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NYC Vaccination Program Will Require IDs to Eat Indoors to Prevent ‘Fraud’

Fox News reported:

New York City’s vaccination requirement to dine in restaurants requires people to show both a proof of vaccination and an ID “to help reduce fraud.”

“NYC’s new vaccination screening program for indoor dining etc requires that you show proof of vax *and* ID. If you have an ID—don’t forget to bring it. If you need an ID—get the City’s IDNYC. Available to all including undocumented,” Democratic New York City councilmember Mark D. Levine tweeted on Friday.

Biden’s No-Jab-No-Job Order Creates Quandary for Nursing Homes

Kaiser Health News reported:

President Joe Biden’s edict that nursing homes must ensure their workers are vaccinated against COVID-19 presents a challenge for an industry struggling to entice its lowest-paid workers to get shots without driving them to seek employment elsewhere.

Although 83% of residents in the average nursing facility are vaccinated, only 61% of a home’s workers are likely to be, according to data submitted by homes and published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as of the week ending Aug. 8. More than 602,000 staff members have contracted covid and more than 2,000 have died from it.

That led Biden to declare Wednesday that the government would require employee vaccinations as a condition for nursing homes to receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, which account for most of the industry’s income.

French Scientist Who Pushed Unproven COVID Drug May Be Forced From Post

The Guardian reported:

The French scientist who promoted the discredited hydroxychloroquine treatment for COVID-19 backed by Donald Trump faces being pushed out of the infectious diseases institute he founded, amid concerns from key members over its role in feeding conspiracy theories and an investigation by regulators into its clinical studies.

Didier Raoult has built a worldwide following throughout the pandemic for his support of the malaria drug despite its failure in randomized control trials. Multiple studies, including by the Recovery trial and the World Health Organization, have found hydroxychloroquine to be ineffective in treating COVID-19.

Facebook Takes Action Against ‘Disinformation Dozen’ After White House Pressure

CNN reported:

Facebook on Wednesday announced that it had taken action against the so-called “disinformation dozen,” one month after the White House singled out the twelve people and argued that they were responsible for a majority of coronavirus misinformation.

In making the announcement, Monika Bickert, vice president of content policy at Facebook, pushed back against the narrative that the twelve accounts were primarily responsible for the spread of vaccine misinformation, writing that focusing on them “misses the forest for the trees.”

But, Bickert said, “Any amount of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation that violates our policies is too much by our standards — and we have removed over three dozen Pages, groups and Facebook or Instagram accounts linked to these 12 people, including at least one linked to each of the 12 people, for violating our policies.”

Bickert added that Facebook had “also imposed penalties on nearly two dozen additional Pages, groups or accounts linked to these 12 people” and “applied penalties to some of their website domains.”

HFDF Lawsuit Prompts Executive Order Barring COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

Health Freedom Defense Fund reported:

Monday, Aug.16, 2021, prompted by a Health Freedom Defense Fund (HFDF) lawsuit, Governor Ducey of Arizona issued an Executive Order barring any city, county, state, or state entity from mandating COVID-19 vaccines thereby protecting the rights of Arizonans to direct their own healthcare choices. HFDF thanks Governor Ducey for defending the most basic of human rights, that of bodily autonomy.

The Governor’s order capped off a day of twists and turns in HFDF’s lawsuit, filed Aug. 2, 2021 on behalf of Phoenix High School teacher Douglas Hester. The lawsuit sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Phoenix Union High School District’s mask mandate because it violates a new Arizona law prohibiting mask and vaccine mandates.

Montana Only State to Ban Vaccine Requirements for Employees

The Associated Press reported:

While many large companies across the U.S. have announced that COVID-19 vaccines will be required for their employees to return to work in-person, there is one state where such requirements are banned: Montana.

Under a new law passed by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature earlier this year, requiring vaccines as a condition for employment is deemed “discrimination” and a violation of the state’s human rights laws.

Montana is the only state in the U.S. with a law like this for private employers, said Hemi Tewarson, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy.

Massachusetts Orders Over 40,000 State Workers to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine — or Potentially Get Fired

Boston.com reported:

Get the COVID-19 vaccine or potentially lose your job.

That’s the choice Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is giving to tens of thousands of state government workers.

The Republican governor announced Thursday that he is ordering all of the state’s Executive Branch employees to provide proof that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 17 or face “disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”

According to Baker’s office, the new mandate covers roughly 42,000 employees, from the governor’s office to departments of public safety, education, transportation, and others. It also covers around 2,000 additional contracted employees that work for the state’s executive departments.

Vaccine Mandates at Work Meet Their Toughest Opponent: America’s Labor Shortage

CNN reported:

At Kevin Smith’s home health care agency in Massachusetts, only 52% of his 400 staff members have been vaccinated. He’d like to order them all to get the shot, but he says he can’t risk a mass exodus.

It’s a legitimate fear. The labor market is very tight, with a record number of job openings and not enough job candidates. And among unvaccinated workers asked what they would do if their employer instituted a mandate, 50% said they’d leave their job, according to a June survey by health policy think tank KFF.

“It puts you at risk of alienating the staff, if not losing them to a competitor,” said Smith, who has run the family-owned Best of Care since 2013. “No one can afford to do that. That is why any employer in our industry is so reluctant to impose a mandate.”

The meeting of the labor market challenge and public health crisis puts employers in a tough spot: The worker shortage means employer mandates are not likely to be the answer to raising the nation’s vaccination rate. But a higher inoculation rate is exactly what experts say we need to end the pandemic.