U.S. workers face layoffs as U.S COVID-19 vaccine mandates kick in

Pullman, Washington, USA; Nick Rolovich, Washington State Cougars head coach. James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

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Oct 19 (Reuters) – Thousands of unvaccinated workers across the United States face potential job losses as a growing number of states, cities and private companies begin enforcing mandates to vaccinate against COVID-19.

In the most recent high-profile example, Washington State University (WSU) on Monday fired its head coach and four of his assistants for failing to meet the state’s vaccine requirements. Coach Nick Rolovich had requested a religious exemption from the mandate earlier this month.

Thousands of police officers and firefighters in cities like Chicago and Baltimore are also at risk of losing their jobs in the coming days as they are asked to report their vaccination status or undergo regular coronavirus tests.

Though controversial, the mandates have convinced many reluctant workers to get vaccinated against the virus that has killed more than 700,000 people in the United States. About 77% of eligible Americans have received at least one vaccination, Jeff Zients, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, told reporters last week. Continue reading

In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot fought with the police union that spoke out against the vaccination mandate for city workers. About a third of the city’s 12,770 police officers missed a deadline on Friday to report their vaccination status, and some officers were placed on “no pay” status.

“Basically, this is about saving lives. It’s about maximizing the chance to create a safe job, “said Lightfoot on Monday, accusing the union of” causing a riot “by rejecting the mandate.

The President of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, John Catanzara, did not respond to a request for comment.

The White House, which announced extensive vaccine needs to reduce hospital stays and deaths from COVID-19 after a surge from the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, was a key catalyst in the vaccination surge.

On Friday, around 200 Boeing Co (BA.N) employees and others protested the aircraft maker’s request that 125,000 workers be vaccinated by December 8, under an order issued by President Joe Biden for federal contractors. Continue reading

It is expected that the rules for another appointment for private companies with 100 or more employees will be finalized shortly.

Together with the federal employee and contractor mandate, Biden’s vaccine needs will meet approximately 100 million people, roughly two-thirds of the U.S. workforce. Continue reading

The White House has met with executives from several large corporations to discuss Biden’s vaccination schedule for the private sector. Continue reading

A wave of layoffs has already gripped the healthcare industry, which has taken action faster than other to impose vaccination regulations, given the increased risk of COVID-19 exposure for patients and staff.

Nurses and other healthcare workers who chose to quit their jobs instead of getting vaccinated recently told Reuters that they couldn’t overcome their concerns about the lack of long-term data on the three vaccines available in the US. Continue reading

While the vaccines received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration in less than a year, medical experts have widely vouched for their safety by citing years of research, large clinical trials, and real world data after vaccinating hundreds of millions of people around the world .

Like Rolovich at WSU, many unvaccinated workers who applied for exemptions did so for religious reasons. It was not clear how a university committee tasked with weighing such exceptions had decided in his case.

School principals said the mandate was aimed at keeping the faculty and staff safe.

“Experience shows that vaccination regulations help motivate people to complete the vaccination process,” said Marty Dickinson, chairman of the WSU board, in a statement.

Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut and Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot