the “is it worth suing” argument. If I ask a plumber if their staff is vaccinated before I hire them to fix my pipes, are they really going to take me to court? Now granted, i can’t force them to prove that their employees have been vaccinated. But just as i can ask for evidence of insurance, i can ask for evidence of vaccination. And I doubt any plumber is going to sue over that, whether or not my action would stand up in court.
Another article on the legality or not of vaccine mandates in the US under EUA. There’s advocates on both sides of the question, including a health org in Texas that is mandating vaccination (good for them!) of their employees, plus discussion of whether the feds can mandate vaccinations (it’s probably up to state and local govs). Also read the linked Kaiser FF article in the first paragraph.
That article does appear to leave out important aspects of the disability accommodations, such as requiring compelling evidence if there is reason to be mistrustful of the disability claim. I have no issue with my company allowing telework for any employee who experienced a documented allergic reaction to the first shot, for instance, or if they have another valid reason. The number of people who have such excuses is so tiny, it’s not likely to apply to most small businesses. On the other hand, “It’s using new vaccine technology and I won’t take it” or “Bill Gates wants to inject me with a microchip” will get a response of “Your job requires the use of new technology on a daily basis. I am happy to inform you that from this day forward you will no longer be required to use such technology and may refrain from entering the office as well as collecting of pay and benefits. Good luck out there!”
An April article in the LA Times that’s pretty good regarding vaccine mandates. It acknowledges the EEOC memo you’re referring to, @DMC, and also mentions religious and other possible exemptions, and a couple of already filed Covide vaccine mandate lawsuits and past litigation regarding vaccine mandates in public employment.
This article doesn’t seem to be paywalled, though I do have a free non-subscription account with LAT so maybe that’s required, not sure.
First, I’d like to say that this thread is NOT about vaccine mandates. It’s about the opposite – using incentives to get people to get the vaccine.
On that note, this (probably pay-walled) article (unless you know the magic of incognito mode) talks about various incentives such as:
- $100 gift cards
- Free beer (NJ!)
- Free bag of produce
- Free joint
I think NY is going to allow full capacity at venues with no distancing if the crowd is all vaccinated. There’s an app in NY called Excelsior, I think, that provides proof of vaccination. I wish we had something similar in NJ!
Eventually, if we truly want to regain complete normalcy, that’s what every state is going to have to do. With the powerful variants rearing their ugly heads, however, it remains to be seen if and when this will occur.
Your point is well taken. However, we have to remember that there are quite a few accepted phrases that are actually not true at all. For example, I have many times heard things like, “I’ll get my yard work done in the AM, otherwise I’ll sweat like a pig in the afternoon sun!” Or, “That boxer is sweating like a pig!” The fact is, pigs don’t sweat at all. Or, “He has the memory of an elephant!” Though elephants do have a good memory, they certainly aren’t markedly superior from us in that regard.
Here the app is called “Beijing Health Kit” and once you get the first of the two injections, the animated border on the app shows pink, to show that you love the herd I guess.
State universities in WA state are going to require students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated (the two big have announced…I assume the other smaller ones will follow suit). There is an exception process, but from what I have read there will be mandatory regular covid testing and mask wearing required.
Good news.
That statement is obviously true, but it’s not the point. I’m not claiming that all idioms must have a literal basis - of course not. What I’m saying is that the figurative meaning of “Polly want a cracker” you are using was unfamiliar to me - and given the others who’ve expressed puzzlement, the phrase is clearly not universally understood the way you understand it. That’s all.
Agreed. I have no idea what the two parts of the thread title mean together.