Free Republic

Mandatory COVID vaccination as a condition of employment has been a commonly used – though controversial – policy around the world during the pandemic.Much of the debate on vaccine mandates has rightly focused on ethical issues. For some people, considerations such as the right to refuse healthcare and objections to the use of coercion mean vaccination as a condition of employment can never be justified, irrespective of how effective the policy might be.Others argue that ethical objections need to be weighed against benefits such as potential reductions in deaths among the vulnerable. On this basis, vaccine mandates might be justified...

The 53-page opinion provides a framework for defeating mandates now and in the future.Last week, a three-judge panel on California’s Second District Court of Appeals revived a case brought by a group of Los Angeles firefighters who challenged the City of Los Angeles’ Covid-19 vaccine mandate. The decision reversed a lower court’s ruling that dismissed the case because the judge found the firefighters’ allegations regarding the safety and efficacy of the Covid shots implausible, ignoring the settled rule that, at the pleading stage, judges must accept all factual allegations as true.(Disclaimer: I am one of the lawyers representing the firefighters...

It is not uncommon for politicians or bureaucrats to lie. What seems to be unique, though, is just how common and consequential the lies were during the COVID pandemic. On Monday, we got a bombshell. New documents indicate the entire justification for vaccine mandates was based on a falsehood — and that public health officials knew it. Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and former NIH Director Francis Collins were aware of, and discussed, “breakthrough cases” of COVID in January 2021 — right when the vaccines became widely available. In her...

Service members who received general discharges when separated from the military for their refusal to obey the vaccine mandate say their transition to civilian life has been hampered because they were not given honorable discharges. The majority of service members kicked out over their refusal to get vaccinated received general discharges. With a general discharge, service members lose all educational benefits, reemployment rights, and civil service retirement credit. Hayden Robichaux, donor relations coordinator for the Mighty Oaks Foundation, is one such service member. He had to build a career in the Marine Corps. He spent his initial two years serving...

Tragedy struck ahead of Saturday's Alabama vs. Wake Forest Super Regional game. Per OutKick, an ESPN employee died about an hour before the start of Saturday's game. The employee had just left a production meeting before passing away. It's unclear what the cause of death was. Game officials delayed the opening pitch of Alabama vs. Wake Forest a couple of hours following the medical emergency. "An ESPN employee working the Alabama-Wake Forest NCAA Super Regional Saturday morning in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, died approximately an hour before the game’s scheduled start at noon, an OutKick source confirmed," writes Glenn Guilbeau of...

If you thought Democrats were done pushing the Covid hysteria, think again. Despite announcing an end to the authoritarian Covid-19 government mandates, the Biden White House requires guests to practice social distancing and wear masks during their visit. The mandates, however, will only target those who are unvaccinated. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will welcome the NCAA men’s and women’s national championship teams to “College Athlete Day” at the White House on Monday. In an email from the White House Office of Legislative Affairs addressed to members of Congress, Covid protocols were listed, notifying lawmakers that they...

A 17-year-old high school student has died after suffering a medical emergency during a swimming meet over the weekend. KHNL reports that first responders were called on Saturday to a community swimming event. Emergency medical workers said they transported a 17-year-old, later identified as Tehani Kealoha, to the hospital after she suffered a medical emergency, but she later died. Kealoha’s friends shared that she was a Moanalua High School senior who was looking forward to graduating this week. The 17-year-old was reportedly scheduled to participate in a water polo match that Saturday, but that match was postponed due to her...

Efforts to overturn vaccine mandates for both hospital patients and health care workers appear to be gaining momentum across the United States. In what is seen as a major victory for transplant patients who did not take the COVID vaccine, one of the largest transplant centers in the United States reversed its policy to require the jab in order to be eligible for an organ transplant. The University of Michigan (UM) announced its new policy on May 4 just before court proceedings were about to get underway in a lawsuit filed against it for declaring patients ineligible for an organ...

THE SATANIC TEMPLE PRESENTS SATANCON Boston Marriott Copley Place - April 28-30, 2023 SATANCON 2023 COMMEMORATES TST'S 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY The public is welcome to shop in our Satanic Marketplace! $5 entry, over 40 vendors! 110 Huntington Ave, Boston MA, 4th floor. All shoppers must be 18+, present covid vaccination proof, and properly wear a mask. (emphasis added)...Satancon attendees must be 18 or over and have proof of COVID vaccination. Attendees must wear an N-95, KN-95, or disposable surgical mask. Gaiters, bandanas, and cloth masks will not be allowed. (emphasis added)

