A Massachusetts police union said Friday that dozens of state troopers have resigned over the state&#8217;s vaccine mandate for state employees.
The State Police Association of Massachusetts (SPAM) filed a lawsuit to delay Republican Governor Charlie Baker’s vaccine mandate earlier this month, arguing that the October 17 deadline would cause “irreparable harm” to officers. The union asked for more time to “negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment.”
However, a judge in the Massachusetts Superior Court turned down the union&#8217;s request on Thursday.
“Specifically, the public interest is, unquestionably, best served by stopping the spread of the virus, in order to protect people from becoming ill, ensure adequate supply of medical services, and curtail the emergence of new, deadlier variants of the virus,” Judge Jackie Cowin said in her decision.
The union&#8217;s president, Michael Cherven, responded to the decision on Friday with a <a href="https://msptrooper.org/state-police-assoc-of-massachusetts-spam-statement-on-judges-ruling-and-governor-bakers-vaccine-mandate/">statement</a> saying it was “unfortunate that the Governor and his team have chosen to mandate one of the most stringent vaccine mandates in the country with no reasonable alternatives.”
“To date, dozens of troopers have already submitted their resignation paperwork, some of whom plan to return to other departments offering reasonable alternatives such as mask wearing and regular testing,” Cherven said.
The union represents more than 1,800 troopers in the state.
“The State Police are already critically short staffed and acknowledged this by the unprecedented moves which took troopers from specialty units that investigate homicides, terrorism, computer crimes, arsons, gangs, narcotics, and human trafficking, and returned them to uniformed patrol,” the union president&#8217;s statement added.
“Throughout COVID, we have been on the front lines protecting the citizens of Massachusetts and beyond,” Cherven said. “Simply put, all we are asking for are the same basic accommodations that countless other departments have provided to their first responders, and to treat a COVID related illness as a line of duty injury.”
Last month, the governor announced that about 42,000 state employees and government contractors must receive a COVID vaccine by October 17. If state workers do not get vaccinated and are not granted an exemption, they could face disciplinary action or be fired.
Massachusetts is not the first locality to mandate vaccines for government workers. In August, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that all Education Department employees must get vaccinated beginning at the end of September.
Similarly, earlier this month, President Biden announced that all federal workers must receive a coronavirus vaccine or face disciplinary action. The president also said that companies with 100 or more employees must require all workers to get vaccinated or mandate that they get tested once a week.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,&#8221; Biden said.
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Massachusetts Police Union Says ‘Dozens’ Of Troopers Have Quit Over Vaccine Mandate

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Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, signed off on a limited COVID-19 booster shot plan Thursday, only a month after President Joe Biden publicly suggested that he wanted a booster shot plan that was far broader. 
The plan endorses Pfizer booster shots for those at risk of severe COVID-19, including seniors over the age of 65, residents of long-term care centers, adults between 50-64 with underlying medical conditions, and adults who work in high-transmission occupational settings, such as hospitals, six months after the initial vaccination regimen. It does not apply to anyone who received the Moderna vaccine regimen or the Johnson &amp; Johnson one-shot COVID-19 vaccine. 
“While today’s action was an initial step related to booster shots, it will not distract from our most important focus of primary vaccination in the United States and around the world,” said Dr. Walensky. 
An ‘unusual&#8217; decision
Walensky’s decision was broader than expected and follows a more reserved recommendation from a CDC advisory panel on Thursday. Although that panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, did vote to recommend booster shots for seniors, nursing home residents, and adults with medical conditions, they did not endorse booster shots for people who work in high-transmission occupational settings — something that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized last week. 
The panel&#8217;s recommendations aren’t binding, but historically, the CDC director typically follows the panel’s advice. As such, many have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/24/world/covid-boosters-vaccine-cdc-director.html">described</a> Walensky’s move as “<a href="https://www.axios.com/cdc-approves-pfizer-boosters-30b5fe89-6ac8-461a-8dcf-77c23e739d96.html">unusual</a>.”
“I am surprised that Dr. Walensky overturned one of the four A.C.I.P. votes today, and I believe others will be as well,” Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, an infectious disease expert and the American Academy of Pediatrics liaison to the ACIP, told The New York Times. 
Others disagree that Walensky made an unusual decision. 
“I wouldn’t characterize it as highly unusual or ‘overruling’ — it’s a tough spot to be in and the alternative was the FDA and CDC saying different things,” said Mayo Clinic Professor Vincent Rajkumar on Twitter. “This was a unique situation. It’s the kind of judgment call we want leaders to make. Otherwise, they would be rubber stamps.”
The WH booster push
The move comes after protracted debate among experts over whether booster shots were even necessary, given that the three vaccines available domestically remain highly effective at preventing severe disease and death. But the Biden administration tossed accelerant on the debate last month when they anticipated widespread use of COVID-19 boosters among Americans beginning as early as September 20. 
&#8220;It will make you safer, and for longer, and it will help us end the pandemic faster,&#8221; Biden said in a speech at the White House last month. &#8220;This is no time to let our guard down. We just need to finish the job with science, with facts, and with confidence.&#8221;
The Biden administration&#8217;s top-down booster push, however, may have also helped push out two top FDA regulators, both of whom — according to a source who spoke to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/31/biden-booster-plan-fda-508149">POLITICO</a> — were angry over the lack of autonomy at the agency. The CDC Director and the Acting FDA Commissioner later had to inform the White House that the booster plan would likely not be as ambitious as the president had envisioned.
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Massachusetts Police Union Says ‘Dozens’ Of Troopers Have Quit Over Vaccine Mandate

CDC Director Backs Pfizer Boosters, Goes More Broad Than Own Panel Recommended

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