Once field offices reopen, should vaccination for Covid-19 be required of Social Security employees who have extensive dealings with the public?
On the one hand, we generally respect personal autonomy when it comes to healthcare decisions. On the other hand, while even vaccinated employees pose some risk of spreading Covid-19 to the public and ever though the evidence isn't yet definitive, it seems clear that un-vaccinated field office employees will pose a much greater risk to the public.
I've got zero sympathy for vaccine skeptics. Even though I've got relatives, friends and neighbors in this camp, I regard them as dangerously deluded fools. I have no problem with putting pressure on them. That's what it's going to take for us to fully get past this pandemic.
15 comments:
There are issues with forcing people to take a vaccine authorized for emergency use. Technically, these vaccines are not FDA approved. Until they are, I don't see efforts to force the vaccine on anyone being particularly successful. The other downside is that such an approach risks polarizing vaccine distribution/uptake even more.
I look at this as on a par with the requirements for Hepatitis vaccination in healthcare. No one is telling you that you have to get a vaccine, but if you want to work in a particular field or have certain duties, you will need to establish that you have been vaccinated. If you choose not to, then you can find something else to do.
Legally I do not think vaccines should be mandatory. But it should be a requirement to work in some jobs. I have had volunteer jobs that require a TB test. So this is not much different.
The vaccine has been proven to be around 90-94 percent effective. The flu vaccine is about 60-70 percent effective if lucky. Those are good odds. Just take it.
We know that a small percentage of the population has "issues" with vaccines in general. But, the larger dilemma surrounding this vaccine is that the broader topic -- the pandemic and how we as a nation respond to it -- has been polarized by its radical politicization. And, that sad fact, as we know, is due to Donald Trump, who chose along with his spouse to be vaccinated before leaving the White House but will not lift a finger or say a word to encourage vaccinations.
When I began active duty in the Navy and was shipped overseas I was not given an option as to receiving or declining a series of vaccines. Duty and service required me to accept the vaccines. There likewise is a duty to the public owed by employees of Social Security offices, requiring them to accept a vaccination as a requirement of the job, providing service to the country.
I find it a little concerning but not surprising who so often people like 11:37 always think Trump supporter only think the way they do because of Trump. My views were my views before Trump and didn't change because of Trump and that is true of most Trump supporters (I would suspect that most Trump haters are only Trump haters because of what they were told by the Dems and mainstream media, but...). As far as the vaccine, I'm not anti-vaccine. I too was vaccinated when I went in the military. That was many years ago. I also got the flu shot because the military required it. I do not get the flu shot now and I don't intend to get the vaccine for the same reason. I do not get the flu shot because I don't think I need to. I've never had the flu and am not at high risk. I'm not in a high risk group for COVID and most people that have had it have had only mild cases (I've had relatives and friends who have had it). To me, I just weigh it out, low risk versus a vaccine that is basically still experimental. Now, if some circumstances were different, I might get it. I might change my mind in the future. But, that is my decision for now. That would be my decision if Hillary had won the last election instead of Trump. Believe it or not, there are a lot of us who can and do think for ourselves. Just because we do not think like you (or how the mainstream media tells us to think) does not mean we are not reasonable nor rational people. We just happen to still believe we should be free to make these decisions for ourselves. Now, if you try and force me to take it, not only will I refuse but I will probably become radical about it.
Ask AFGE.
The military is allowing service members to not take covid vaccines precisely because it is not formally approved. Once approved, it likely will be made mandatory, but until then it is not. It's not the same as civilian employees where that level of control over their health is much less. It's an apples and oranges comparison.
Having said that, SSA had a solid history (spurred on by the union in the bad old days) to provide flu shots on official duty time, either on site or at a designated facility. Big flue online signup at HQ when the nurses would give the shots. Covid ain't the flu but you'd think they'd at least try and do no less than what they did for the flu and employees.
Must need to get the comment numbers up.
The other part of this question is should SSA require those that want to avail themselves of in-person services have to prove that they have been vaccinated before being let in the door. It works both ways.
No vaccine = no coming into work. Work from home. A private business can require it, I personally think, that it should be mandatory for customer service work. If a person doesn't want it, get back on unemployment, let they UI adjudicators deal with it. That being said, I also don't believe one should be forced to get a vaccine, but this isn't 2018 anymore, and we're CERTAINLY not in Kansas anymore.
Today SSA provided all Operations employees a letter by Email. The letter documents we are essential employees , to help us get preference for the Covid vaccine..
But the Email said that only a few western states were accepting the letter at this time! So the "preference letter" is essentially worthless to SSA employees who live in Maryland where SSA national HQ is, or other Northeastern states.
SSA has failed to help employees in obtaining a vaccination. There is no COVID vaccination program at SSA, and most states have said they will ignore the SSA letter about us being essential employees. So any reopening of the field offices or PSC's is a long way off.
12:10 is why America is failing. No longer able to see the greater good, it is all for one and the one is me.
If you can't get vaccinated, we offer telework.
If you don't want to get vaccinated, McDonald's is hiring. I won't miss you.
I agree with 8:21. 12:10 is selfish. You claim you're not high risk - what about unknowingly spreading the virus to someone who is high risk? What about contributing to the spread of more deadly and virus-resistant variants? We need to get to herd immunity to knock this down for everyone. But when close to 50% of republicans poll that they won't get the vaccine, that's bad for the country. You likely claim to be patriotic? I would think that getting vaccinated to help your fellow citizens and economy would be the most patriotic thing one could do right now.
Plus, you don't have to be high risk to get you or someone else really sick. A good friend of mine, age 50 in excellent health and with no underlying health issues, just returned home after a week in the ICU and hospital due to covid. You just don't know how it affects people.
It is amazing how willfully ignornant most Trumpists remain about COVID. They really are sticking with the "it's just the flu" nonsense they were spouting a year ago. That's what happens when the White House spends four years projecting an alternative reality full of falsehoods.
SAD SAD SAD
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