Nine former employees of Newmont CC&V Mining Corp. filed a lawsuit against the company April 11 in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The suit alleges religious discrimination and retaliation by unlawful termination after the company denied their request to be exempt from taking the COVID-19 vaccine. The nine refused the company mandate to be vaccinated and were terminated. The lawsuit alleges Newmont forced every employee to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs or face termination of employment. “CC&V is aware of a lawsuit filed in federal court by former CC&V employees,” said Katie Blake, sustainability & external...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to Jedi mind trick an audience on Monday at the University of Ottawa, claiming that he never forced anybody to get the Covid-19 vaccine, despite his government legislating some of the strictest vaccine mandates in the world."My responsibility is to keep as many Canadians alive as possible and all of the scientists and the medical experts and the researchers, not just in Canada but around the world, understood that vaccination was going to be the way through this," said Trudeau, adding "Therefore, while not forcing anyone to get vaccinated, I chose to make sure...

New York court workers must be rehired — and given back pay with interest — if they were fired because they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the state’s Public Employment Relations Board has ruled. ... Unified Court System must immediately “cease and desist” from enforcing policies that require all non-judicial employees to be vaccinated or undergo regular testing. In addition, anyone “who lost accrued leave, compensation or employment” will have to be made “whole,” with interest paid “at the maximum legal rate,” ... The decision affects at least about 25 court officers who were fired, said Dennis Quirk, president...

The Department of Defense (DOD) is mulling moving forward with discharges for some servicemembers who did not seek exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to a Feb. 24 letter from the Office of the Secretary of Defense viewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. As of Friday, the services have rescinded their vaccination orders as required by Congress. “It’s very important that our service members go and follow orders when they are lawful,” Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert Cisneros told Republican Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana Tuesday. The military is considering discharging servicemembers who did...

West Point affirmed that prospective candidates should be vaccinated against COVID-19, weeks after the mandate was officially revoked, according to multiple statements obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. After the DCNF reached out, West Point reversed course, saying it no longer required the vaccine for new cadets. “There is no telling how many potential cadets this arbitrary mandate has dissuaded from serving our nation,” Republican Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana told the DCNF. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point affirmed a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for incoming cadets weeks after the Secretary of Defense did away with the military...

A slew of city-wide vaccine mandates announced in 2021 across parts of the U.S. made virtually no difference in stopping the spread of COVID-19, newly released research found. “These mandates imposed severe restrictions on the lives of many citizens and business owners,” the study, conducted through George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, says. “Yet, we find no evidence that the mandates were effective in their intended goals of reducing COVID-19 cases and deaths.” The researchers evaluated Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. “We find no evidence that the announcement or implementation of...

The Republican senator wanted to make a point about America’s COVID policies compared to the rest of the world. On Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul wanted to know if the dean of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing was ‘pro-choice.’ ‘Are you pro-choice in regards to patients making individualized medical choices?” Paul asked Dr. Sarah Szanton. “Broadly, thank you, yes,” Szanton replied. Paul was beginning a larger discussion to note that other nations have enjoyed more medical freedoms than most Americans have had. “Are you aware that your university doesn’t allow choice with regard to vaccination, that you require all of your...

We are going to need a new industry that simply spends its time fact-checking the so-called “fact-checkers.” That’s the story after a new landmark study published in The Lancet offered vindication to everyone who touted natural immunity to COVID-19 as an alternative to vaccination. For years, the powers that be, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House, and the press, dismissed the idea of taking natural immunity into account when debating vaccine mandates and vaccine passports. They were wrong, so much so that even the mainstream media are having to admit it. ... This study also puts to rest another...

Eric Clapton bravely discusses his neurological COVID-19 vaccine injuries... Why does Eric Clapton’s story matter? He may have been injured by two doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, but this is not just an “AstraZeneca issue”. This is a spike protein issue - regardless of the platform that delivers the spike protein into your body (Pfizer, Moderna, J&J, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Sputnik, Covishield). Internationally renowned DJ, composer, songwriter Tyson Illingworth suffers Moderna vaccine injuries..

About 18 months ago, there was some chatter in Washington about a COVID commission that would examine the wild response and evaluate its good and bad features and make recommendations for the future. From the looks of it at the time, it seemed pretty obvious where it was going. In effect, it was going to be a cover-up, just government and industry leaders and anointed “experts” touting their wise decision-making while offering some mild tweaks for the future. The commission never formed. Why not? Pretty simple: absolutely no one would have believed it. There are too many people now wise...

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Monday that the Big Apple is dropping its mandatory COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public employees—but also said that the nearly 2,000 people fired for refusing the vax will not automatically get their jobs back and instead will have to reapply.It’s exactly this kind of capricious and cruel response that has made so many Americans distrustful of COVID policies from the Federal Government to the local level.Adams tweeted out the news:With more than 96 percent of city workers and more than 80 percent of New Yorkers having received their primary #COVID19...