The last of the Covid vaccine mandates

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Oct 28, 2022 View in browser   By Shawn Zeller , Ben Leonard , Ruth Reader and Grace Scullion WEEKEND READ Nets star Kyrie Irving got an exemption from New York City's Covid vaccine mandate in March, prompting unvaccinated municipal workers to sue. | Andy Lyons/Getty Images Once touted by federal and state officials as essential to ending the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine mandates are fading away. Backing off: New York City health officials voted this week to end the first-in-the-nation private-sector mandate former Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered 10 months ago, as well as the city's requirement that students in "high-risk" extracurricular activities, such as sports, band, chorus, orchestra and dance, be vaccinated. Current Mayor Eric Adams announced in September his plan to end the requirements, which de Blasio had called the city's "best defense" against the disease. NBC New York reported that the health officials' votes to end the mandates were unanimous, but that the city's requirement for municipal employees remained in place. Not necessarily: New York state Judge Ralph J. Porzio also ruled this week that the city must rehire a group of sanitation workers it fired in February for refusing the shots and give them back pay. Reason magazine pointed out that Porzio embraced the workers' argument that the vaccine mandate was arbitrary and capricious since Adams exempted some in the sports and entertainment industry from the city's private-sector mandate in March. Adams' move allowed unvaccinated Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving to take the court. "There is nothing in the record to support the rationality of keeping a vaccination mandate for public employees, while vacating the mandate for private-sector employees or creating a carveout for certain professions, like athletes, artists and performers," Porzio explained. The city has appealed. Loopholes expand: Vaccine mandates are getting weaker in Massachusetts as well. The Boston Globe reported that GOP Gov. Charlie Baker has offered about 50 state employees fired for refusing vaccination their jobs back. The state had previously denied those workers' requests for medical or religious exemptions. Changed tune: The Biden administration once pushed vaccination hard, attempting unsuccessfully to require private-sector workers to get the jab or be tested regularly for the disease. But the administration isn't encouraging schools to align their vaccine requirements with new CDC guidance recommending the shots be treated as routine. Asked Tuesday at a press briefing whether the administration wants states to mandate the vaccine for kids, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha demurred. "That is very much a local decision that should be made by local school districts, by cities, by mayors, by local officials who usually make those decisions," Jha said.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today .     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Justin Sullivan/Getty Images This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.  In the realm of misunderstandings gone haywire, The Wharf in Washington, D.C., posted signs this week banning masks "to help keep the waterfront safe and enjoyable." That prompted concern among the Covid-cautious. The Wharf responded that it only meant to ban Halloween masks. The entertainment district, which is home to a lively street scene, didn't explain why it sees Halloween masks as a safety threat. Share news, tips and feedback with Ben Leonard at bleonard@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com or Grace Scullion at gscullion@politico.com.  Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today in our Pulse Check podcast, David Lim talks with Ruth Reader about the biggest takeaways from the MedTech conference in Boston this week. Plus, researcher Eric Bressman discusses his new study, which found that sending patients automated text messages after they've left the hospital can reduce their chances of readmission. Listen to today's Pulse Check podcast   TUNE IN TO THE PULSE CHECK PODCAST: Keep your finger on the pulse of the biggest stories in health care by listening to our daily Pulse Check podcast. POLITICO's must-listen briefing decodes healthcare policy and politics, and delivers reality checks from health professionals on the front lines. SUBSCRIBE NOW AND START LISTENING .     TWEET STORM "Who gets better medical care in the United States: "addicts," or "people with substance use disorders?" "The terms, of course, mean functionally the same thing," STAT Addiction Reporter Lev Facher wrote this week. Facher said we're facing a "crisis" when it comes to word choice. He buttressed the point with expert opinion and noted that "many who seek addiction treatment are greeted by the harsh, stigmatizing labels that many Americans don't think twice about: Words like addict, alcoholic, junkie, abuser or worse." Twitter That resonated among the public health Twitterati. Twitter Twitter Twitter How the media sees it:  The Associated Press' stylebook, used by many newsrooms, isn't quite there. The AP instructs journalists to avoid stigmatizing language, like "alcoholic, addict, user and abuser," but it says it's appropriate to describe drug use as "risky, unhealthy, excessive or heavy," or to call it "misuse." It's also OK for reporters to use terms some consider stigmatizing if they are in an organization's name, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Notably, the AP also favors the word "addiction" to some health professionals' preferred "substance use disorder," asking journalists to use "substance use disorder" only in quotations or scientific contexts.   Follow us on Twitter Ben Leonard @_BenLeonard_ Ruth Reader @RuthReader Carmen Paun @carmenpaun   Follow us

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