The Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination deadline will not require immediate action on the part of employers against unvaccinated employees when it comes into force on Dec. 8, the White House coronavirus response coordinator said on Wednesday.
Jeff Zients said he expects federal agencies and contractors “will follow their standard HR processes and that for any of the probably relatively small percent of employees that are not in compliance they’ll go through education, counseling, accommodations, and then enforcement.”
Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler is warning citizens to “keep the pressure on Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama legislature to ban the mandate in Alabama.”
Ivey called the legislature into special session but ignored requests to include legislation to ban the mandate in Alabama in the call for the session. Her call included only redistricting and appropriation of federal COVID funds. For a vaccine mandate ban or any legislation not in the call, passage requires a 2/3s majority of both houses.
Ivey also issued an executive order about the mandate, but it protected only workers in the executive branch of state government, including Ivey’s employees.
Zeigler says that tens of thousands of Alabama employees could lose their jobs on account of the vaccine mandate. He urged citizens to continue to push Ivey and the legislature for a clear ban on the mandate.
“No one should be threatened with losing their job if they make a personal decision about their own healthcare. This mandate is now putting thousands of Alabama workers at risk for their livelihood, retirement benefits, and insurance,” Zeigler said at a rally against the mandate Thursday at the Alabama Statehouse.
“Gov. Ivey needs to quickly look at what is being done by Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida and Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas. She needs to simply ban vaccine mandates in Alabama. If the Feds take Alabama to court, we can fight it there while our workers remain on the job.”
