The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is announcing the details of a requirement for employers with 100 or more employees to ensure each of their workers is fully vaccinated or tests for COVID-19 on at least a weekly basis. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at the Department of Health and Human Services is also announcing the details of its requirement that health care workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid are fully vaccinated.

The federal COVID vaccine mandates for federal contractors and employees have provoked a series of bills in the special legislative session called by Governor Ivey to redraw district lines for a number of elected offices. There are now more than 12 such bills in the Legislature that would create a civil liability nightmare for employers.

"We don't need a few people to get vaccinated. We need 70,000 people to go get vaccinated," Samz stressed. "The individual choices people are making in our community to not get vaccinated are having an impact on everyone."

Our guests for this weekly Zoom call were Tracy Doughty, President and Chief Operating Officer of Huntsville Hospital, and John Wilmer, an employment lawyer with Wilmer & Lee. The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber currently hosts these calls every Tuesday at 2 […]

The FDA has given full approval to the Pfizer vaccine. More than 200 million Pfizer doses have been administered in the U.S., and hundreds of millions more worldwide, since emergency use began in December.

Our guests for this week’s Zoom call are Dr. Mark Minskey, Deputy Superintendent of Madison County Schools, and Lee Shaw, Business Development Director for Madison City Schools. 

People with weakened immune systems are now eligible for an additional dose of Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine following a primary mRNA vaccine series to help prevent serious and possibly life-threatening COVID-19. Health officials are not recommending booster vaccine doses for the general public and have not addressed the need for additional doses following the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine but is continuing to review the need for booster doses in this population.

Governor Ivey issued a limited, narrowly-focused state of emergency on August 13 based on the surge in Covid-19 cases Alabama is experiencing in an effort to support the state’s frontline heroes and cut red tape. As more and more Alabamians choose to get vaccinated each day, the Governor said this will allow our health care community greater flexibility to offer care for patients coming through their doors.