Considering how vested they are in pushing vaccines, this federal guidance today reflects a strong likelihood the politics and legality do not support mandating vaccines for employees. It will be very interesting to see how the lawsuits against private businesses that are requiring vaccinations are settled in the courts.
This is a very interesting development and it will also be interesting to see how the media react to government employees not being forced to vaccinate; as the leftist media have, in the aggregate, been defending all businesses that have required vaccines.
Federal Guidance released today shows the federal agencies are advised not to require vaccination status, nor inquire about vaccination status, for federal employees [LINK]:
Q: Should agencies require employees to be vaccinated or inquire regarding their vaccination status?
A: The Administration strongly encourages all Americans, including Federal employees and contractors, to be vaccinated. Employees should receive paid time off to be vaccinated and to deal with any side effects.
At present, COVID-19 vaccination should generally not be a pre-condition for employees or contractors at executive departments and agencies (agencies) to work in-person in Federal buildings, on Federal lands, and in other settings as required by their job duties.
Federal employees and contractors may voluntarily share information about their vaccination status, but agencies should not require federal employees or contractors to disclose such information. Responding to agency inquiries should be voluntary, and agencies should comply with any applicable laws, including requirements under the Privacy Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act, and any applicable collective bargaining obligations. When an employee or contractor voluntarily discloses that they are unvaccinated or declines to provide vaccination information, agencies should use that information to implement CDC-recommended mitigation measures, including masking and physical distancing. (link)
Folks, it is really pretty simple when you get down to it.
This is an IQ test.
Old enough to remember a time in my life where HIPPA meant something. Also remember some catch phrase about”my body, my choice.”
But since the homosexual crowd now dances in the streets displaying their depravity, and the pro-abortion crowd now demands you pay homage to women who murder their own babies, I guess liberals screaming about publicizing personal medical data is one of the few things they do that actually makes sense.
Welcome to liberal America. Nothing is private. Nothing is sacred.
HIPPA has NEVER meant ANYTHING. The ONLY purpose of HIPPA was to force hospitals and physicians to use electronic medical records to make it EASIER for the government to know everything about us. It never had ANYTHING to do with privacy. In fact, it took away our privacy.
I always opted *not* to share my confidential health records with anybody. I stay off their patient portals. That way, the liability is on THEM to protect my private healthcare information. If they get hacked then THEY failed to safeguard my info. The liability is theirs.
This is why all these agencies are twisting and contorting themselves to make a square peg fit into a round hole. It doesn’t.
They *can’t* force people to disclose confidential HIPAA information. They have to trick you into telling them, *without* resorting to coercion. It must be voluntary. If you stick to your guns, then they must back off.
And depending on who is collecting this info, for example your HR department, then you must consent to the *sharing* of your protected health information with others. Kind of defeats the purpose of HIPAA and ADA when employers take it upon themselves to segregate and *coerce* their employees with punitive workplace restrictions based on information you have every right *not* to share with them, or anybody else, in the first place.
This information is *so* protected, in fact, that employers are required to keep it in a confidential file that’s entirely separate from the employee’s HR records.
Ah! Someone is using their head.
…to make it EASIER for the government to know everything about us.
While not disagreeing about whether that was the intent, there is an underlying problem with the premise. I think as far back as the 1970s computer programmers shortened it to GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). Not sure any of us really want to know how many errors there are with the medical data encoding. Read an article a couple years ago about how they were modifying the codes to make sure it encompassed EVERYTHING and the result was that the previously moderately competent people were now utterly and completely lost.
The only standard you can hold these Satanic Marxists to is a double standard.
“When an employee or contractor voluntarily discloses that they are unvaccinated or declines to provide vaccination information, agencies should use that information to implement CDC-recommended mitigation measures, including masking and physical distancing”
So if you refuse to disclose your status you must be masked and segregated. Sounds American to me!
Sounds like coercion to me! And coercion is illegal.
If challenged in court that one will be a loser.
I was somewhat amused by that part of the recommendation. The agency where I am a contractor put out its guidance several weeks ago. It was quite clear that NOBODY can demand an answer of feds OR contractors (that caught me by surprise) and that NO ADVERSE action may be taken as a result of sharing information either way.
Federal employees are unionized, so the Democrats do what the unions tell them to do. It’s “science and data.”
Hey, think positively. It’s the first thing this inadministration has gotten correct!
Re “JoeBama Administration Will Not Require Vaccination For Federal Employees in Workplace, Nor Should any Federal Department Ask About Vaccination Status.”
The New Vaccination Status page says, “Responding to agency inquiries should be voluntary…”
Merriam-Webster defines inquiry as “a request for information.”
