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The Biden administration set Jan. 4 as the deadline for large companies to mandate coronavirus vaccinations or start weekly testing for their workers. The rule is expected to cover 84 million workers, roughly 31 million of whom are unvaccinated. Federal judge puts order on hold.
It is the most far-reaching and potentially controversial measure in the government’s efforts to fight the pandemic. “While I would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary, too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good,” President Biden said.
How will it work in practice? Many questions remain, on everything from enforcement to exemptions. Go here for answers to frequently asked questions about what the mandate means for companies and workers. You can also submit more questions for us to consider — we’ve been updating the article frequently. Here are the high-level details:
The timing. Setting an early January deadline gives retailers and logistics companies, which are strapped for employees, time to get through the holiday shopping season before instituting the requirements. But the National Retail Federation was still sharply critical of the move. “The Biden administration has chosen to declare an ‘emergency’ and impose burdensome new requirements on retailers during the crucial holiday shopping season,” it said.
The requirements. Workers are considered fully vaccinated if they have received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot. Companies can verify a worker’s status by requesting either a vaccination card or proof from a medical provider. Regulators will allow exceptions, though the government estimates that 1 percent of workers who remain hesitant have a medical reason and 4 percent have a religious objection. Companies with significantly higher shares could attract scrutiny.
The testing. For those who don’t get vaccinated, employers are not required to pay for or provide tests, though some may still be compelled to do so by other laws or agreements with unions. Forcing unvaccinated employees to pay for their own tests, the rule notes, “will provide a financial incentive for some employees to be fully vaccinated.”
The enforcement. Companies that fail to comply may be fined. An OSHA penalty is typically $13,653 for every serious violation, but can be up to 10 times that amount if the regulator determines that the violation is willful or repeated.
However, A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily halted President Joe Biden’s administration’s vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.
Cases: Public health officials reported 23 new COVID-19 infections in Pasadena on Friday, which was the first time a single-day case count exceeded 20 in a week. No new deaths were reported. In all, Pasadena’s pandemic totals stood at 13,619 cases of COVID-19 and 363 deaths, according to Pasadena Public Health Department data.
Over the prior week, an average of 12.1 new infections were detected each day, city data shows.
The Pasadena Unified School District listed 11 cases of the virus among students over the prior week, along with five cases among teachers.
Huntington Hospital officials reported treating 20 admitted COVID-19 patients on Friday, with three of them being housed in intensive care units.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials reported 1,549 new infections and 24 deaths Friday, raising the totals to 1,499,911 COVID-19 cases and 26,719 deaths. Officials reported 650 hospitalizations across the county, with 24% of the patients being treated in ICUs. Friday’s county-wide daily test positivity rate was 1.4%.
At the state level, the California Department of Public Health announced 8,012 new infections and 93 deaths on Friday, bringing the state’s totals to 4,688,285 cases of COVID-19 and 71,852 deaths. The statewide weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.6%, according to CDPH data.
As of Friday, L.A. County represented 32% of California’s COVID-19 cases and 37% of the state’s fatalities.
Vaccines: The Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD) will begin administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children 5 to 11 years old on Monday, according to a statement released by the city.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Nov. 2 endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendation that children 5-11 years old be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The approval makes nearly 8,000 Pasadena children between the ages of 5 and 11 eligible for vaccination this week. Parents and guardians are required to be present during vaccine administration.
Initial doses of the pediatric vaccine arrived early this week and additional vaccine has been ordered. In addition to hosting pediatric clinics at PPHD and at schools in partnership with the Pasadena Unified School District, PPHD has also worked with a network of pediatric providers and retail pharmacies across the City that are prepared to provide vaccines to children between the ages of 5 and 11.
The Pasadena Unified School District said Wednesday it plans vaccination clinics not only at the PUSD Primary Clinic but also at multiple school sites for the 5- to 11-year-olds.
“It is our goal to offer opportunities for the first dose before Thanksgiving and the second dose three weeks later which will allow our students to be fully vaccinated before they return from winter break,” the District said in a statement.
Some private medical providers operating in the city were making the vaccine available earlier.
CVS Pharmacy planned to begin administering the vaccine to children between 5 and 11 years old on Sunday, according to company spokeswoman Monica Prinzing.
Those interested can sign up for an appointment online at CVS.com or via the CVS mobile app, she said.
“The CVS scheduling tool will only display appointments at CVS Pharmacy locations that have the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine once the patient’s age is provided,” Prinzing added.
PPHD clinicians routinely vaccinate children, and all clinical staff receive extensive training in administering pediatric vaccines.
Dr. Ying-Ying Goh, PPHD director and board-certified pediatrician, strongly recommends that everyone who is eligible to receive the safe and effective vaccines should get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Parents are encouraged to check the CDC or American Academy of Pediatrics websites for more information and talk with their child’s pediatrician or medical provider to answer any questions they may have.
