No argument at all with your exasperation at the whole thing. I work in NYC schools though; we are absolutely being mandated.
The scenario at the moment, for anyone interested: They announced vaccine-or-weekly-testing in August, then the instant Pfizer was approved the mayor said nevermind, no testing option and no medical or religious exemptions.
Our (ridiculous) union did fight on the exemptions; it went to arbitration and last week it was ruled that accomodations will be considered for a short list of medical conditions. Religious exemptions are to be considered only for members of "recognized and established religious organizations" with a personal letter from a religious official (no sincerely held personal beliefs as federal law allows).
Any DOE employee who hasn't uploaded proof of vaccination or had an exemption approved by September 27 cannot come to work thereafter. According to the city there are 15,000 teachers, plus I don't know how many other school staff people, who haven't done so. The city says they have enough substitute teachers to replace us.
It has nothing to do with safety, of course, just whether or not you've obeyed. They pretend that only unvaccinated people can transmit the virus. The details of the policies are absurd. We have to fill out a little digital survey every morning before we enter, and when you get to the question about whether you're vaccinated, if you say yes, you're cleared, no further questions. So a teacher I work with was pretty sick with corona just a few days before we went back to work, but he's vaccinated, so he was right in there on on the first day. My wife has a co-worker who's husband is sick and tested positive tonight, but she's negative so far and she's vaccinated, so she'll be in school tomorrow. In both cases, had they not been vaccinated they wouldn't be allowed in.
So I, and a lot of others in the city, will be forbidden to work a few weeks from now, in addition to being already barred from restaurants, indoor events, taking my daughter to gymnastics, etc. Mayor says cops and firemen who don't get vaxxed or tested weekly won't get paid starting tomorrow. He says he's not "yet" considering mandating 12-year-olds like Los Angeles has, but the governor says she might. It's a pretty sorry spectacle. We're watching carefully and thinking through how our family is going to play this, though I expect things to keep changing day by day, one way or another. We'll see. I do know for sure that most of my students have had a difficult two years and will suffer further when they return to a short-staffed school, while some experienced teachers and counselors who want to be there are kept away.
no subject
No argument at all with your exasperation at the whole thing. I work in NYC schools though; we are absolutely being mandated.
The scenario at the moment, for anyone interested: They announced vaccine-or-weekly-testing in August, then the instant Pfizer was approved the mayor said nevermind, no testing option and no medical or religious exemptions.
Our (ridiculous) union did fight on the exemptions; it went to arbitration and last week it was ruled that accomodations will be considered for a short list of medical conditions. Religious exemptions are to be considered only for members of "recognized and established religious organizations" with a personal letter from a religious official (no sincerely held personal beliefs as federal law allows).
Any DOE employee who hasn't uploaded proof of vaccination or had an exemption approved by September 27 cannot come to work thereafter. According to the city there are 15,000 teachers, plus I don't know how many other school staff people, who haven't done so. The city says they have enough substitute teachers to replace us.
It has nothing to do with safety, of course, just whether or not you've obeyed. They pretend that only unvaccinated people can transmit the virus. The details of the policies are absurd. We have to fill out a little digital survey every morning before we enter, and when you get to the question about whether you're vaccinated, if you say yes, you're cleared, no further questions. So a teacher I work with was pretty sick with corona just a few days before we went back to work, but he's vaccinated, so he was right in there on on the first day. My wife has a co-worker who's husband is sick and tested positive tonight, but she's negative so far and she's vaccinated, so she'll be in school tomorrow. In both cases, had they not been vaccinated they wouldn't be allowed in.
So I, and a lot of others in the city, will be forbidden to work a few weeks from now, in addition to being already barred from restaurants, indoor events, taking my daughter to gymnastics, etc. Mayor says cops and firemen who don't get vaxxed or tested weekly won't get paid starting tomorrow. He says he's not "yet" considering mandating 12-year-olds like Los Angeles has, but the governor says she might. It's a pretty sorry spectacle. We're watching carefully and thinking through how our family is going to play this, though I expect things to keep changing day by day, one way or another. We'll see. I do know for sure that most of my students have had a difficult two years and will suffer further when they return to a short-staffed school, while some experienced teachers and counselors who want to be there are kept away.
J.