美国各界 强制接种规定
大公报
10/02/2021
学校
•全美超过500所高校要求大学生和教职员工打针。
•哥伦比亚特区要求所有公、私立学校12岁以上学生须在12月13日前打针；洛杉矶学区公立学校要求年满12岁学生在11月21日前接种。
护老院
•联邦政府8月规定，全美超过1.5万间护老院员工接种疫苗，院舍才能获得联邦经费。
医院
•加州、纽约州、罗德岛州及康涅狄格州要求医护人员必须接种疫苗。
政府
•大部分联邦政府雇员不可以检测代替接种，拒绝者将被辞退。
•联邦承包商及其雇员必须在12月8日前接种疫苗。
私营企业
•所有规模超过100人的企业，员工必须接种疫苗或者每周检测。
•美联航9月底宣布接种率达99.5%，开始解雇593名拒打针员工。
来源：《纽约时报》、《今日美国报》
美联航593名员工拒绝接种冠病疫苗将被开除
文 / 陈慧璋
9/29/2021
（早报讯）美国联合航空公司（United Airlines）将开除近600名拒绝接种冠病疫苗的员工。
法新社报道，美联航官员周二（28日）表示，共有593名员工拒绝遵守公司的接种冠病疫苗规定。
另有2000名员工以医疗或宗教理由要求豁免接种冠病疫苗，这约占美联航员工总数的3%。
美联航的雇员总数为6万7000人。
美联航总裁柯比8月6日宣布，所有国内航班员工都必须接种冠病疫苗，并得从9月27日起提供接种证明。他说，这么做是为了确保美联航员工和乘客的安全。
美联航是美国首家要求雇员接种冠病疫苗的航空公司。
United Airlines to fire staff who refuse vaccine
BBC
9/29/2021
Nearly 600 United Airlines employees face being fired after failing to comply with the firm’s Covid-19 vaccination policy.
The vast majority of its 67,000 US staff have supplied proof of vaccination, which was required by Monday.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision,” its bosses said in a memo to employees.
The Chicago-based airline set out its Covid requirements for staff in August.
Its US employees had to upload proof of vaccination, or the first of two jabs, by the deadline on Monday.
The 593 workers who have refused a coronavirus vaccine and have not applied for an exemption on religious or medical grounds now face losing their jobs.
“Our rationale for requiring the vaccine for all United’s US-based employees was simple – to keep our people safe – and the truth is this: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated, and vaccine requirements work,” its chief executive Scott Kirby and president Brett Hart said on Tuesday.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority,” they said.
Some of those employees could be kept on if they have been jabbed and have simply failed to submit proof of vaccination – or if they are vaccinated before formal meetings on the matter, the company said.
United said it would follow the rules outlined in union agreements on the dismissals. The process could take weeks or months.
A further 2,000 employees have requested an exemption to the policy.
It previously said it would put those who are exempt on temporary, unpaid leave from 2 October. But those plans were put on hold after a lawsuit was filed by six employees challenging the policy.
The US recently rolled back travel restrictions for vaccinated passengers from the UK and European Union
Fiona Cincotta, market analyst at City Index, told the BBC’s Today programme that the “strict” policy was not likely to be introduced by UK airlines.
Like many companies in the aviation sector, United was severely hit by pandemic-related travel restrictions.
At the height of the crisis, it announced that it would need to furlough up to 36,000 staff.
It denied, however, that its vaccine policy would affect recruitment going forward, although vaccination will be a condition of hire for new staff.
On Tuesday it said that it had received more than 20,000 applications for about 2,000 flight attendant jobs.
Elsewhere in the US, few airlines have introduced vaccine mandates for its staff. Delta Airlines, for example, has announced a $200 (£148) monthly health insurance surcharge for those who are not jabbed.
Veteran police officer resigns over vaccine mandate in chronically understaffed department
The department has chronically been understaffed and more officers could resign over the mandate
By Emma Colton | Fox News
9/21/2021
A nearly 30-year police veteran in California resigned over San Jose’s vaccine mandate as the police force continues struggling with chronic understaffing.
“First of all, it’s my religious belief. I also believe I’ve been given a choice about what to do with my body,” Sgt. David Gutierrez said after he resigned from the San Jose Police Department this weekend, KPIX reported.
Gutierrez spent 23 years with the San Jose Police Department working as a homicide detective, internal affairs investigator and patrol supervisor, before retiring in 2019. He then returned to the force as a reserve officer.
Gutierrez worked his last shift at the department on Saturday, and said he sent a letter to the city manager on Monday denouncing the city’s vaccine mandate, which requires city employees to show proof of vaccination or get a medical exemption. Those who don’t comply face disciplinary action, such as termination.
“Disciplinary action is when you have done something wrong,” Gutierrez said, according to NBC Bay Area. “I have done nothing wrong – by making a choice not to be vaccinated why would you be disciplined?”
Gutierrez added that he is not anti-vaccine and would be open to the city testing him on a weekly basis instead of enforcing the vaccine or getting a medical exemption.
“I’m not anti-vaccine. I don’t tell people, ‘You shouldn’t get it.’ But when it comes to my body, it’s my choice about what I want to put in my body,” Gutierrez said.
He sent his resignation letter ahead of the city’s Sept. 30 deadline for employees to get the vaccine, and said more officers could also walk off the job amid the department already facing understaffing issues.
“We are already understaffed and can’t afford to lose more,” Gutierrez said.
“If they let go police officers who’ve been here five years, 10 years, 15 years, you can hire somebody else, but you’re not going to hire that experience though,” he added.
A recent audit examining the last 10 years of the police department found the force has heavily relied on overtime as it struggles with understaffing.
About 200 officers in the department have so far asked for exemptions, many of which are for religious purposes. But the Democratic mayor, Sam Liccardo, says the vaccine mandate is overall working and doesn’t anticipate an exodus from the force.
“This is certainly for the protection of the individual members of our city team. But it’s also, critically, for the safety of our entire community because we know, obviously, first responders are out there interacting [with the public] every day,” Liccardo said, according to KPIX.
Northern NY hospital to stop delivering babies after resignations over Covid-19 vaccine
BY Christine Vendel
9/12/2021
A hospital in New York plans to stop delivering babies later this month because too many maternity workers resigned rather than get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Lewis County Health System Chief Executive Officer Gerald R. Cayer announced at a news conference Friday afternoon that the maternity department would be closed on Sept. 25 until they can find enough vaccinated nurses to safely reopen it.
Cayer told reporters in Lowville, is the North Country of New York state, that seven of the 30 people who have resigned from the hospital worked in the maternity department, according to the news site NNY360.
Seven additional maternity workers have not said whether or not they will get their first vaccine shot by Sept. 27, which is the deadline set by the state for healthcare workers to get at least one shot, according to the news site.
The health system has a higher than average percentage of its staff vaccinated, Cayer told reporters, with 464 employees vaccinated out of 650, or 73 percent.
But there are still 165 employees who have not yet shared their decision with hospital management, WWNY television news reported.
Medical services in five other departments may have to be cut back as well if more staff members resign because they refuse to be vaccinated
“It just is a crazy time,” Mr. Cayer said, according to NNY360, “It’s not just LCHS-centric. Rural hospitals everywhere are really trying to figure out how we’re going to make it work.”
“If you don’t have staff, how do you deliver the service? That’s what I’m going to be talking about,” Cayer said.
The Health System is one of only two county-owned hospitals left in the state and is the largest employer in the county.
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