September 28, 2021

"The Madison School Board on Monday unanimously supported a mandatory staff vaccination plan proposed by district administration...."

"While presenting the plan, district director of student services operations and accountability Leia Esser said that the district has an 'obligation' to protect the health of students and staff.... Requests for religious or medical exemptions will be reviewed by district human resources personnel. Unvaccinated staff will have to submit negative COVID-19 test results twice a week.... Staff who have not submitted proof of vaccination or an exemption request by Nov. 15 will be placed on unpaid administrative leave. Staff who do not submit proof of vaccination and haven’t been approved for an exemption by Dec. 20 will be fired.... Madison teachers overwhelmingly support mandatory vaccinations, with 85.5% of those surveyed in favor of requiring vaccinations, according to a survey conducted by the district’s teachers union, Madison Teachers Inc. "

68 comments:

Richard Aubrey said...

Thinking vaxxing is a good idea is one thing. But 85% thinking "mandatory" is kind of off-putting.
I suspect mandatory driving on the right side of the road might get that level of support. Anything else?
And among teachers....

tim in vermont said...

I think the data shows that the vaccines work, and that it is wise to be vaccinated, if you are over 40, anyway, but these mandates are kind of horrific. Over 20% of Americans have immunity from having had COVID that is better than that of the vaccines, at the cost of nearly 700,000 lives, sadly. At a minimum, people who have antibodies should be exempt, as they are in Europe where they seem to follow the science.

These vaccine mandates just work as a kind of negative persuasion, communicating a complete lack of faith in the vaccines. After all, if they really work, why are these teachers worried about catching COVID? I know that there is an argument that maybe you can go from really good protection to some kind of near perfect protection, but the cost is just too high in terms of human freedom.

As per usual, though, politics will trump science.

iowan2 said...

When they say "its for the kids" that's the tell they are lying.

Children are the safest of any defined population. Iowa was full time in person learning across the state for all of the previous school year. Dozens of schools had no mask mandates. It is a big experiment. Lots of data. There was nothing worse than seasonal flu. In fact the students rarely got 'sick'. The worst that happened is attendance was affected by quarantine of those testing positive. But illness was not a problem.

Let the kids go mask free. The vaccine has stunted the spread of natural immunity. It is clear the vaccinated still catch and spread the virus.

I am not saying dont get vaccinated. I am saying, until we get a higher level of natural immunity we will continue with wave after wave.

David Begley said...

This mandatory vax thing has now reached the point of a sick and irrational obsession for the Left.

What exactly is the justification?

R C Belaire said...

So...unless teachers change their minds does that mean by December 20th ~ 15% of the teaching staff be shown the door? It will be interesting to see how trade their convictions for a paycheck.

gilbar said...

85.5% of those surveyed in favor of requiring vaccinations

so, 14.5% are NOT in favor? Can we get a demographic breakdown of that 14.5%?
WHY is it, that white left wing "liberals" HATE black people so much?
Is it Just Racism? or is there more to it?

rehajm said...

I don't think the union is gonna like that, Yogi...

It will be interesting to see how many will choose fired.

rhhardin said...

It's always externalities that justifies the requirement, with intention the only thing mattering, but going to private action is like the Texas abortion law and is structurally unsound.

Temujin said...

At this point, this entire vaccination thing is completely indefensible. It not only goes against The Science, but it goes against the evidence of your own senses. Help me here:

"Unvaccinated staff will have to submit negative COVID-19 test results twice a week..."
But what about the vaccinated staff? We know now that vaccinated people get as many, or more cases of covid than unvaccinated. (delta and other variants). And the vaccinated spread it more because they don't often know they have it. Why...it's almost as if the vaccine makes your body more susceptible to the virus in it's current form. (see what has happened in the UK and Israel).

And what of those who have had the virus and now have natural immunities, which are many times more powerful than the vaccine immunity? Do they have to get 'tested' twice weekly to fill out a checklist?

