From a set of questions and answers for federal agencies issued by the White House:
... Visitors to Federal buildings should be asked to provide information about vaccination status. ... Visitors who are not fully vaccinated or who decline to provide information about their vaccination status must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test from no later than the previous 3 days prior to entry to a Federal building. ...
Agencies should provide visitors with the Certification of Vaccination form when they enter a Federal building or Federally controlled indoor worksite. ...
Individuals entering a Federal building, Federally controlled indoor worksite, or Federal land to obtain a public service or benefit do not need to complete the form or show documentation of a negative COVID-19 test result. However, if they are not fully vaccinated, they must comply with all relevant CDC guidance and safety protocols, including mask-wearing and physical distancing requirements. ...
This is nuts. First, you say that visitors to federal offices must provide information about vaccination status or show proof of a negative test result but a few paragraphs later you say that doesn't apply if the visitor is there to "obtain a public service or benefit." Is keeping Social Security employees safe not as important as keeping other federal employees safe? Are you trying to make it hard to reopen Social Security offices? Why are we appeasing the anti-vaccine nutjobs?
Most Federal agencies exist to serve the American oublic so the visitor exemption would apply to nearly every agency.
ReplyDeleteBesides, who are the Vax Police checking the documents provided upon entering? SSA is fortunate to have a guard service, most agencies do not.
Thank you! I am tired of the anti-vaccine nutters! You want back to normal but you refuse anything that can help with that. Great strategy. Then be an embittered jerk when services are not available. Okay. Genius.
ReplyDeleteIt may be time for vaccine mandates. Infectious disease experts, including the CDC director, have suggested that we may be a step or two away from a variant that is able to evade the current vaccines for COVID19. That's daunting news. And, sadly, if that happens, many more people will get sick or die from COVID19.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should keep the offices closed because a meteor may hit the earth with catastrophic results. NASA says there is a chance one could hit soon similar to 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs were wiped out.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to SSA, the anti-vax is coming from inside the house.
ReplyDeleteI doubt de Juliis has the balls to take on the worst part of his constituency to help protect the public (and the larger part of his constituency).
ReplyDeleteThe plan does not sound viable for SSA offices. A claims rep must do a face to face interview with an unvaccinated person, because he’s filing for benefits? This plan should be rewritten..
Sadly we are not where we were at the beginning of summer ,, when it looked like the end of the pandemic was at hand.
I’m starting to think SSA should stay with remote work and closed offices, until we get a handle on the Delta variant.
I am no longer encouraging clients to wait for the return of in-person OHO hearings. I recently began encouraging clients to consider proceeding with a video hearing. I had been optimistic since March 2020 about the return of in-person hearings. But, the paranoia and nonsense of the year 2021 have persuaded me to abandon that optimism.
ReplyDelete@9:42 IF folks would have done what they are supposed to do (social distance, wear masks, etc.) when the pandemic started and got vaccinated we very likely would have had the pandemic under control by now. Unfortunately, as is so often the case in our country, selfishness ruled the day. And, now, unfortunately, the delta variant is spreading like wildfire with no end in sight to the pandemic. And if it continues to spread at its current pace, the probability of a more dangerous variant developing becomes greater every day. And, sadly, everyone will suffer because of the selfishness and ignorance of too many people in our country. Another long winter with another COVID19 surge seems unavoidable now. How truly sad.
ReplyDeleteThere are many SSA employees that cannot or will not take the vaccine for medical reasons, personal reasons or religious reasons. AFGE should be representing ALL employees, regardless of vaccine status. It does not make someone an anti-vaxxer because they do not trust this new vaccine or it will compromise their health. Shame on all of you posting these comments. And shame on AFGE if they do not stand up for all of their DUES PAYING MEMBERS!
ReplyDelete@9:42 You're right, the AFGE has a resposibility to ALL their members, including the ones who did the right thing and took the vaccine. DUES PAYING MEMBERS. Shame on you for posting your ignorant comments and shame on AFGE if they don't stand up for their vaccinated dues paying members!
ReplyDelete@9:42 The portion of the population that cannot take the vaccine for medical reasons is incredibly small. I do not think anyone would be opposed to carving out an exception to the requirement for those persons whose doctors have discouraged them from taking the vaccine for a specific medical reason.
ReplyDeleteThe problem here is that lumping this small category of people who are not medically suited for the vaccine in with people who CHOOSE not to take the vaccine for "personal reasons or religious reasons" legitimizes anti-vaxxer talking points and the misinformation which underlies their delusions.
For example, there does not appear to be any legitimate religious objection to the COVID vaccine which is founded in the teachings or dictates of any particular faith. People may believe otherwise secondary to misinformation that the COVID vaccines were developed using fetal cells, but that is inaccurate. One would think that the POPE's insistence that taking these vaccines is a moral imperative would hammer that home...
Also, what the heck is a "personal reason" for not taking the vaccine? If this is referencing simply the need to protect "freedomz," that is not a good reason for objecting to a law of general applicability with a clear public service principal. If this is instead embracing the idea that one should not have to take a vaccine they believe to be dangerous, that belief is founded on misinformation and needs to be neither honored or respected. Objectively, the vaccines are not dangerous and this objective truth matters more than a combination of the shouting of culture warriors with ignorance.
We need to stop giving people who just choose not to do the right thing an out. The people who are medically unsuited for the vaccine are at the mercy of everyone else to do the right thing. The "personal reasons or religious reasons" crowd is ridiculous, unprincipled, and letting those people and the rest of society down. Let's not beat up the AFGE for trying to do the right thing just because some of its members will insist on doing the opposite.
ReplyDeleteEven if someone is vaccinated that is not foolproof protection. The Baltimore Sun recently ran an article by a fully vaccinated epidemiologist. He attended a party of 15 fully vaccinated people, and 11 got COVID, including him. While he didn't have to be hospitalized, he was so weak that he could barely get out of bed.
I do not see how SSA can reopen and expose their employees to this danger. Until the number of COVID cases start going down and stay down, SSA offices should remain closed. For the safety of SSA employees and the general public. The Delta variant is just too dangerous and too contagious.
1:29 This one time at band camp....
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