City Will Require Covid Booster Shots

I applaud Mayor Elicker for retaining vaccinate or test mandate while the state appears to be dropping theirs. However, I think it is high time New Haven does what NYC did months ago and drop the test opt out so city employees HAVE to get vaccinated unless they have a legitimate exemption. That seems to be the only to move the needle (pun intended) and get more city employees, including police officers and firefighters, whose vaccination numbers are too low for jobs that involve close contact with members of the public, including vulnerable populations. A 79.2 percent vaccination isn’t great and 66 percent is even worse.

@Paul, can you confirm if unvaccinated city employees can get tested in work time and if they still have their own dedicated testing sites? Also, do vaccinated employees have the same testing privileges as their unvaccinated colleagues?

what about the new variant not detected by PCR?

https://komonews.com/news/coronavirus/ba2-newest-covid-19-variant-found-in-washington-state-health-officials-say

Maybe we just need fewer mandates and more common sense?

requiring boosters? oh, for joy!! yeesh...

yesterday it was announced that Denmark, Israel, and Australia, the top-3 1st world countries that are considered "fully vaccinated" (read that: two initial inoculations PLUS at least 1 booster), are currently experiencing dramatic, all-time highs in COVID/Omichron cases. To wit, the vaccines apparently do not work. The virus, they say, latches on tighter when immune systems are tricked by the mRna to react, and allows the Omichron variant to pass and do its thing.

Sweden,which really never reacted to the COVID hysteria, is said to be doing better, overall, than any other county in the world.

Ireland and England just announced they are removing all mandates and letting people do whatever they feel the need to do - want to mask up, do it, want a jab, get it, want to stay home, go ahead. The madness is past its peak, 'cept in liberal/progressive zones of opportunity, like New Haven.

Why not test everyone if it only takes 5 minutes? Why stop at the vaccinated? Seems like testing is the best answer to stop the spread at this point!

Can someone post if this is even legal I know the Supreme Court shut down the VAX and test requirement for businesses that are privately owned of 100 and more people but not the medical field.

Lol, Surpreme Court is ruling otherwise.

Love how the "my body my choice" crowd is saying shots are mandatory.

I wonder what they would say if the opposing group wanted people sterilized because they don't want to support other people through government programs?

The left is out of control.

I think this is overreach by NH. The pandemic is winding down but NH wishes to continue down the road to a local nanny state. This is excessive .

@RedAlert123 the US Supreme Court ruled against the OSHA mandate requiring private businesses of at least 100 employees having to have a test or vaccinate mandate; it didn’t have to do with a municipal government setting its own vaccinate or test mandate for its own employees. And @Aprillvine, I agree, Vaccinated employees should have the same access to testing as unvaccinated colleagues. In fact, I think any employer forcing its workers to work on site whether the job can be done remotely or not should provide testing to their employees or at a minimum, allow them to test on work time without having to use their sick or vacation leave.

Mayoral spokesperson Kyle Buda sent in this response to mcg2000's question:
Testing: any employee who does not present proof of being Fully Vaccinated as of the effective date of this policy, is required to be tested weekly for COVID-19 or more often as recommended by the City’s Department of Public Health. Testing will be provided at no cost to the employee or through City provided medical insurance for those covered. Employees shall be released from work with pay for a reasonable amount time taken to receive testing. Employees are to coordinate with their managers or supervisors to schedule appropriate time to be tested subject to the operational needs of their department.

Fully vaccinated and got covid over Christmas so so much for the vaccine working. As far as the CDC the only thing they’ve said that was correct was that the vaccine protects you best against hospitalization. Other that that you can find doctors and studies that contradict the efficiency of vaccines, mask etc so who do you believe. Let’s stop the madness of mandates let individuals exercise their freedom and decide to vaccinated or not and move on with our lives. Covid virus have been around for years and will be here moving forward so at some point everyone will get it.

It is good to see members of the commentariat questioning not just the CDC, but the efficacy of mandates, shots and even masks (only 15-20% effective in screening viruses)
At the recent re-opening ceremony of the Grand Ave. Bridge, the City mandated masks for an outdoor event. Are we now engaged in theater and virtue signalling? There is NO need for masks in the outdoors.
The data shows that the shots and booster are only effective in the short term and primarily against the Delta variant. Omicron, while widespread, has symptoms akin to a cold. Most of hospitalizations have been for other things and then Covid was diagnosed.
If even those who have the shots and booster can a) contract Covid and b) spread Covid, why mandate any shots for anyone? The claim is that it prevents hospitalization, but if most cases are now Omicron, it's mild to begin with.
Policy around the shots seems detached from any real data. I find the rush to give shots to children particularly concerning when their risk of adverse effects from Covid is less than 1%!
If immunity as a result of contracting and surviving Covid is 17 times more effective, why aren't we letting nature take its course? That's what Sweden did.
The ceaseless publication of statistics by members of the New Haven delegation without explanations only perpetuates fear and leaves people unable to process information. People 65 and over continue to be at highest risk. Co-morbidities are a risk factor for younger people, but where is the public health push to improve overall health? Where is the universal healthcare and a national health system to guide the people without the influence of politics or Big Pharma?
We are now in year 3 of the pandemic (predicted at the outset to last 3-5 years) and we are still conveying panic, rather than reasoned responses.
Any one who challenges the official dicta will continue to be labeled as anti-vaxxers and/ or crazy, but the truth is leaking out and will prevail.