In order to prepare children to receive the vaccine, PPHD recommends:
- Talking to children about the vaccine in advance
- Wearing short sleeves to the vaccine appointment for easier access to the upper arm
- Ensuring children are well hydrated before and after receiving the vaccine
- Planning to monitor children closely after they receive the vaccine for any side effects
Once fully approved, those seeking Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5-11 can make an appointment at MyTurn.CA.gov or at a local pharmacy that offers Pfizer vaccinations.
PPHD will offer pediatric vaccines once fully approved by appointment only for those registered through the MyTurn system.
If you need help making an appointment, contact the Pasadena Citizen Service Center at (626) 744-7311, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Meanwhile Public Health officials in Pasadena reported 9 new infections on Wednesday, raising the city’s total to 13,586 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
With no deaths reported Since Oct. 6, the local death toll has remained stable at 363 for four straight weeks, according to city data.
On average, 12.4 new cases were detected daily over the prior week, PPHD records show.
The Pasadena Unified School District listed 26 student infections over the prior week, as well as five among staff members.
Huntington Hospital reported treating 20 admitted COVID-19 patients on Wednesday, with three of them being treated in intensive care units.
Officials at the county level reported 1,605 new infections and 22 deaths on Wednesday, which brought the pandemic totals to 1,496,593 cases of the virus and 26,683 fatalities.
Just over 650 patients were being treated at hospitals for COVID-19 county-wide, according to the LACDPH. Twenty-five percent of them were in ICUs.
Wednesday countywide daily test positivity rate was measured at 1.2%.
The California Department of Public Health announced 3,518 new cases of COVID-19 and 76 deaths on Wednesday, which raised the state’s totals to 4,674,665 infections and 26,683 fatalities.
The statewide weekly positivity rate held steady at 2.2%, according to CDPH data.
As of Wednesday, L.A. County represented 32% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 37% of the state’s deaths.
The Economy: Unemployment claims climbed higher in California last week, the government reported Thursday. California workers filed 62,266 initial claims for unemployment benefits during the week that ended on Oct. 30, which was up about 2,500 from claims filed for the week ending Oct. 23, the U.S. Labor Department reported.
Nationwide, workers filed 269,000 first-time jobless claims last week, a decrease of 14,000 from the 283,000 claims filed the week before, according to the Labor Department. The U.S. numbers are adjusted for seasonal volatility. Overall, 2.1 million Americans were collecting unemployment checks the week of Oct. 23 — down from 7.1 million a year earlier when the economy was still reeling from the coronavirus outbreak. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out weekly ups and downs, dropped below 285,000, also a pandemic low.
The unemployment claims filed last week in California were far higher than what’s normal in a typical economy. In January 2020 and February 2020, the final two months before COVID-19-related business shutdowns, unemployment claims averaged 44,800 a week in California. The most recent total of 62,266 first-time claims in California is 39% higher than those first two months of 2020.
The one bright spot: For the last five weeks in a row, unemployment claims in California have remained well below a September spike in filings when claims reached 78,700 the week of Sept. 25.
Officially, California has 1.4 million unemployed residents, but a new study that takes into account people who can’t find jobs that pay above the poverty level says the number is three times higher at 4.8 million.
The analysis by the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, an organization focused on studying the economic well-being of middle and lowerincome Americans, found 25.7% of California workers are “functionally unemployed,” meaning they are seeking, but unable to find, full-time employment paying above the poverty level. That’s compared with the state’s 7.5% unemployment rate.
“Policy leaders, by these headlines and statistics, have been deluded into thinking things are better off than they are,” said LISEP chairman Gene Ludwig, who served as U.S. comptroller of the currency under President Bill Clinton.
The organization’s new, more inclusive analysis is part of a broader movement to revamp outdated methods of gauging poverty and unemployment. The chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, wrote in February that “published unemployment rates during COVID have dramatically understated the deterioration in the labor market.” And a report released earlier this year from United Ways of California, an anti-poverty advocacy organization, used a “real cost measure” to estimate that 3.5 million working householdsin the state don’t make enough to meet their most basic necessities.
For Ludwig, the problem comes down to the government’s current definition of employed. The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics defines a person as employed if that person works at least one hour during its sevenday survey period.
“You were counted as employed, even if you were desperate to have a full-time job,” Ludwig said.
To capture a more detailed view, LISEP researchers included anyone unemployed, those working parttime but seeking full-time employment and people making below $20,000.
From the New York Times: The American economy is showing renewed signs of life, with employers hiring workers in greater numbers than they have in months.
The Labor Department reported Friday that payrolls in October jumped by 531,000, the best showing since July. The gains were reflected in a broad variety of fields, led by restaurants and bars, as well as factories, offices and warehouses.
The improvements followed a late-summer lull caused by the latest coronavirus surge and by supply chain problems that have delayed shipments, hampered manufacturers and left gaps on supermarket shelves.
Business leaders and economists said October’s data pointed to faster growth in the final months of the year, especially with shoppers feeling bullish as the holiday season approaches.