It’s Monday, October 11th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:
1) Vaccine Mandates Lead To Worker Shortages
The Topline: In recent weeks, vaccine mandates have been imposed by the federal government, some state governments, and private companies. Now, critics are noting the negative outcomes such requirements can have.
Quote Of The Day: “I’m calling on more employers to act. My message is: Require your employees to get vaccinated.”
– President Joe Biden
Raychel Brightman/Newsday RM/ Newsday LLC/Contributor via Getty Images
Seattle Police
Seattle’s police force is already depleted after the Black Lives Matters riots and “defund the police” movement last year led to over 300 officers leaving for various reasons. Now, the department could fire up to 403 officers — about 40% of the entire police force — if they fail to get vaccinated by October 18th.
According to data, 292 officers have yet to provide proof of vaccination as of last week, and over 100 are waiting on the results of various exemption requests.
The President
President Biden is presenting mass vaccination as a necessity for ending the pandemic and is calling for private employers to require all workers to be vaccinated.
Numbers: Over 216 million Americans have received at least one dose, and over 186 million people are fully vaccinated.
Industries Affected
Hundreds of firefighters in L.A. are threatening to sue the city over an upcoming vaccine deadline, and hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members are still not vaccinated.
The largest healthcare provider in New York fired 1,400 workers last week over failure to comply with the mandate.
Some people are now speculating that hundreds of delayed and canceled Southwest Airlines flights over the weekend were caused by labor action because of vaccine mandates.
HOSHANG HASHIMI/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
2) Afghanistan Humanitarian Crisis Continues
The Topline: While President Biden has attempted to “turn the page” on Afghanistan, the crisis is ongoing. Thousands of U.S. allies, citizens, and green card holders remain in the country, as more reports of widespread violence and oppression — particularly against women and minority groups — continue to emerge.
Journalist Lynne O’Donnell, former Afghanistan bureau chief for the Associated Press and AFP, joined Morning Wire to discuss the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Changes In Afghanistan
O’Donnell said the impacts of the Taliban takeover are being felt at every level of life, especially for women — who are largely being told they can’t go back to their jobs and that they have to wear specific clothing.
Girls are no longer allowed to go to secondary school. Public universities purport to have started classes again, but they do not include women, and private universities are reluctant to allow girls into classes and women to teach.
There’s no access to cash through banks because all assets have been frozen by the United States and the international community. People are without power for most of every day, which will soon impact access to the internet and the use of phones.
Taliban
O’Donnell said the Taliban are hunting down those who worked for the previous government. Reports also show they are taking unlawful and brutal actions against certain ethnic groups.
Go in-depth: Daily Wire members can read Lynne O’Donnell’s exclusive eyewitness story about the collapse of Afghanistan.
Artur Debat/Getty Images
3) San Francisco Empties Out
The Topline: Downtown San Francisco is emptying out after droves of office workers left during the pandemic, fleeing high rent prices and strict lockdown rules.
The Situation
Before the pandemic, San Francisco had one of most active downtown areas in the country, but now local news reports describe San Francisco’s Financial District and South of Market neighborhood as almost a “ghost town,” following the departure of up to 90% of the city’s workforce — many of whom are now working remotely.
The city also used to have the highest building occupancy rate in the U.S., but now around 27% of office space in the city is listed as available. The cost of living in San Francisco is also high — 44% more than New York City.
Small Businesses
Bars and restaurants are still subject indefinitely to an indoor mask mandate in San Francisco, while the city’s current mask mandate will be lifted for other businesses like gyms, churches, and offices, on October 15th.
Numbers: San Francisco didn’t suffer a virus death toll at the level of hard-hit cities like New York. Actually, it had the lowest COVID-19 death rate of any major U.S. city.
AndreyPopov/Getty Images
Other Stories We’re Tracking
California
California is now the first state to mandate gender neutral displays and marketing in some areas of large department stores. While the new law, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA), does allow for boys and girls sections, it mandates that stores also maintain a “gender neutral” section with a “reasonable selection” of items. The law only applies to toys and “childcare items,” like toothbrushes and shampoo, and only applies to stores with at least 500 employees.
Texas
Abortion is once again illegal in the state of Texas once a fetal heartbeat is detected. After a brief stay on the Texas abortion ban, a federal appeals court reinstated the ban on Friday, just days after a lower court paused the pro-life law.