And why in God's name are we still counting cases? Everyone has either had it, or they're most likely going to get it. And it remains at a 98.5% or more (depending on age group and comorbidities) survivable. And further, there are more cases of serious side effects from the covid vaccines than any other vaccine in history. We don't count any other virus. This one is becoming endemic. It is everywhere and will be with us forever. Fauci/Daszak's virus was a complete success.

So why are we doing this? Why are we still so one-tracked, and in some cases, so utterly obtuse about the facts? Why do the people who keep using the phrase, "follow the science", refuse to follow the science? For the record- I am vaccinated and got it done early on. But I have to say, I'm not rushing, at this time, to get the booster. Though I know I need it. You see, my 'vaccine' has worn off. If I leave the country I'll have to get the booster to get in or out of another country and back to the US. Unless I just walk across from Mexico.

What is the point of this other than to boost the profits of Pfizer and Moderna? It does not prevent getting or sharing this virus. It has side effects for some- serious side effects. And the reality is that neither Moderna nor Pfizer has actually completed their FDA testing which will run through 2024 or 2025. They fast tracked approval. We are the track record.

So what's the point of it? Are we the point? To give Pfizer some track record?

Sydney said...

Unvaccinated staff will have to submit negative COVID-19 test results twice a week.... Staff who have not submitted proof of vaccination or an exemption request by Nov. 15 will be placed on unpaid administrative leave. Staff who do not submit proof of vaccination and haven’t been approved for an exemption by Dec. 20 will be fired

So they can only use the twice a week testing option until they’re fired for not being vaccinated?
I’ve noticed a significant uptick in short staffing of fast food places, stores and hospitals around here since Biden announced his mandate. Have any of you noticed the same?

TreeJoe said...

Genuine question as I don't know the answer....

We've had mandatory vaccinations for all sorts of things this past century. I don't know that I've ever seen medical and religious exemptions be treated as "requests" to be reviewed by what is commonly human resources personnel.

Generally speaking, I'm a proponent of the vaccines available. Most of all for the elderly, the immunocompromised, and even obese middle agers. I haven't really seen any evidence to say that if those populations are protected and a almost-no-risk-population isn't, that that poses a grave threat to others.

I'm watching the mandates and the policy basically seems to have become "There's no such thing as personal freedom from things scientists have found to be very low risk in exchange for benefit to some other people."

That seems to be an extremely dangerous precedent to be setting with almost no real consideration by such policy makers.

tolkein said...

Why are they doing this? I'm not opposed to vaccinations. My wife and I had our jabs as soon as offered (second jab early May) and will take the booster. Just had my flu jab. Will they require mandatory flu vaccinations going forward? And if not, why not?
I can see mandatory vaccinations for care home employees, because the elderly are most at risk from Covid, and they're indoors most of the time, but in schools? Where children are least likely to be ill from Covid? If you don't want a Covid jab, it's yourself that's at risk, not those who are vaccinated. This seems hysteria, to me.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Unvaccinated staff have the duty to put the fascists on the school board in their place. I beat down is in order to teach them what freedom is.

SteveM said...

It will be interesting to see if the actual vaccination rate reflects the reported 85.5% approval rate for the mandate.

Owen said...

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

As this moronic mandate is propagated through he Blue jurisdictions, the collapse of key economic and social processes will accelerate. School bus service is failing. Nurses are quitting. Customers will stay away. First responders will take early retirement or better work elsewhere. Meanwhile tens of thousands of undocumented unvaccinated untested “asylum seekers” will circulate freely and demand the full panoply of services at taxpayer expense. The chaos and hypocrisy and blame-shifting will be wonderful to behold.

Our main hope is that Red jurisdictions avoid the worst madness. I am not optimistic.

Chris said...

Wow, forcing people to take part in experimental medicine. Which is historic as a vaccine that is A) not a vaccine by the original definition of a vaccine (sterilization of the pathogen). B) doesn't work as those who are vaccinated can still get and spread the disease that it purports to prevent. C) Has historic levels of both injury and death (see VAERS). Medical tyranny.

