Amid pushbacks against requiring coronavirus vaccinations for cruise ships and NFL players, as well as a continuing decline in the number of people getting vaccinated, there is now a new lobby for mandatory vaccination.
Over 50 well-known and prestigious healthcare groups, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Public Health Association, have issued a joint statement calling for health and long-term care employers to require employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
The crux of the statement, according to The Washington Post is that due to the delta variant and “significant numbers” of people who still haven’t gone for shots, hospitalizations and deaths are once again on the rise, necessitating their advocacy for a vaccine mandate among their own.
“Our health care organizations and societies advocate that all health care and long-term care employers require their workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and well-being,” they wrote in the joint statement issued Monday.
The recent surge in cases of the coronavirus in the United States has been fueled by the extremely contagious Delta variant, aided by a nationwide relaxation in mask and social distancing guidelines, and by the refusal by many Americans to get vaccinated despite cajoling, mandates and giveaways reports USA Today.
We even have Missouri Attorney General, Eric Schmitt, who is running for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, saying he plans to file a lawsuit Monday to block St. Louis city and county from enforcing a new mask mandate.
As of Monday, the U.S. has had more than 34.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 610,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. More than 163 million Americans, or 49 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In 48 of the states, in the past week, coronavirus cases have jumped 10 percent. And in 34 of those states, the rate of new cases increased by more than 50 percent.
