Mask up, New York kids, because some of your teachers don’t want to get vaccinated: “New York State United Teachers, a large statewide union, released a statement shortly after that encouraged districts to make free testing available for teachers but said it is against a vaccine mandate.”
I’m not a big fan of a mandate for a vaccine that doesn’t yet have full FDA approval in the form of biological-license application. But if we’re going to require vaccination against COVID-19 to continue employment, let’s institute that mandate where it makes the most sense.
Right now, all federal government offices and contractors, Walmart, Google, CNN, the Washington Post, are among the workplaces that are requiring employees to get vaccinated. But you know what you won’t find in the workplaces of federal government offices and contractors, Walmart, Google, CNN, the Washington Post? Significant numbers of unvaccinated children.
You know where you do find significant numbers of unvaccinated children? Schools!
Schools are one of the few places in America where you will find large groups of people who are currently involuntarily unvaccinated. If there’s any group in America that it makes sense to require to be vaccinated, it is teachers and those who interact with kids during the school day – principals, administrators, janitors, lunch ladies, coaches. But the way things are shaping up, COVID-19 vaccines will be required of CNN reporters, Google programmers, and federal Department of Labor analysts, but not the people who spend the most time around unvaccinated kids.
None of our policies make sense. No wonder people throw up their hands, tune out the official guidance, and trust their instincts.