Coronavirus (employment, college, allergy)

[sav858]

New California rules end distinction for vaccinated workers

The main change to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s revised temporary rule is that it would erase current distinctions between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees.

Both would be barred from the workplace if they come in close contact with someone with the virus.

The revised temporary rules would require that exposed, vaccinated but asymptomatic workers stay home for 14 days even if they test negative or, if they return to work, wear masks and stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) from anyone else during those two weeks.

"Treating vaccinated and unvaccinated people similarly really denies the scientific value of the vaccine and disincentivizes vaccination," said Rob Moutrie, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce.

[goodheathen]

Originally Posted by sav858

New California rules end distinction for vaccinated workers

The main change to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s revised temporary rule is that it would erase current distinctions between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees.

Both would be barred from the workplace if they come in close contact with someone with the virus.

The revised temporary rules would require that exposed, vaccinated but asymptomatic workers stay home for 14 days even if they test negative or, if they return to work, wear masks and stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) from anyone else during those two weeks.

"Treating vaccinated and unvaccinated people similarly really denies the scientific value of the vaccine and disincentivizes vaccination," said Rob Moutrie, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce.

Several correct moves, one wrong move. At least for now, it's best to not distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees who have been exposed. Maybe later science will show vaccinated employees' window to become infected is smaller, and at some point most workers will have had their boosters. Renewed distancing and testing are self-evidently correct. The wrong move is no paid time off beyond standard sick leave. That will lead stupid people to come to work sick. The state should cover some of their pay. I hope the changes function as a backdoor way toward work-from-home.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by goodheathen

Several correct moves, one wrong move. At least for now, it's best to not distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees who have been exposed. Maybe later science will show vaccinated employees' window to become infected is smaller, and at some point most workers will have had their boosters. Renewed distancing and testing are self-evidently correct. The wrong move is no paid time off beyond standard sick leave. That will lead stupid people to come to work sick. The state should cover some of their pay. I hope the changes function as a backdoor way toward work-from-home.

All the wrong moves imo. They keep removing incentives to get vaccinated or boosted.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by sav858

All the wrong moves imo. They keep removing incentives to get vaccinated or boosted.

Its just setting up people to lie about any symptoms they may have.

[goodheathen]

Originally Posted by sav858

All the wrong moves imo. They keep removing incentives to get vaccinated or boosted.

At this point, if someone has buried his or her head so far in the sand to not notice what can happen to unvaccinated people or has major, probably irrational objections to vaccine, incentives won't help. Mandates and vaccination passports will sway most individuals on the fence. I suppose some companies have offered incentives to get boosters, but otherwise no reward for getting that to my knowledge. The motivation ought to be to avoid Omicron and a fading of protection against anything.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by goodheathen

At this point, if someone has buried his or her head so far in the sand to not notice what can happen to unvaccinated people or has major, probably irrational objections to vaccine, incentives won't help. Mandates and vaccination passports will sway most individuals on the fence. I suppose some companies have offered incentives to get boosters, but otherwise no reward for getting that to my knowledge. The motivation ought to be to avoid Omicron and a fading of protection against anything.

I think a lot of people will lie or not disclose exposure anymore because of this.

[sav858]

Vaccinated? You can stop worrying about omicron.

This matches other reports about omicron, a strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that seems to be highly transmissible but has so far mostly been causing mild symptoms — or none at all. Many people with the variant have actually tested positive on routine screenings, such as when traveling internationally, not because they’re sick.


There are four other coronaviruses that circulate in the human population, generally causing a cold in immunocompetent people. They circulate the world during cold and flu season, mutating and evolving as they spread. At least one, if not all, of those so-called “endemic” coronaviruses caused pandemics when human adults first caught them centuries or millennia ago.


When you see a news story about “waning immunity” or a new variant that “evades the immune system,” they’re almost always talking about lab studies of antibodies in the blood of someone who was vaccinated or recently sick.

"We’re kind of guessing," Dr. Mark Pandori, the director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory, said of lab tests. "Lab results only give us a hint. They don’t tell us how exactly things will function in the real world.”

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Its just setting up people to lie about any symptoms they may have.

And fake vax cards are still easy to get.

[goodheathen]

Originally Posted by sav858

I think a lot of people will lie or not disclose exposure anymore because of this.

Then they'll be caught by testing if the exposure infected them. And if small outbreaks happen in the meantime, let's just say the boss will remember that re future decisions about employment status and salary. I see a reason for government to explicitly allow companies to discipline employees who are dishonest about infection status.

[goodheathen]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

And fake vax cards are still easy to get.

http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/med...ccine_card.pdf

That and some high-profile prosecutions will end most of the fraud.