Of course if your only source of news is the main stream media, you would not know any of this.

Wince said...

In case you didn't see it, Matt Walsh does a number on the Nashville School Board regarding the student mask mandate.

Leland said...

I wonder how the teachers feel about picking up 15% extra work.

What's emanating from your penumbra said...

Leia Esser is either ignorant or a liar for claiming this is for the protection of students.

Michael R. Arndorfer said...

I wonder if anyone in the Madison media will check to see if this helps or hurts the representation of people of color within the ranks of the Madison teachers union.

Gahrie said...

What happens when they start firing Black teachers?

Big Mike said...

They’ll back down. It’s all Kabuki theater.

Howard said...

Oh my God this is horrible. They're treating school workers like military recruits. How shameful.

It's time to call out the militia

daskol said...

This is SWPL taken to the extreme. Systemic racism systemizing racistly before your eyes.

MadisonMan said...

And the sign said, "You got to have a membership card to get inside."

Michael K said...

Wait til the teachers' union weighs in.

TreeJoe said...

Temujin said,

"We know now that vaccinated people get as many, or more cases of covid than unvaccinated. (delta and other variants).

And why in God's name are we still counting cases? Everyone has either had it, or they're most likely going to get it. And it remains at a 98.5% or more (depending on age group and comorbidities) survivable. And further, there are more cases of serious side effects from the covid vaccines than any other vaccine in history. "

I agree with all other points in your post, but these two statements are incorrect. Vaccinated people do not get as many or more cases of covid than unvaccinated. And there are not more cases of serious side effects from covid vaccines than any other vaccine in history.

VAERS captures all reported events among hundreds of millions of vaccinated people. And there is more attnetion and focus on covid vaccines than ever before as we do the first mass vaccination program in such a short time of every population since VAERS launched. It's capturing more reports, but they aren't confirmed side effects.

Does that make sense?

traditionalguy said...

Mandatory vaccines are OK. But taking the mRNA experimental human gene alteration shots should be by free will only…like any volunteers being signed up for new medical testing. The J&J true vaccine is strangely being suppressed. It seems the Party wants mRNA testing done mandatory on captured wage prisoners, with mandatory annual boosters to come next. Hmmm.

Original Mike said...

The union will sue, it will be in court for 5 years, and as a result nobody will be fired. I wouldn't be surprised if the school board and the union have an understanding that that's what will happen.

Original Mike said...

Temujin said,…"And further, there are more cases of serious side effects from the covid vaccines than any other vaccine in history. "

This is a big, important claim. Could you please cite your source(s).

Thanking you in advance.

Tom T. said...

If Democratic governments and organizations proceed with mass firings disproportionately of Black employees, this could be a big political opportunity for Republicans.

Dave Begley said...

TreeJoe:

I might be filing a lawsuit in federal court in Nebraska on religious and medical exemptions.

LA_Bob said...

An important premise behind all this "get vaccinated" stuff is that "a vaccine is a vaccine is a vaccine". This appears to be untrue.

Dr Christine Stabell Benn's TED talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d8PNlXHJ48

I learned something about how the VAERS system works (and "official" lack of enthusiasm for it) from this physician's assistant who has thrown in the towel on her career (long but compelling):

https://twitter.com/Karlmarxhd/status/1441473749560213504

Sir Loin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Real American said...

If 85% of teachers think vaccines should be mandatory then at least 85% of teachers should be vaccinated plus those that believe in vaccines but not mandates. If that's the case, then there really shouldn't be a need for a mandate.

Obviously, many folks like mandates because imagine what else can be mandated....

Yancey Ward said...

The vaccines either work to protect the vaccinated from COVID......or they don't. In neither case is a mandated dose a logically coherent argument.

The vaccines' data to date suggest that they are net positive if you are over the age of 60, are seriously overweight, or otherwise ill with some other systemic disease. If you don't meet those above criteria, the vaccines appear to offer no benefit against all cause mortality, and the younger you are it starts becoming a net negative (though still small, but larger than COVID itself) for the recipient of the vaccines (see the FDA presentation from a couple of weeks back).

