It's Time for All Governors to Mandate COVID Vaccines for ALL State Employees

Founding Editor of I Made You Look Rachel Parker Weighs in on Missouri (and Midwestern) Failed COVID Leadership.

Politely Suggestion People Get Vaccinated…Yeah, How’s That Working Out?

Is Morally Functional State Leadership the New Luxury Item?

As COVID continues to literally plague the midwest, south, and mid-south, “governance-as-luxury” is a legitimate question and concern.  

California—a state I had to leave because the cost of living is so absurdly high—and New York State just yesterday announced that all state workers will be required to get a COVID-19 vaccination. The announcement clarified that “[California Governor Gavin Newsom] would impose a "first-in-the-nation standard" to require all state employees and workers in health care and "high-risk congregate" settings to prove that they are fully vaccinated or be tested at least once per week.” (Embattled) New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made a similar announcement later in the day.

Both announcements come on the heels of President Joe Biden mandating that Federal employees and subcontractors also get vaccinated or succumb to weekly COVID testing. 

Governors of other states, including Oregon, have reported weighing similar measures. Governor Kate Brown (D), per an AP story, released the following statement: “We are examining the actions taken this week by California, New York City and the VA, and determining what further actions can be taken in Oregon,” Brown’s deputy communications director Charles Boyle wrote in an email on Wednesday.”

(The Department of Veterans Affairs had just issued a vaccine mandate for its medical employees, including VHA facility staff, when her office made this announcement.) 

As Democratic governors pull away from the “do you”/laissez-faire style of governance that defines leadership throughout Republican-dominated states, those of us living inside those states are wondering how long we’re going to be subjected to conspiracy-mongering and spiking Delta variant rates. 

The Midwest is in Trouble 

I know it’s hard, but I’m going to ask you again to look (it’s literally the name of my site, okay?) at what’s happening in the Midwest and south. 

COVID Not Going Away and Vaccination Rates Not Going Well in the Hoosier State

Per the Indy Star, the infection rates in Indiana are the highest they’ve been since May, with a lower vaccination rate than each surrounding state, including Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky. SOURCE Indiana Governor Holcomb has indicated he has no intention of enforcing a mask mandate. Let’s assume that actual vaccine mandates would be out of the question. 

Oh…Iowa. What the Actual…?

Iowa Governor and Reigning Trumpette Kim Reynolds said into a hot mic that Delta variant spikes in her state are caused by…wait for it…”unvaccinated migrants.” Meanwhile, less than half of her state’s residents have gotten a COVID vaccine. If only there were some connection between that and the rising case numbers, which, as of the time of this writing, was a 7-day average of 313 new cases. That’s quite an accomplishment for a state with such a small population (and sits literally nowhere near the southern U.S. border). Can someone maybe hand Governor Reynolds an um, you know…map? 

Worth noting: Over in “abortion and weed are both legal here” Illinois, at least 72% of all citizens over 12 have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine as of the time of publication.

Missouri’s Unforgivable COVID Mess

If you enter the words Missouri (where I live) + COVID into a search engine right now, I suggest you do that while sitting down. You will see a literal horror show of news stories. 

You’ll likely see this story from the Missouri Independent about a large chunk of Southwest Missouri: 

“On June 1, the seven-day average of reported cases stood at 400 per day. On Friday, the seven-day average was more than six times higher, at 2,600 per day.

The 58,069 cases reported in July so far is the most since January and fifth most of the 17 months since the first case in March 2020. It is more than three times the number reported in June.”

You will also see stories about desperate and terrified people getting vaccinated in secret. You will see this stat: as of right now, one in every 360 people in Missouri is infected with COVID-19 due to the more highly transmissible nature of the Delta variant. However, the story I want to draw your immediate attention to is this one from a local FOX affiliate. 

“At least 45 employees who work inside the Truman Office Building in Jefferson City have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the last week in June. More than 2100 people work inside the building.”

The sentence that we all need to drill into our heads right now is the capper of the story:

“State workers are not required to disclose their vaccination status.”

That? That must change.

I don’t think that having a governor who doesn’t regularly vacillate on everything from mask guidance to vaccines should be reserved for wealthy white-collar professionals who can afford the freight of living in a solidly blue state. (I should point out that our local leadership in both the City and County of St. Louis has been notably different when it comes to both masking mandates and vaccine messaging.) 

 Let’s be clear that I don’t expect that our state will suddenly change its collective mind on, say, abortion or guns. Our governor is as failed a leader as I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and he’s not up for this job. Expecting individuals to “do the right thing” (which remains the central pillar of the state’s anemic vaccine rollout) isn’t working.

Google just required that all of its employees get vaccinated. They’re part of a growing trend. (Oh, and YES…YES, companies can require you to get a vaccine to continue working for them. Just ask Hobby Lobby how that all works. Or maybe this federal judge who shut down a lawsuit from a group of idiotic hospital workers in Texas. If a Federal Judge in Texas says that an employer can require a vaccine, then…yeah.) 

I expect that if you’re reading this a week after this particular blog goes live, those types of announcements won’t even garner headlines anymore. Health systems and hospitals are also starting to require employee vaccinations. The list is so long I’m going to just post this here.

Just this past week, the American Medical Association made a joint announcement with 54 medical associations and health groups asking that all health care and long-term care employers require all workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

While Missouri Governor Mike Parson (and every other republican governor) dealt his COVID policy cards from the top of former President Donald Trump’s very stacked, ignorant-ass deck, we have a new guy in charge. He’s charting a path towards vaccine requirements.

I’m also 100% on board with any governor requiring retired employees who receive a pension to get vaccinated.  Governor Parson (and his cohorts) must mandate that every single state worker who is paid with taxpayer dollars get a COVID-19 vaccine.

All they have to do is follow the wording of the actual (and current) US President. 

It’s also time for us regionally to step up pressure on state leadership in red-run, mono-party states all over the country to do the same thing. 

Science and rational-based leadership should not accompany a high cost of living. Sadly, in 2021, smart governance is only available in the US’s most expensive zip codes. Which is bullshit. 

My suggestion is that you call your state leadership and demand that they impose immediate COVID vaccination mandates for every state worker.

My request is that you do it…now.