The Vaccine Thread

[bigbill]

Wonder if it will come from the insurance companies. You can't get on the company health insurance unless you get vaccinated against covid. I can't see insurance wanting to insure people with a higher risk of getting covid when the vaccine is available.

Seems like a slippery slope for companies to require vaccines. Company health insurance is offered to employees who smoke, although some will offer discounts for taking cessation classes. I think it is up to the employer to offer a one-time payment to the employee for getting the shot and to do away with FMLA and Short Term disability for those who refuse the vaccine and contract Covid. Our policy for now is a person exhibiting symptoms to get tested, be negative, and have 72 hours symptom free before returning to work. All using their sick days or other PTO. If a person tests positive for Covid, they'll be out two weeks and we pay short term after they use up their remaining PTO.

We have had employees who came to work symptomatic and didn't tell anyone until they felt too sick to work. We have temperature screening via thermal cameras, but not everyone affected shows a fever at first. It's on the employee to identify as sick to HR or safety.

[zachateseverything]

Seems like a slippery slope for companies to require vaccines. Company health insurance is offered to employees who smoke, although some will offer discounts for taking cessation classes. I think it is up to the employer to offer a one-time payment to the employee for getting the shot and to do away with FMLA and Short Term disability for those who refuse the vaccine and contract Covid. Our policy for now is a person exhibiting symptoms to get tested, be negative, and have 72 hours symptom free before returning to work. All using their sick days or other PTO. If a person tests positive for Covid, they'll be out two weeks and we pay short term after they use up their remaining PTO.

We have had employees who came to work symptomatic and didn't tell anyone until they felt too sick to work. We have temperature screening via thermal cameras, but not everyone affected shows a fever at first. It's on the employee to identify as sick to HR or safety.

My company offers the same insurance plans to everyone but there's a steep discount to anyone that signs a pledge not to use tobacco products. They also throw a couple hundred dollars into our HSA if we consent to an annual physical. and we can opt to get a free flu shot in the nurses office. I would expect similar tactics to encourage us to get vaccinated for Covid.

but, most states allow for At-Will employment. It's heavy handed (and constrained by the ADA) but a company is more or less free to tell it's employees that they need to be vaccinated in order to come into work. I know many states still require certain vaccines for college students.

Personally I would question the judgement of any of my colleagues that opted not to get vaccinated. but I'm sure some will. just like how some of them would come into the office sick despite us having an effectively unlimited number of sick days.

[rwsaunders]

Vaccinations are required as a condition of acceptance (attendance) by most colleges and universities and I can’t imagine that COVID wouldn’t make the list of required vaccinations too...I can’t imagine that employers can’t require the same if they wanted to. On a related note, we had takeout from our LTR (local Thai restaurant) last evening and the owner Lisa told me that she won’t open the dining area until her staff could be vaccinated and that she would require employees to provide evidence of such. She has three cooks...one being her 70yo Mother, another her 65yo aunt and a younger cousin. If her cooks are sick, she has to shut down, but she can survive if her servers are sick, because she has a bunch of friends and family members who can sub. Small businesses make it happen.

[Clean39T]

My company offers the same insurance plans to everyone but there's a steep discount to anyone that signs a pledge not to use tobacco products. They also throw a couple hundred dollars into our HSA if we consent to an annual physical. and we can opt to get a free flu shot in the nurses office. I would expect similar tactics to encourage us to get vaccinated for Covid.

but, most states allow for At-Will employment. It's heavy handed (and constrained by the ADA) but a company is more or less free to tell it's employees that they need to be vaccinated in order to come into work. I know many states still require certain vaccines for college students.

Personally I would question the judgement of any of my colleagues that opted not to get vaccinated. but I'm sure some will. just like how some of them would come into the office sick despite us having an effectively unlimited number of sick days.

I work remotely, but going back to "business as normal" would mean airplanes and in-person conferences with 50-500ppl. Will the airlines require proof of vaccination to book flights? Doubtful. Will government entities holding meetings require proof of vaccination to get into the building? Can't see it. Will private conferences require it? Maybe, but what about the staff....

It may be time to invest in that treadmill desk after all. And then a class-b RV.

As for the first set of in-person meetings, I'm thinking this:



and this:

[bigbill]

I'm hoping a passport stamp will be proof of getting vaccinated.

[sk_tle]

I work remotely, but going back to "business as normal" would mean airplanes and in-person conferences with 50-500ppl. Will the airlines require proof of vaccination to book flights? Doubtful. Will government entities holding meetings require proof of vaccination to get into the building? Can't see it. Will private conferences require it? Maybe, but what about the staff....

It may be time to invest in that treadmill desk after all. And then a class-b RV.