However, I will again remind people- no "vaccine" has ever been approved for market use just 6 months after it was developed. No, drug I know of (and the m-RNA vaccines are far more drug-like than vaccine-like) has ever been approved even 5 years after it was first developed for study. We are running a Phase I/II/III clinical study on the entire world's population- this is utter madness on stilts. We have no idea what the long term effects are going to be, and we won't know for at least another 4 years, and by that time we may have injected the entire world's population with these up to 10 times each.

I am 55- for me it was a call in March that the virus is less dangerous to me than the vaccine, but it was a close call that I had intended to reevaluate on a yearly basis. However, with the authorities pushing this so hard with such ruthless abandon, you will now have to literally hog-tie me to get the jab in my arm ever.

Maynard said...

This mandatory vax thing has now reached the point of a sick and irrational obsession for the Left.

What exactly is the justification?


Obedience.

Of course, Uncle Joe has been vaxxed three times and he still wears a mask in public. His advisors believe that he "won" the election because of that virtue signaling.

Achilles said...

Have people started dying of Pneumonia again yet or is the miraculous cure we found in 2020 still working?

Sir Loin said...

Original Mike said..."
This is a big, important claim. Could you please cite your source(s)."


This might help - VAERS shows more deaths and adverse reactions to covid vaccines than all other vaccines combined since its inception in 1990:

https://openvaers.com/covid-data

Select US/Territories/Unknown at the top of the page, then scroll to the second to last chart.

Josephbleau said...

I'm sure this is just posturing. Politicians know that supporters of the mandate are kind of supporting it because they are already vaxxed, not a single voting issue. But people who loose their jobs over this will be single issue voters opposed to you.

Original Mike said...

Thank you, Sir Loin.

Mark said...

The government will be the judge of your religious beliefs.

Temujin said...

Original Mike.

First a point: though there are thousands of serious adverse effects from the covid vaccines, they remain a small percentage of overall vaccinations dosed out. I am not saying people shouldn't get these. But I am saying that I absolutely get why they might choose not to do so. Especially if young and healthy. But as time goes on, we are finding more and more reasons to question. The most basic is: what does it do? It does not prevent the virus, nor stop the spread. So the best we can suppose is that it lessens the degree of illness from the virus. But we don't even know that for sure.

I know I've read a number of stat-loaded article about VAERS reporting and misreporting of Covid Vaccine Adverse Side Effects. I need to go back and dig up the article showing the numbers of covid adverse effects vs the rest of the CDC monitored vaccines. It may in fact be located in VAERS. I don't have it here, but I'll do some digging and link to it when I find it.

For general listings of Covid vaccine adverse side effects, here are a couple of links to articles with many more links. These are not nothing.

https://sharylattkisson.com/2021/08/covid-19-vaccine-analysis-the-most-common-adverse-events-reported-so-far/.
https://sharylattkisson.com/2021/09/exclusive-summary-covid-19-vaccine-concerns/

Similar listings from Europe's version of VAERS: https://stuartbramhall.wordpress.com/2021/05/26/12184-dead-1196190-injuries-european-database-of-adverse-drug-reactions-for-covid-19-vaccines/

MadTownGuy said...

@Temujin,

"So what's the point of it? Are we the point? To give Pfizer some track record?"

The point is to perpetuate lockdowns and other precautions, so as to necessitate mail-in/drop-off voting.

Gospace said...

tim in vermont said...
I think the data shows that the vaccines work,


95% vaccination rate at Cornell University. 95% vaccination rate at Harvard Business School. Both with covid outbreaks.

If at this point you see the data and believe it shows the vaccine works- you're incapable of understanding data.

It's about control- it's not about health. If you believe otherwise at this point- you're engaging in self delusion.

There are at this point several known ways to decrease the death rate from the dreaded covid. None of which are used in the USA. Standard USA treatment is no treatment except now for the monoclonal antibodies. Rationed by the federal government because of effective use by Republican governors.

walter said...