So, they can still ASK; and, if and “When an employee or contractor voluntarily discloses that they are unvaccinated OR DECLINES TO PROVIDE vaccination information…” (my emphasis) negative action can still be taken against them.
EVEN IF all the weasel words on that page ARE intended to mean they cannot ask, either VERBALLY or via PRINTED matter, the question is assumed (inherent in the wording of the new guidelines) and MUST be answered in order to be protected against the negative action; because if the desired information is not voluntarily offered, “agencies should use that information to implement CDC-recommended mitigation measures, including masking and physical distancing.”
Not a lot to celebrate there, in my opinion.
“agencies SHOULD”…not MUST. More weasel words!
Yes but will they singled out via what is effectively a Star of David in the workplace?
As the leftists gave taught us over the last thirty years- that’s discrimination. Time to play the game better than them.
How about ” I prefer not to volunteer any information on that subject/matter “
At present, COVID-19 vaccination should generally not be a pre-condition for employees or contractors at executive departments and agencies (agencies) to work in-person in Federal buildings, on Federal lands, and in other settings as required by their job duties.
———
Sundance should have bolded “generally”. That is their qualifier and leaves wiggle room to be arbitrary in enforcement.
Here’s a scenario:
You are a federal contractor (not a federal employee) working in a Federal building. You are asked if you’ve been vaccinated. You respond “that is privileged HIPPA information and I am not required to disclose personal health data to you”.
What happens next?
Will the government violate HIPPA law?
Re “What happens next?”
This: “agencies should use that information to implement CDC-recommended mitigation measures, including masking and physical distancing.”
But, exactly what does THAT mean…
Interestingly, the entirety of this “new” status is an interesting conglomeration of weasel words (word salad) that allow pretty much any action (or nonaction) the government wishes to take.
For example, in the quoted portion above, the word ‘should’ means whatever follows MAY happen; i.e., it does not mean that whatever follows SHALL happen. So, ‘should’ allows the government to decide when and if to take action, AND against whomever they wish, or not…
The word ‘including’ means that whatever follows that word PLUS other undefined things MIGHT happen; thereby, giving the government even more wiggle room to act IF they so choose and against whomever they choose, or not…
Resisters should be very aware and wary of the traps within this new ‘status’…
In a court of law, it will be said to mean whatever they need it to say at the time; and, they’ll most likely get away with it…
Like the phrase “for purposes of” or “any purposes” in the aca or legislation in general, which leaves it arbitrary to any interpretation or enforcement.
Given that they routinely violate most laws on the books on a regular basis, then yes?
If you have the resources to get a good lawyer and are lucky enough to not have crooked judge, than many years later you can receive ‘some’ justice, but counting on the government to do the right thing absent any push back on your part is pretty much gone at this point.
Short answer: It depends.
Based on the current policy at the agency where I am a contractor, nothing. Other agencies I expect will be different. Mine may even fall into line with the new official guidance at which point the immediate answer is “yes”.
But the question “what happens after they do?” may be even more important than what they do. Because I see that as a slam dunk case in the courts. And that upsets the WHOLE apple cart.
.
I’ve been in and around Fort Benning since last week. Young military personnel are still being “encouraged” in multifarious ways to get vaccinated. This includes carrot, stick and just peer pressure. They have been told things like their parents cannot come in for graduation ceremonies without being vaccinated. Base facilities such as the infantry museum are closed to the public. Elsewhere, those who are not vaccinated are not being permitted to go to career-building exercises out of the country. Officers are being reminded that “we operate under a different legal system” and that appears to be adequate to get most on board. Disturbing. Fort Benning is our primary combat infantry training base, new recruits, Rangers, and army OCS.
This is a national security concern. This *experimental* bioweapon could easily wipe out our nation’s first line of defense.
Which is what the ChiComms want. Read or listen to General Chi Haotian’s (not so) Secret Speech in 2005.
Yeah, we shouldn’t really need another amendment to the Constitution, but apparently we do: military personnel cannot be used for experiments that do not directly impact military preparedness and any military personnel MAY challenge a requirement for such experiments without suffering adverse consequences.
Wake up America and do not comply! Being able to take in some event is so important that a person should poison their body and the bodies of their children? Our priorities should be trust in God first, and trust in government last.
They are forcing, coercing, bribing, shaming, restricting, and using every tactic imaginable to get people to take the vaxx. Yet federal employees are not getting the vaxx or having to reveal whether they are vaxxed or not. This should set off an alarm to everyone that there is a serious agenda behind the vaxx. DO NOT GET IT–even if you have to miss a few events, attend a different college, or rethink your vacation plans.
