City officials, county employees, and state workers are showing their disdain for the nationwide vaccine mandates go into effect. While major news outlets report that there are no significant disruptions to municipal work, the numbers say otherwise.
In New York alone, about 9,000 city employees were placed on unpaid leave due to not having the coronavirus vaccine. In addition, 12,000 more NYC employees have applied for religious or medical exemption. Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (Rep.) followed through on filing a federal lawsuit against the White House over the mandate, calling it unlawful for the Biden administration to enforce “universal compliance,” regardless of one’s own individual health, rights, or religion.
Several states have taken similar action, including Florida, Alaska, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Montana, Iowa, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
“We cannot have the federal government coming in, exceeding their power,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a press conference. “They’re really rewriting contracts and they’re transforming normal contracting into basically public health policy and that’s not anything Congress has ever authorized.”
In Southern California, about 25% of city, county, and state workers are at risk of losing their positions as a result of refusing to obtain the vaccine. LASD workers in the amount of 2,600 are requesting exemption, while the Los Angeles police and firefighters have filed a lawsuit.
“Personally, I am vaccinated and believe the vaccine works,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. “But, the choice to receive the vaccine is a personal one, and an individual who served the community tirelessly before there was a vaccine should not now be fired because they made a decision about their body.”
The vaccine mandate requires all federal contractors and workers to obtain both doses of the vaccine no later than Dec. 8 in order to continue to work in government supported entities.