It's a far cleaner argument to make if you simply exclude vastly under reported adverse events (immediate and long term) and options to prophylax and treat early.
Easy Peazy.

Gospace said...

Had my yearly influenza vaccine today. The vaccine is targeted against the strains they feel will will be spreading around this year based on data or what is coming out of the typical flu hotspots in the world- more specifically, China... But no one has been reported anywhere as having had the flu... So how did they decide? It's a question I suspect no one can actually answer.

And I'm counting down the 75 days for federal employees to get the jab with Dictator Biden's unconstitutional order. Supposedly I'm supposed to be tested once a week now- but the bureaucracy hasn't figured out how to set this up yet. Since they REQUIRE the testing as a condition of employment, they have to pay for it.

Michael K said...

The mRNA vaccine is the first of that type in medical history. It is directed at the spike protein, not the virion like traditional vaccines. It seems to mitigate the illness but may not prevent infection. Real immunity, which follows infection seems to be more effective but the politicians reject it as an option. A simple antibody titer would answer the question but no politician seems to want to know.

Clyde said...

Vaxx Macht Arbeit.

Howard said...

Blogger Achilles said...
Have people started dying of Pneumonia again yet or is the miraculous cure we found in 2020 still working?


Yes masking and social distancing is still very effective at preventing cold and flu spawned pneumonia which apparently does not spread as easily as covid-19.

walter said...

To boost, or not to boost?
That is the...nevermind.
How are we doing with jabs that carry liability?

Narayanan said...

Q addressed to trained medical folks : will getting jabbed with J&J be equal or better than booster after 2 shots of Moderna?

Inga said...

Madison Teachers Union supports vaccine mandate

walter said...

We can also look forward to more false positives to pollute the case count as PCR tests invariably increase.

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

Someone asked me what it would take for me to accede to the vaccine. Here is what I have in my current thinking:

1. Full human trials published with all data published in a format easily accessed by the general public showing safety and efficacy over a multiyear period - you know, the studies that have to be done for any other medicine to be approved;
2. Full compensation for costs incurred from any adverse reactions;
3. Ability to file and be paid for a claim for compensatory and punitive damages against the manufacturer, distributor, government regulator, and whomever is requiring the vaccine - including individuals - resulting from any adverse effect. With no statute of limitations on filing the claim.

The risk of me getting WuFlu and spreading it to anyone else is almost nil. The risk of an adverse effect from a vaccine is quite a bit higher. Therefore for me to shoulder said risk I want to transfer the financial risks to whomever is insisting I get the jab.

Maynard said...

I know teachers and medical personnel who complain about having to deal with people who are not vaccinated. However, if they are vaxxed themselves what is the worry?

I was vaxxed in March and presumed that it meant that I no longer had to wear a mask. We travelled a lot this summer and the mask requirements were a serious pain in the ass.

Uncle Joe had the third jab, which I have yet to decide about. However, he is still wearing a mask.

What gives?

Gospace said...

Maynard said...
.....
What gives?


If you remember the mantra- it's about control, not about your health- you'll understand.

Australia's current revolt would be a lot more effective the people there hadn't acquiesced to being disarmed to make them safer. Notice how you're not reading about it in the NY Times, Washington Post, or seeing it on CNN/NBC/CBS/ABC?

walter said...

I am seeing 2 day gigs now that require proof of vaccination AND a negative test less than 48hrs before start.

Tom T. said...

Keep in mind that the adverse event data reports every bad health effect that happened to people after receiving the vaccine, whether or not any connection to the vaccine could be shown. If you made a point in the past about drawing a distinction between dying from COVID and dying with COVID, you should keep in mind that the same point applies to the vaccine.

walter said...

Yes Tom,
But given the clear disincentives to reporting, only the most concerning and suggestive will be given the time and effort it takes to do so. ER docs, for example, don't have time to track down lot numbers of vax and spend 30 minutes filling out forms that risk punishment. There are follow up calls from VAERS folks too. All while hospital sytems and admins make clear that the proper focus is on hyping the vax.

walter said...

