Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers union, recently said she supports a vaccine mandate for educators and that they are the single most important way of dealing with COVID-19. She said it’s not a “new thing” to have immunizations in schools and that everyone should want to be working with employers, not opposing them. To the teachers, this means, don’t deny just comply. Remember last year when everyone kept calling it the “Trump Vaccine?”
“There’s a lot of fear right now all across the country. But what teachers actually know, that the single most effective protection for them is to get a vaccine. Which is why you see our numbers … I think we are probably the most vaccinated profession right now,” Weingarten claimed.
The AFT president said that the number one priority is getting kids back in school and recommended universal masking in the classrooms, even for those who are vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention stated last month that mask-wearing indoors is only recommended for unvaccinated students and staff members.
But some states are pushing back at the notion altogether, adding that the wearing of face-covering for only the unvaccinated creates two classes of society. Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah have all banned mask requirements in public schools.
Weingarten called on the union to support vaccine mandates during a recent segment of NBC’s “Meet the Press” and cited the rise in cases and spread of the delta variant as reasons why she changed her position. She had previously suggested that vaccines were a voluntary choice. It’s always a failure of communication when unions and political leaders feel like they can push something onto the American people.
Weingarten cited that nearly 90% of the teacher members have been vaccinated already but pointed to young children’s ineligibility for the vaccine. She said it “weighs really heavily” on her that children under 12 can’t get vaccinated, even though it has not been fully authorized by the Food & Drug Administration.
Many esteemed physicians have spoken out against vaccine mandates for all, especially children and those with natural immunity. John Hopkins University School of Medicine professor Dr. Marty Makary said mandating vaccines for “every living, walking American” is not supported by science. He said he doesn’t believe the unvaccinated pose a public health threat to those already immune and that they should stop pushing the mandates. He said it only activates cultural wars that end up entrenching people more in their oppositions.
Dr. Makary also said he takes issue with Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommending the two-dose vaccine regimen for all children ages 12 and up, regardless of immunity.
“Researching these events is important when issuing broad guidance about vaccinating healthy kids, including students, who already have an infinitesimally small risk of dying from COVID-19,” Dr. Makary said.
He also blasted the CDC and White House in June for continuing to push the vaccines when he said it’s not necessary. He said the goal of the pandemic should be to reduce death, illness, and disability. He called the current movement being pushed by the Biden Administration one that has morphed from being “pro-vaccine to vaccine fanaticism at all costs.”
All of those who continue to support forcing an experimental vaccine need to be held accountable. Especially teachers’ unions, which we all know are just political fundraisers for Dems. There should be no political partisanship in education but the unions have found a way to make it happen. They continue to push vaccine mandates on teachers and masks in the classroom while some kids still can’t read at grade level.