But, I’ll bet the bombardment of 5 second youtube ads imploring you to get stuck will continue …
I will be missing a very special wedding because I refuse to get the shot and/or deal with the mask requirements on the airlines. I will also be missing live concerts at some of my favorite venues for the same reasons.
IN NEW YORK- Commie rocker Bruce Springsteen is having a show on Broadway that only the vaxxed are allowed to attend; restaurants are setting up separate sections for the vaxxed and unclean; you need a vax passport in most of the sports arenas with no excuses for non-compliance; children are still being forcibly mask abused.
THE LAWS DON’T MATTER IF THEY ARE SELECTIVELY ENFORCED.
Leave New York. It is not the center of the universe people there think it is.
Captain Obvious sez:
Always consult your personal physician when it comes to medical decisions.
Do not consult an elected official or a television news actor and never ask a bureaucrat for medical advice
Regarding COVID, I will take most physicians’ advice with a grain of salt, as they have acquitted themselves in this matter no better than have the politicians.
As a medical coder, I look at thousands of patient medical files each year. NOT ONCE has any provider advised increased Vitamin a, c, d, zinc, exercise and sunshine for the most vulnerable. Not. Once.
And NOT ONE has raised any caution to his/her patients regarding vaccination: it matters not if the patient has had ccovid; it matters not if the patient is pregnant or 12-18 years of age; it matters not what current conditions they have (cardiovascular, respiratory, cancer, etc.) ALL are strongly advised to get vaccinated.
Now ask me the next time I’m going to see any doctor, let alone trust him/her……
I agree, its well beyond criminal at this point.
They are all in on the take ($$$$) all big health systems are corrupt and evil!!
Sanford health was doing a HUGE Hydroxychloroquin study early on in 2020 and SUDDENLY it was pulled…………..hhhmmmm
Sad but true..
As a physician myself, I can tell you that many younger physicians have been brainwashed with leftist ideology in college, med school, and residency. So don’t always assume that your personal physician is giving you non-biased, science-based medical advice. Far too many physicians have drank the Covid Kool-Aid and are all-in on whatever the government tells them to tell their patients, and many are fanatical vaccine nazis. I see it every day.
I agree… my last dr visit, after an ER visit due to high BP, was all about getting the vax, NOT my high BP.. Stunning!
Doctors are not god, heck, they aren’t even brilliant. They just passed organic chemistry–that’s it. Plus, MANY in the medical community have gone over to the dark side–the WOKE side.
My own physician recommended I get the shot–either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. I said I would think about it.
I thought about it…..nah.
Huh. As if they have some inside knowledge that COVID-19 threat was grossly overblown for political reasons, it’s just a cold for most everyone except certain high-risk groups.
Now that’s interesting!!!
Everybody should get the shot and some businesses may require proof of vaccination for work or for entrance.
But federal employees don’t have to???
So, Federal employees are not required, but West Point cadets are thretened with solitary confinement if they don’t take the vaccine.
https://nationalfile.com/exclusive-bidens-military-puts-west-point-cadets-in-solitary-confinement-if-they-refuse-covid-vaccine/
By “Federal” do they mean soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines as well?
Just asking a question here.
It should, are they not Federal employees? That is who is paying them correct?
Well- they forced me and thousands of sailors to get the experimental Anthrax vaccine. I have issues from it- just like everyone else forced to take it.
Never again!
Does anybody believe that Bill Gates’ daughter got that bioactive agent in her arm in that video she posted?
It is illegal to coerce or force anyone to take an experimental drug per the Nuremberg trials. Biden’s handlers know this. However, they have no such opposition to the private sector requiring this. The only reason the ‘vaccine’ got the experimental designation is because there was no treatment for the virus. That is why they suppressed HDC and Azith antibiotic. There was money to be made, especially since Fauci was one of the patent holders of the Moderna vaccine.
Biden has said he will not require vaccination for Federal employees in workplace nor should any Federal department ask about vaccinations status – YET Biden’s Secretary of Defense has “unvaccinated West Point Cadets” treated as lepers’, all housed in one tent and severe restrictions placed on them such as leave, freedom to mingle, etc. Tell me that isn’t insane. And tell me Biden supports the military.
I work at a DOE Facility and if we are vaccinated we have to tell them or we have to were a mask
It is, of course, against the law for the Federal government to require vaccination of an experimental vaccine. So the Feds will use private and quasi-private companies to do the same. And no one knows why. This entire panic is a useless sham..not the disease, mind you, the reaction.
And people still believe in all the hype & constantly mind-changing dribble coming from the politicos practicing medicine & doctors practicing politics?
Utterly unbelievable!