More than 9 in 10 federal workers are vaccinated, with only a small percentage seeking exemptions
Source: Washington Post
Ninety-two percent of federal employees and military personnel have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine while nearly 5 percent more have asked for exemptions on religious or medical grounds, the White House said Wednesday. Among civil servants, the vaccination percentages range from 86.1 percent at the Agriculture Department to 97.8 percent at the Agency for International Development.
Figures from the Office of Management and Budget form the most complete accounting to date of compliance with a requirement that federal employees be fully vaccinated as of Nov. 22. Deadlines for uniformed military personnel vary by service.Although the vaccination mandates issued by President Biden in September defined fully vaccinated as at least two weeks beyond the sole or second shot, depending on the vaccine, the data released Wednesday characterize employees as vaccinated if they have received at least one dose.
Those requesting an exemption also are deemed in compliance with the mandate, as the government decides on their requests. The remaining 3 percent have not shown they are vaccinated, nor have they asked for an exemption. This weeks deadline wasnt an end point. For those employees who are not yet in compliance, agencies are beginning a period of education and counseling, followed by additional enforcement steps, consistent with guidance from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force and the Office of Personnel Management, the announcement said.
The recommended sequence for those refusing vaccines unless they have asked for an exemption is a week of counseling about them and the potential career consequences of not complying with the mandate, then a possible unpaid suspension of under two weeks. Only after that would they face being fired. At any point, if an employee gets their first shot or submits an exemption request, agencies will pause further enforcement to give the employee a reasonable amount of time to become fully vaccinated or to process the exemption request, Wednesdays announcement said.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gederal-workers-vaccines/2021/11/24/54b438f6-4c88-11ec-b73b-a00d6e559a6e_story.html
Full headline: More than 9 in 10 federal workers are vaccinated, with only a small percentage seeking exemptions, White House says
LizBeth
(9,952 posts)had to vacc. I was told that some grumbled would quit first. Ended up all got the vacc. When it comes down to keeping the job, the reasons for not getting the vacc is not the big deal they proclaim it was. Seems like mandatory is working.
BumRushDaShow
(128,941 posts)are not so much "anti-vax loons" but are generally procrastinators and/or think "this is a hassle, I don't feel like it, I don't like needles" people.
Only thing is with this segment, it will be difficult to get them to go do this all over again next year. But the hope is that our bodies retain some tiny "memory" of how to fight the virus in that instance.
hydrolastic
(488 posts)The anti vaxers at work are the most brainwashed of the Trump supporters. With no exceptions. Without speaking to most of them you can tell by the (1776 and "lets go Brandon" stickers ) Also "Minneapolis Police t shirts and flags with blue line's in them. I had a guy from another area come to me and ask "where does he go to get a shot?" Thinly disguised effort to see if expressing his opinion was safe. Once you know what to look for its everywhere!
BumRushDaShow
(128,941 posts)Here in the Philly area, we have had an issue with blue collar (e.g., Streets Department, which includes those who collect trash and do street repairs) and pink collar (nursing home aids/home healthcare) workers who were refusers and a large chunk are AAs.
So not "missed by a mile".
There are many of the police and firefighters here who ARE RW loons who have balked for the reasons you state, and they have consistently endorsed whatever GOP candidates are running at the top of ticket (both state and federal). But these other folks are by no means in that category.
A few local outlets have done the data dives for here including this - https://billypenn.com/2021/10/30/philadelphia-city-worker-vaccination-rates-covid/ (they have a dynamic chart at that link that updates and below is a screenshot that I just grabbed) -
The PA Department of Health has described some of the efforts to get to these other communities -
Ayana Jones TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER Oct 30, 2021
(snip)
As a state we constantly look at vaccinations rates and look at them by demographic group as well. So when we see areas that are under-vaccinated, we make sure that we increase resources to that community to make sure that we catch up in terms of those rates, she said. We have seen that in some areas where African Americans were less vaccinated over time we had higher vaccination rates in those areas because of those efforts.
According to the Health Department vaccine dashboard, 43.9% of African Americans in Pennsylvania received at least one vaccine dose. This percentage does not include vaccines administered in Philadelphia county. The Health Department has partnered with local grassroots organizations, civic groups, businesses and houses of worship to hold pop-up vaccination clinics.
Johnson and her colleagues have been traveling throughout the state to promote vaccine clinics and discuss vaccine equity and hesitancy. She acknowledged that the Health Department has learned key lessons during the pandemic. We learned that we really need to meet people where they are, Johnson said. We need to know where our patients are and understand the limitations that they have to get to the places that we think they should get their vaccines.
