Most Americans Approve Of Vaccine Mandates, But The Ones Who Don't... Are Armed And Nuts

New polling from Quinnipiac released this morning, shows Biden's favorability numbers slipping almost into Trumpian territory-- 46% approving, 43% disapproving. He was down quite a lot for his handling of the pandemic since May, the last time Quinnipiac asked. Then his pandemic approval was 65%, as opposed to 30% disapprove. Now 53% approve and 40 disapprove. A net +35 approval in May and a net +13 now. It could get worse... and quickly.

Biden is going to be caught in a trap in regard to COVID Passports, which most Americans want and a very vocal minority gets extremely hysterical about when they're even hinted at... and they're not even all right-wing nutjobs. Take Boston's mayor, Kim Janey, for example. She may be an idiot but she isn't a right-wing idiot. After NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced vaccine passports for his city, she responded to a question from a reporter by saying "We want to make sure that we are giving every opportunity for folks to get vaccinated. When it comes to what businesses may choose to do, we know that those types of things are difficult to enforce when it comes to vaccine. There's a long history in this country of people needing to show their papers. During slavery, post-slavery, as recent as you know what immigrant population has to go through here. We heard Trump with the birth certificate nonsense. Here we want to make sure that we are not doing anything that would further create a barrier for residents of Boston or disproportionally impact BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) communities."

Axios published two pieces in the last day-- one about large corporations requiring workers tone vaccinated and then a followup about small businesses doing... well, not exactly the same. It isn't a coincidence that life will become more difficult for the unvaccinated. That's the goal--make them miserable enough to give up and get vaccinated. Remember, the feds say it's legal for companies to require employees to be vaccinated. But even if 64% of Americans support vaccine mandates, that leaves a lot of people who don't, some of whom are armed extremists who have been driven insane by Hate Talk Radio, Fox News and Trump.

Axios suggests that "Many vaccinated Americans appear to be losing patience with people who are still unvaccinated, which will probably make them all the more tolerant of mandates." They list 16 well-known companies with mandates in place or announced:

Tyson Foods plans to require all employees in the U.S. to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Employees working in Tyson Foods' U.S. office locations must be vaccinated by Oct. 1. All other team members have through Nov. 1 to get the vaccine.

Microsoft will require employees, vendors and guests entering its buildings to be vaccinated and show proof beginning in September, CNN reports. "As we have done since the beginning of the pandemic, we continue to closely track new developments and adapt our plans as this situation evolves, keeping employee health and safety top of mind," the company said in a statement.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent an email to employees announcing that those going back to the office needed to be vaccinated. The company is also extending its work-from-home policy through Oct. 18.

Facebook said that anyone going back to work in their U.S. campuses must be vaccinated.

Netflix is requiring that the casts for all of its U.S. productions be vaccinated, as well as everyone who comes in contact with them, Deadline reports.

Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon said that the retailer's corporate workers and managers must be vaccinated, according to a memo obtained by CNBC.

BlackRock says that only fully vaccinated workers are allowed to return to the office, a company spokesperson told CNN.

Morgan Stanley is prohibiting all unvaccinated staff and clients from entering its headquarters in New York, CNN notes, citing a memo sent to workers.

Saks Fifth Avenue is requiring that all workers be inoculated, per the New York Times. The company says it will be returning to in person work in September.

The Washington Post informed its employees earlier this week that it will require all of them-- including contractors and guests who wish to enter the newspaper's offices-- to show that they have received the vaccine.

Publisher Fred Ryan said the requirement will be "a condition of employment" starting on Sept. 13.

Ascension Health, one of the largest private health care systems in the U.S., said that all employees must be vaccinated.

Lyft employees who work in the company's offices must be vaccinated as of Aug. 2, according to an email shared with CNN.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that employees wishing to return to the office must be fully vaccinated. He added that people going into the office must also wear masks, regardless of vaccination status, Insider reports.

Twitter had been requiring that employees get vaccinated, but earlier this week, the company said it would shutting down its offices in New York and San Francisco due to the recent increase in coronavirus cases.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon sent a memo to employees saying that corporate workers must be vaccinated by Oct. 4, "unless they have an approved exception." New hires will also be required to be inoculated.

The Walt Disney Corporation will be mandating vaccines for all its "salaried and non-union hourly employees in the U.S." All new hires will also be expected to be vaccinated.

"Employees who aren’t already vaccinated and are working on-site will have 60 days from today to complete their protocols and any employees still working from home will need to provide verification of vaccination prior to their return, with certain limited exceptions," the company said.

Feliz Salmon wrote that "Half of America's small businesses are likely or certain to require their on-premise employees to be vaccinated, according to a Morning Consult poll of small businesses commissioned by American Express. That compares to 31% who say that such a mandate is unlikely or that they certainly won't impose one... The vaccine mandates aren't here yet. The Census Bureau's Small Business Pulse Survey has started asking businesses whether, in the past week, they've required employees to have proof of COVID-19 vaccination before physically coming to work. In mid-July, some 5.5% of businesses answered yes, up from 2.2% in early April. Small business owners are not much more vaccinated than the population as a whole, with 67% fully vaxxed as of when they were polled. Still, 34% of them went so far as to say that they would require proof of vaccination before allowing unmasked shoppers to enter their stores."

The administration has decided to require all foreign travelers to be fully vaccinated before entering the U.S.-- and easy, commonsense and painless decision. It looks like L.A. will follow New York's lead on mandates for indoor activities. But anti-science Republicans are, needless to say, politicizing this and trying to make Biden the bad guy. Florida reported a record-breaking 17,001 new infections yesterday and another 16,935 today. Today also saw another 140 new de Santis deaths-- more than California, Texas and New York combined.Florida is dragging the U.S. back over 100,000 daily new cases. Today, perhaps hoping to get his base thinking about something other than his failure to protect them, DeSantis accused Biden of trying to restrict the rights of parents and children in Florida. "Joe Biden suggests that if you don’t do lockdown policies, then you should 'get out of the way.' But let me tell you this: If you’re coming after the rights of parents in Florida, I’m standing in your way. I’m not going to let you get away with it. If you’re trying to deny kids a proper in-person education, I’m going to stand in your way and I’m going to stand up for the kids in Florida. If you’re trying to restrict people, impose mandates, if you’re trying to ruin their jobs and their livelihoods and their small business, if you are trying to lock people down, I am standing in your way and I’m standing for the people of Florida." Biden had told DeSantis to get out of the way when local school boards decided on mandates, but when has Ron DeSantis ever let reality get in the way of a poisonous soundbite?