What’s Fueling the War on Vaccine Mandates?

Demonstrators protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates

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A look at how lawmakers are helping the unvaccinated avoid Biden’s rules.

As the nation braces for the Omicron variant of Covid-19 (and the CDC has strengthened its recommendation to incorporate language that all adults “should” get a booster shot) many Americans are still refusing to get vaccinated — even if it costs them their jobs. We’ve got the latest on the fights being staged locally and nationally against vaccine requirements.

How vaccine mandates took shape

In September, President Biden unveiled new regulations intended to push two-thirds of the American workforce to get vaccinated. But the measures have quickly become ensnared in legal battles, making it uncertain whether they can even be enforced. Most recently, a federal judge in Missouri blocked the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for health care workers in 10 states.

Some states have already pushed back

Nine GOP-led states have passed laws that either ban companies from requiring vaccination at all or allow workers to easily sidestep the mandate. In Florida, for instance, employees can claim an exemption for a wide range of reasons, including an “anticipated future pregnancy” or a previous Covid-19 infection. (The state’s ban recently pushed Disney World to pause its employee vaccine mandate.)

Courting the anti-vax vote

Florida, Iowa, Kansas, and Tennessee are now allowing employees who were fired or quit over their workplace’s vaccine rules to receive unemployment benefits. It’s part of a new GOP strategy to win the loyalty of unvaccinated Americans, per Axios, and capitalize on the anger around public health mandates to strengthen their base going into the 2022 midterms. That approach was tested in recent elections, and seemed to tilt the scale in Virginia and New Jersey.

Taking the fight to D.C.

Senate Republicans are challenging the mandate aimed at private employees, using the Congressional Review Act, and they’ve introduced at least 20 bills meant to weaken Biden’s vaccine regulations.