As a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, Johnson is concerned about the low vaccination rate among pregnant women. She said women who contract COVID-19 during pregnancy have a higher risk of going to the intensive care unit. Unfortunately, less than one-third of pregnant women have gotten vaccinated and we know that in the African-American community that number is probably more in the teens and also in the Hispanic community and we know that those communities are more impacted, Johnson said. So it is urgent that we have more pregnant women get vaccinated.
https://www.phillytrib.com/news/health/pennsylvania-s-top-doctor-discusses-vaccine-hesitancy/article_a0e6d45d-4a63-51ff-b42e-4e77d3d551fd.html
So no, brainwashed RW loons are NOT the one and only case in reality.
brer cat
(24,562 posts)I remember you were in a bad spot before.
LizBeth
(9,952 posts)Last edited Thu Nov 25, 2021, 12:08 PM - Edit history (1)
no stress, easy job, all the employees are happy and the bosses are great and no desire to micromanage. Night and day difference. Love my schedule better too. Universe answered, lol. Thanks for asking and feeling very happy. I work for a diagnostic company and sit around waiting for a specimen pick up, jump in my car and drive in Eugene, beauty surrounding me, listening to my music. Pop in pick it up and say hi to a few people and then back to sitting and reading a book. AND I get paid really well. They hire old people too. This is where they like to hire old people. I am now seeing other companies, I had no idea, and they all had old people.
brer cat
(24,562 posts)It was a long time coming but sounds like it was worth the wait. So happy for you, and thanks for the update.
captain queeg
(10,188 posts)Not many will risk it, I think.
BumRushDaShow
(128,941 posts)with one who was truly not all there and ended up being a stalker (who was shuffled around from place to place until that last supervisor put together all the paperwork needed to terminate). The other had been caught violating some federal statute.
I used to be a fed supervisor and there is a whole escalation procedure that management goes through before you get to a termination (although obviously certain criminal infractions/convictions, pretty much ensures a termination).
captain queeg
(10,188 posts)The only guy Id ever seen fired, and fairly quickly, was going around talking about setting up on the roof across the street and shooting a few people. Someone reported him after telling him it made them Uncomfortable and he kept saying it. He got called in and wouldnt recant from what I heard and he was gone. Glad they took the threat serious. I guess there was a woman I used to work with who was fired for running an internet business from her work computer who got fired after Id transferred.
BumRushDaShow
(128,941 posts)we had mandatory "Ethics Training" and "Security Training" and during that training, the riot act, including citations of probably a dozen USC references, were cited that we had better be aware of!
We had a number of people disciplined for misuse of government property (usually the government car) or misuse of the government credit card (racking up all sorts of stuff on one), but those were usually not termination offenses.
captain queeg
(10,188 posts)That could certainly cost you your job, but they all seemed to get swept under the rug and people would get transferred elsewhere.
oldsoftie
(12,534 posts)And why were all the OTHER shots perfectly fine? I mean, it says to not be an adulterer. Period. Not just "sometimes"
LiberalFighter
(50,912 posts)And if it includes the I believe 3 elected farmers that are part of the Farm Services Agency. Not sure if I got the name right. I knew it better as the ASCS.
BumRushDaShow
(128,941 posts)and anyone who contracts with the federal government.
LiberalFighter
(50,912 posts)It had the lowest vaccination rate.
BumRushDaShow
(128,941 posts)and that seems to correspond to issues with getting rural dwellers vaccinated in general and USDA certainly has many employees living and working in those rural counties.
In some cases it boils down to outright access (or lack thereof) and in other cases, it is one of those tendencies to be "independent" (out of necessity), with a preference for being "self-sufficient", so no Uncle Sam telling them what to do.
LiberalFighter
(50,912 posts)And the FSA employees that are the mostly found in the USDA in those counties. Interacting with farmers on a nearly daily basis.
BumRushDaShow
(128,941 posts)Just remembered - "County Extension Agents".
There used to literally be at least one in every county in the U.S. I think they have consolidated it down now to one in "almost every" county, with some who probably are responsible for a couple counties that are minimally populated.
LiberalFighter
(50,912 posts)My father worked at the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS). It is now called the Farm Service Agency.
BumRushDaShow
(128,941 posts)One of my uncles used to work for the Forest Service (which is part of USDA) as an entomologist years ago, and the federal building I worked in before I retired had multiple agencies including an APHIS office there. i know until the past 20 or so years, USDA was one of the largest Departments. But then when DHS was created, they pretty much blew both HHS and USDA out of the water in terms of employees.