Welcome all of you and especially those suffering and have suffered from COVID. You may be fortunate like myself, and have been fully vaccinated or survived the Covid infection. And so, you may be wish we all would be vaccinated. And you are irritated that many are not.
The Supreme Court has blocked President Biden’s plan to require that most workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing.
In a separate decision, they upheld a more targeted regulation that will require about 17 million people in hospitals and nursing facilities to be vaccinated.
Apparently the president had “overstepped his authority” by requiring workers in companies and agencies with more than 100 employees to be vaccinated or tested regularly.
Once again, the majority conservatives voted 6-3. Although Congress gave OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly.
The three liberals said the federal government’s ability to counter the unparalleled threat that COVID–19 poses to our nation’s workers.
The testing requirement for hospitals and nursing homes is based on the Medicare and Medicaid Acts, which authorize federal health officials to set standards to protect the health and safety of elderly and sick patients.
I am disappointed in the OSHA ruling, and still advocate for employers to do the right thing to protect Americans’ health and economy.
The outcome is not a surprise the conservative majority is highly skeptical of new and far-reaching federal regulations. They prefer that States should work on this. The problem with that approach is that Covid does not respect State boundaries.
Businesses and states told the court it would cost businesses billions of dollars to comply with the vaccinate-or-test rule, and they predicted it would cause hundreds of thousands of employees to leave their jobs.
The administration, however, said the rule, if enforced, would save more than 6,500 lives and prevent hundreds of thousands from being hospitalized.
A new study of nearly 70,000 Covid patients in California demonstrates that Omicron causes less severe disease than other coronavirus variants, results that align with similar findings from South Africa, Britain and Denmark.
Across the United States, 25% of eligible Americans are not vaccinated against Covid-19. More than 62% of the country has been fully vaccinated, but only 23% are fully vaccinated and boosted. Omicron caused 98% of new coronavirus cases in the United States last week.
Despite some of these aggressive actions, COVID numbers are still rising and affecting the area’s Black residents in a major way.
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said “the COVID-19 pandemic has plagued our nation for 20 long months now, but all of its devastating effects, whether health wise or economic, disproportionately impact our Black community,”
For example, in D.C., Black residents account for 49% of the total positive cases in the nation’s capital. In comparison, White residents only account for 22% of Washingtonians who have tested positive for COVID-19. Black and White D.C. residents make up for an equal number of District.
Also, Black Washingtonians account for 77% of those who died from complications due to COVID-19.
Once again, People of Color are hit hard. Here at the NABWMT our mission Statement calls this out as immoral. Let’s fight for equality in Healthcare.