Let’s set the stage. So far, the COVID pandemic has claimed more than 650,000 lives in the U.S. The U.S. recorded 176,000 new cases on September 8, far above the roughly 10,000 a day seen in June when the pandemic was at its ebb. A quarter of eligible Americans — some 80 million people — have so far not been vaccinated for the coronavirus. Just as millions of American families navigate sending their children back to school, the number of children admitted to hospital with Covid-19 has risen to the highest levels reported to date. States with the lowest vaccine coverage have child hospital admissions that are around four times higher than states with the highest vaccination rates. According to the American Academy of Paediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, nearly 252,000 American children tested positive for COVID-19 last week, marking the single highest week on record for paediatric infections. Nearly 30,000 of them entered hospitals in August alone. Hospital resources and their staffs in several states are being strained under rising hospital admissions due to COVID.
Now, President Biden has declared that he will order all executive branch employees, federal contractors and millions of health-care workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, and that his administration would issue rules requiring large private employers to mandate shots or testing. New federal safety regulations that call for businesses with more than 100 workers to require vaccinations against the coronavirus will affirm mandates already in place at many companies. The requirements will be imposed by the Department of Labor and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is drafting an emergency temporary standard to carry out the mandate. Some 80 million American workers will be affected. President Biden will also require vaccinations for more than 17 million health-care workers at Medicare and Medicaid participating hospitals and in other health-care settings, a significant expansion of an existing requirement aimed at nursing homes.
There is little doubt that the President’s order will face political pushback, particularly from some Republican state governors and legislatures, and will result in some litigation. However, some of the largest employer organizations, such as the Business Roundtable, and largest unions, such as the Teamsters, the AFL-CIO, and the United Food and Commercial Workers, have endorsed the President’s move as the only possible way to achieve a full recovery. They especially agree with the proposed requirement that companies offer paid time off for workers to get vaccinated. However, concerns have been expressed over how to deal with unvaccinated workers, particularly those who are vaccine hesitant. Of course, under the OSHA requirements, accommodation will also have to be made for those employees who can’t be vaccinated due to medical reasons. Unions want to ensure that workplace COVID-19 health and safety plans include mitigation measures like ventilation, removing infected individuals, masking and training workers.
The U.S. cannot continue to take the fourth COVID wave involving the Delta variant lightly! It is now affecting more children, particularly those under twelve who can’t get vaccinated at this time. Unlike in some states, Canadian schools are requiring pre-screening protocols, rapid COVID testing, masking and other precautionary measures to minimize the impact of the variant on children. As of the end of August, Canada reached a milestone with over 83.5 percent of the eligible population (12 yrs and up) receiving at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. There is a fairly clear recognition that the more adults and parents who are vaccinated, the less likely children will become infected. Many Canadian employers, notably in the health care and education sectors, have now mandated full vaccination of their employees, again as a health and safety measure. In several provinces, vaccine passports are being introduced as proof of full vaccination in order to access non-essential establishments (restaurants, bars, sporting events, etc.). Like the U.S., Canada has entered a fourth wave and the federal and provincial governments are doing everything in their power to limit its impact, both human and economic. There is little doubt that President Biden is moving in the right direction given the nature of the COVID crisis.
FROLITICKS 
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