Vaccine Mandate Battles Begin In Florida, Texas

A set of vaccine mandate battles are looming large in Florida and Texas — and all for very different reasons.

Current Events
In Texas, dozens of hospital workers are waging a vaccine mandate war based on fear.

Officials at Houston Methodist Hospital have required all employees to get the COVID vaccine or risk losing their jobs.  However, more than 100 employees have filed a lawsuit against the hospital, saying they don’t believe the vaccines are safe (yet) and that their civil liberties will be violated if they are forced to choose between injecting an unwanted substance into their bodies or staying employed.

Jennifer Bridges is a Houston-area nurse who has led a determined protest against the hospital.  Her anti-vaxx stance is based on the fact that the current COVID vaccines have only received emergency authorization and not full FDA approval as is usually required.

“If we don’t stop this now and do some kind of change, everybody’s just going to topple,” Ms. Bridges said during a recent protest. “It’s going to create a domino effect. Everybody across the nation is going to be forced to get things into their body that they don’t want and that’s not right.”

Regrettably, Ms. Bridges and her colleagues are running out of time.  According to Houston Methodist, any employee who did not meet the hospital’s Monday vaccination deadline will be placed on a two-week unpaid suspension.  If they still do not meet the vaccine requirements by June 21st, the hospital said it will “initiate the employee termination process.”

In response to the Monday evening ultimatum, dozens of Houston Methodist employees gathered outside the hospital’s Baytown location with signs that read “Vaxx is Venom” and “Don’t Lose Sight Of Our Rights.”

Their fight continues.

Meanwhile, a vaccine mandate ‘war of words’ is brewing between the State of Florida and the cruise ship industry — and it’s all based on politics.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March of 2020, thousands of cruise ship passengers were stranded onboard vessels and not permitted to disembark in the United States for fear of spreading the virus.  Now, with cruise ships preparing to set sail once again this summer and in the interest of avoiding yet another sailing pandemic, Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, and others had planned to enforce a vaccine mandate for all passengers.

And then, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida stepped in.

DeSantis, who is an ardent Donald Trump supporter and guilty of politicalizing masks, vaccines, and other COVID-related protocols, is (Big Surprise!) against a vaccine mandate or “vaccine passports” for cruise ship passengers.  In fact, DeSantis is so in favor of allowing ships to sail without anyone knowing who may or may not be COVID-positive, that he signed an executive order blocking such safety measures in the State of Florida.

Beginning July 1st, any cruise ship which requires a passenger to present proof of getting the COVID vaccine will be fined $5000 per passenger.  With the majority of cruise ships in the US sailing out of Florida ports, the executive order could be a devastating blow.

“Requiring customers to show proof of immunization violates the spirit of the governor’s Emergency Order 21-81, which prohibits vaccine passports and protects the fundamental rights of Floridians – including the right to medical privacy,” Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ press secretary, said late last week.

Originally, Royal Caribbean had intended to set sail this summer with “vaccinated only” cruises.  However, in light of the DeSantis threat, the company has reversed course and will comply with the new Florida executive order.

Still, the cruise lines are fighting back.

They correctly pointed out that if Florida law forces ships to permit passengers to board who have not been fully vaccinated, those passengers would be putting their own health at risk (and would be of no harm to hundreds of vaccinated passengers).  They also added that if the governor continues to fight them on this important safety issue, they could potentially uproot operations and move their ports to another state — a move which could cost Florida a whopping $9 billion in lost revenue.

Is Houston Methodist Hospital correct in requiring all of its employees to be fully vaccinated before being allowed to work around the sick and elderly?  Is Gov. DeSantis wrong in sending thousands of passengers out on cruise ships without knowing who may or may not have COVID — or who may or may not have been vaccinated?

OK WASSUP! covers Current Events:
Vaccine mandate fight in Florida and Texas.