As for the first set of in-person meetings, I'm thinking this:

I don't think there is any "back to normal" in 2021. It will take a good part of the year to have a significant part of the population vaccinated and we can see new variants any day that said vaccines could be inefficient with.

[gregl]

I'm hoping a passport stamp will be proof of getting vaccinated.

Is there still such thing as a passport vaccination record? When I used to travel to some places that still faced some very virulent illnesses, I had to get many additional vaccinations. They were documented on a yellow form that was stapled to the inside rear cover of my passport. My record was five vaccinations (plus malaria medication) for a trip up the Amazon river from Manaus, Brazil.

Greg

[j44ke]

I figure by the time the new administration gets in place, people have been hired and departments reconstructed and a program implemented, we're talking March-April maybe before things get rolling smoothly. Until then the approach is going to be more slap-dash hit-or-miss. No way, for example, De Blasio is going to pull of one million vaccinated in January. And when things do starting moving forward efficiently, they are going to start with the most vulnerable at that time and work their way down through the various groups. And these vaccinations are good for how long? Maybe a year? Anyone know? Definitely not a lifetime immunity right? So I can foresee logjams enough that some people may be getting their first ever vaccination when others are making appointments to get their one-year anniversary (or whatever) vaccination.

That's my sense of things at least. I've already heard fellow Americans discuss vaccine tourism. Go to Europe and get vaccinated. I don't see how that's possible, but there is a lot of pessimism.

[Too Tall]

Israel is doing a good job rolling out the vaccine.

[echappist]

My company offers the same insurance plans to everyone but there's a steep discount to anyone that signs a pledge not to use tobacco products. They also throw a couple hundred dollars into our HSA if we consent to an annual physical. and we can opt to get a free flu shot in the nurses office. I would expect similar tactics to encourage us to get vaccinated for Covid.

but, most states allow for At-Will employment. It's heavy handed (and constrained by the ADA) but a company is more or less free to tell it's employees that they need to be vaccinated in order to come into work. I know many states still require certain vaccines for college students.

Personally I would question the judgement of any of my colleagues that opted not to get vaccinated. but I'm sure some will. just like how some of them would come into the office sick despite us having an effectively unlimited number of sick days.

Oh boy, two of the major ramifications of modern American conservatism are the increasing prevalence of 1) At-Will employment and 2) "freedumb"

What's gonna happen when there's a conflict between the two? Is it gonna get spun into "it's the government forcing you" or "cancel culture" (as in, company cancelling employment), when in reality, it's one manifestation of almost unchecked power granted to corporations?

[j44ke]

Israel is doing a good job rolling out the vaccine.

Yes, and it is warm and sunny.

[Drew]

I don't think there is any "back to normal" in 2021.

Not to understate the obvious... what’s “normal?”

[bigbill]

Is there still such thing as a passport vaccination record? When I used to travel to some places that still faced some very virulent illnesses, I had to get many additional vaccinations. They were documented on a yellow form that was stapled to the inside rear cover of my passport. My record was five vaccinations (plus malaria medication) for a trip up the Amazon river from Manaus, Brazil.

Greg

I'm just thinking of a simple stamp from the State Department that is on the back page of your passport so there's no question when you enter a foreign country or get on an international flight. They could even do a decal like a license plate tag that you stick on the back cover. Until I got my new passport, my old one had several stickers placed on it by various Italian entities.

[takashi]

Israel is doing a good job rolling out the vaccine.

well sort of

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...go-to-settlers

Palestinians excluded from Israeli Covid vaccine rollout as jabs go to settlers

[j44ke]

well sort of

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...go-to-settlers

Palestinians excluded from Israeli Covid vaccine rollout as jabs go to settlers

The Occupied Territories are complicated, but West Bank and Gaza are Palestinian Authority responsibility right? Or are Israeli Arabs being excluded?

[takashi]

The Occupied Territories are complicated, but West Bank and Gaza are Palestinian Authority responsibility right? Or are Israeli Arabs being excluded?

oh boy, i suppose i will not venture in

[Too Tall]

oh boy, i suppose i will not venture in

Good call. That will be another 256 page thread for a later date.

[vertical_doug]

Good call. That will be another 256 page thread for a later date.

I haven't seen the news about Lionel thinking about buying a new Dogma or looking for a NOS F8

[j44ke]

oh boy, i suppose i will not venture in

Well you sounded like you knew what you were talking about, so I asked a question. But whatever.

[davids]

well sort of

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...go-to-settlers

Palestinians excluded from Israeli Covid vaccine rollout as jabs go to settlers

I am far from blind to Israel's significant problems with regards to both its Arab minority and the Palestinians. (If you want to get deeper into those issues with me, let's take it to PMs, OK?) but this is an innacurate story. In fact the story itself adds a lot of information that the headline subverts.

So check this out for a Center-Right perspective: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/how-an...accines-654220