The Supreme Court guys ruled against the federal employee vac or test mandate saying it’s illegal. None of the vaccines are FDA approved. They are approved for emergency use only. It has been 2 years this is no longer an emergency. 50% of Covid hospitalizations are vaccinated people. So if vaccinated people can get it, why is everyone not required to test. We are going backwards when other counties are lifting all of their mandates. And the data doesn’t show states with less restrictions are having more cases. The governor even stated he was not extending any of the mandates.

Out of touch with reality.

Further evidence Elicker is in over his head. If he's wasting time and resources on this issue when the City has so many pressing problems, he should step aside and let someone else lead.

@knowthefacts The US Supreme Court dealt with the OSHA vaccine or test mandate for private employers not federal employers. The Pfizer vaccine for ages 16 and up has been fully FDA approved since last summer.

Yes, I think vaccinated employees should have the same access to testing as their unvaccinated colleagues do. @PaulBass, if a vaccinated employee wishes to test, can they go to a city employee site on work time as well or is that a privilege just for the unvaccinated?

I think requiring people to be fully vaccinated or they can opt to test weekly is the best way to go.
If you are unable or unwilling to get vaccinated and are required to wear a mask around others indoors or in crowds outdoors, and you test weekly you are less likely to spread the virus to others.
The latest info on vaccines is that they help to prevent you from being hospitalized or dying from severe COVID infections.
They are also saying if you are fully vaccinated and boosted and you still get a breakthrough infection with COVID you can get super immunity from COVID, although they don’t know how long the immunity boost lasts and it isn’t as strong an immune reaction in the elderly or the immunocompromised.
If you are in the healthcare or long term care fields like hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, in home health aids for the disabled or elderly, group homes staff, senior living facilities, you are working with the most vulnerable and the people most immunocompromised and should be required to be fully vaccinated and masked to protect your patients.
Hopefully the omicron variant being more infectious and slightly less severe than other COVID variants will create a large percentage of the population with either vaccine immunity or natural immunity from COVID infections, which will lessen the spread of the virus and reduce the number of new variants that arise.
I would love to see the virus reduced to the severity and manageability of the flu, where we can get vaccinated once a year with a vaccine tailor made to the currently circulating variants, and we have treatments that can reduce the severity of infections, and most vaccinated people only have mild breakthrough infections.

Mayor Muffles - dude: Lose the mask. We can't understand a word you're saying. You're outside. You're distanced. Follow the freaking science.

Explain this Muffles: Why is this city always first in line for handouts and bailouts - and last up in giving people their life back. Two years isn't enough? By the way - as you well know - the infection rate doesn't mean squat. Hospitalizations do. Those are 70% or more taken up with the unvaxxed - not the vaxxed. You would spend your time much better advocating for those to get vaccinated - most of whom are in the Hill, the Ville and Fair Haven - and quit wasting your time being the mask police, a mask which the CDC and many others find inadequate at best. The cloth ones in particular, are practically useless. But one has to just laugh at this odd collection of foolish people who talk about the science, then ignore the science as they mask up in the cold, in outdoors and distanced from one another. Is there a lick of common sense among any of these people? Do any of them have the nads to say: "Mayor Muffles - you have no clothes?"

what the heck is going on in this comment section?! i feel like New Haven has become a place of tRumpers and MAGAts screaming about muh freedoms!
personally, we all know the only way to stay safe is to boost-up, mask-up and follow the science. i don't think this order goes far enough. i think every public building, restaurant, bar, shop needs to have a VACCINE PASSPORT with BOOSTER CERTIFICATION to be able to enter inside said establishment. look at NYC, it's going great. we need to be sure everyone is making everyone else safe. your "freedoms" are grossly overrated and we will build back better New Haven.

@ Mcg2000

Sorry it was a federal judge that blocked the federal employee vaccination mandate. And the vaccine is approved for emergency use only.

Ugh, is it election time yet?

The national press has indicated in the last few days deaths from Omicron now exceed those from Delta, with total Covid fatalities being more than 800,000. I applaud Mayor Elicker's efforts to keep as many of us as possible safe and disease free. I also thank him for doing this, despite the negative and hostile comments of an excessively vocal minority of what, I can only politely describe as misinformed people.

How does this work if some of us just received the 2nd does less than 6 months ago? I'm okay with the booster, but not yet. far too soon, I hope there is some leeway in that sense.

Chernobyl and others - None of Mayor Muffles' actions will keep anybody safe. This is a charade, a theater production. As for keeping you and others safe - are you not intelligent enough to keep yourself safe? Do you drive safely? Lock your doors? Wash your hands? Come on. Those who want a NY style crackdown with passports and the like - will be sealing the coffin on New Haven businesses.