Reversing Course
No fewer than three Iowa school districts in the past week have either rescinded or tabled measures that would have required district employees to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
The most recent was Cedar Rapids. Just this past Monday night, the board had a proposal on their agenda to approve a jab-or-be-tested rule, but it was pulled off the table at the last minute.
Ankeny approved a policy last week, but then reversed course this past Monday. Pella also overturned its employee COVID vax mandate.
They all said they were simply following Biden Administration guidance that any entity with more than 100 employees needed to have such a requirement in place, as set forth in federal OSHA rules. Never mind that such a policy had been challenged in court, including that rather odd set of oral arguments on emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court last Friday.
Now, of course, there’s legislation proposed in Iowa that would restrict businesses from knowing the vax status of employees, with some calling for that to include schools…and Iowa’s OSHA administrator saying he doesn’t believe he has to adopt the federal OSHA rule even if it’s upheld in court because Iowa’s overall rules are better.
Why the districts even considered pushing forward in light of all that is beyond me, unless their local teachers unions are parroting national and big city unions, like in Chicago, with threats to walk out. It’s frankly part of a mindset that has dominated action during this pandemic, of one-size-fits-all policy regardless of science or pandemic progression–or regression, for that matter.
Since the law is unsettled, the schools were just asking for lawsuits if they went ahead, so it is the prudent course to wait. And no one is stopping folks from getting the jab, so again, if the vaccines are so darn good, why force adults who don’t want to get a shot to take action against their religious or medical interests?
There’s an answer to that, of course…but it’s far broader than public health.