Also,
The reports don't get certified # until investigated.

walter said...

(repost from previous discussion)
"Preliminary data were collected from June 2006 through October 2009 on 715,000 patients, and 1.4 million doses (of 45 different vaccines) were given to 376,452 individuals. Of these doses, 35,570 possible reactions (2.6 percent of vaccinations)
were identified. This is an average of 890 possible events, an average of 1.3 events per clinician, per month. These data were presented at the 2009 AMIA conference.
In addition, ESP:VAERS investigators participated on a panel to explore the perspective of clinicians, electronic health record (EHR) vendors, the pharmaceutical industry, and the FDA towards systems that use proactive, automated adverse event reporting.
Adverse events from drugs and vaccines are common, but underreported.
Although 25% of ambulatory patients experience an adverse drug event, less than 0.3% of all adverse drug events and 1-13% of serious events are reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Likewise, fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported. Low reporting rates preclude or slow the identification of “problem” drugs and vaccines that endanger public health. New surveillance methods for drug and vaccine adverse effects are needed. Barriers to reporting include a lack of clinician awareness, uncertainty about when and what to report, as well as the burdens of reporting: reporting is not part of clinicians’ usual workflow, takes time, and is duplicative.


Proactive, spontaneous, automated adverse event reporting imbedded within EHRs
and other information systems has the potential to speed the identification of problems with new drugs and more careful quantification of the risks of older drugs.
Unfortunately, there was never an opportunity to perform system performance assessments because the necessary CDC contacts were no longer available and the CDC consultants responsible for receiving data were no longer responsive to our multiple requests to proceed with testing and evaluation."

https://digital.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/docs/publication/r18hs017045-lazarus-final-report-2011.pdf

Plucked from this thread:
https://twitter.com/alexandrosm/status/1428647472826486784

No mention of potential retribution if entry deemed wrong or false. Unlike incentive structure to encourage covid classification for deaths. Understandably no mention of almost certain adjudication backlog due to scale of current introduction.
Even taken at face value, concerning that program exceeds event counts normally creating need to yank.

Original Mike said...

Thank you, Temujin, for the links. Appreciate it.

Butkus51 said...

The old 80/20 rule. Its ubiquitous.

trudy said...

According to Dr. Robert Malone and Geert Vanden Bossche, the issue isn't safety or efficacy of the "vaccine," but rather a matter of natural selection of the virus over time. Because this "vaccine" is targeted and focused on the spike protein, there is pressure on the virus to mutate. Far better to get the virus, and have broad based immunity that decreases pressure on the virus to mutate. They believe the mass vaccination policy is counter productive. it would be far better to vaccinate the elderly and susceptible and let others develop herd immunity. We need the unvaccinated control group.https://seemorerocks.is/meeting-of-the-covid-19-giants-with-geert-vanden-bossche-and-robert-malone-md/

Tom T. said...

Walter, it might help to look at the actual adverse event data. The vast majority of adverse events reported are mild headache and fatigue. The idea that only the most serious events get reported simply doesn't fit the facts. There are thousands of reports of mild headache and fatigue.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/moderna/reactogenicity.html

Temujin said...

Original Mike.

One more. This may be where I first read about the total of adverse side effects from the covid vaccine. I'm not sure. But if you read through this article (https://coercioncode.com/2021/08/25/the-massive-fraud-in-reporting-vaccine-injuries/) and get to item #3, you'll read the following:

“Official sources, namely EudraVigilance (EU, EEA, Switzerland), MHRA (UK) and VAERS (USA), have now recorded more Injuries and Deaths from the ‘Covid’ vaccine roll-out than from all previous vaccines combined since records began.”

What I noticed was that finding out bad things about the vaccine- around the world- is not as easily accessible as it was a few months ago. Apparently there has been some 'filtering and capping' of this information.

walter said...

If it's been previously understood to represent single digit percentile of actual events, that math shows a very different picture. Especially with the system backlogged.