It could be due to a lot of people not wanting to lose their jobs
Vaccine deadlines for millions of workers hit with a whimper
Mandatory vaccine deadlines have now come and gone for millions of workers — and most of them have either bit the bullet or taken advantage of wiggle room offered by their employers.
Why it matters: These mandates have become one of the most polarizing policies in America, but predictions that they’d drive workers away in droves, voluntarily or not, simply aren’t coming to fruition. (snip)
Many large employers that imposed their own vaccine requirements — from Disney, Citigroup and AT&T to big airlines, hospitals and cities — say compliance has been high, and there’s little risk that they’ll end up losing any significant share of their workforce.
What’s considered significant? How much does it cost to recruit and train new workers?
Yes, but: There are pockets of staunch resistance: In New York, more than 10,000 workers defied last Monday’s deadline to get vaccinated; and in Los Angeles, L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva vowed not to enforce a countywide mandate.
Hospitals across the country reported that only handfuls of workers — often about 1% to 2% of their workforces — chose to leave due to mandates, Axios health care editor Tina Reed reports.
But many of them also reported higher-than-usual rates of medical or religious exemption, often around 4% to 6%.
In Maine alone, hundreds of health workers have left their jobs rather than getting the vaccine (around 800). Now they have to be replaced when medical facilities were already shorthanded. Now do that across the country. These health workers will go to friendly states, and health care will suffer. It might not seem like much, but, consider the problems with fast food joints and them being low on employees.
What’s next: There’s a Dec. 8 deadline for federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate Additional deadlines for federal workers and school employees to be vaccinated are scattered through November and December.
Yeah, and then there’s the military
Troops who refuse COVID vaccines won’t be guaranteed veterans benefits, officials warn
Troops who refuse the coronavirus vaccine won’t see any extra protections or leniency in how their dismissals are handled, Defense and Veterans Affairs officials confirmed Wednesday.
Instead, decisions on whether to give those individuals other-than-honorable discharges — potentially blocking them from a host of veterans benefits — will be left to local commanders, and their cases won’t receive any preferential evaluations for veterans’ benefits eligibility, despite recent lobbying from Republicans lawmakers for a less punishing approach.
In other words, the military is going to hose the troops who refuse to take the vaccine, and it will be harder to recruit.