In Depth with Dan: Have we moved beyond vaccine mandates?

A viewer named John emailed to ask, “Dan, I enjoy watching your segment and wondered if you would like to help 400+ city employees who are being medically discriminated against?"

John works for the City of Durham – which, according to its website – still penalizes employees who aren’t vaccinated against COVID.

John said, "The city currently implements a $70 penalty (per month) … and on July 1, 2023, the penalty will go to $100 (per month).”

The city website notes that 85 percent of employees are vaccinated. That leaves the remaining 15 percent paying up.

While the city did not answer all of the questions WRAL News had about employees and the vaccine, a spokesman did say the policy is not a “vaccine mandate."

That is confusing, because they are literally mandating a fee for people who don’t have the vaccine.

Four months later, that financial incentive was flipped – turned into a penalty. Employees were notified that those who remained unvaccinated by Dec. 31, 2021 would be charged a “$70 surcharge on your monthly insurance premium for 2022."

COVID-19 victims were dying alone, spending their last few minutes saying good-bye on an iPad.

Most people were team mandate, especially top medical professionals.

Dr. David Wohl, an infectious disease specialist at the University of North Carolina medical school says, “Our emergency rooms were overflowing. We were running out of the ventilators. Our ICU staff was on its last leg. I mean, we are in a very different situation here now.”

Now, in February 2023, COVID hospitalizations are well off from the worst days. If the plan was to stop the mayhem in our hospitals and ICUs, you could say “mission accomplished."      

"It’s so hard," Wohl said. "Everyone’s different. Did I have omicron. Did I get infected with delta? Have I had four shots? Have I had three shots? It’s so individual now. But overall, our communities, our population is much better protected.

"So, I think we’re in a different situation, where it doesn’t make as much sense to say to somebody, you must get the bivalent vaccine."

Let's make this one point clear. None of the experts WRAL News talked to would entertain false narratives about the efficacy of the vaccine or conspiracy theories about big pharma or rare side effects.

The vaccine works. Countless studies and common sense have proved this. It’s very good at keeping people out of the hospital, preventing severe cases and deaths. So can being infected and having recovered. That too helps build immunity.

The odds – at this point – of any individual being neither vaccinated nor having been infected or both are getting lower by the day.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re going to get data that show that the majority of people in the United States have had encounters with COVID-19," Wohl said. "It just makes sense.”

In a world where everyone’s immunity varies – from people still riding that one dose of Johnson and Johnson vaccine, to those who never got vaccinated but got sick and recovered, to people who have been vaccinated and been sick, to people who have been vaccinated and boosted (even multiple boosted), and so on ...

In a time where it appears COVID can’t be vaccinated into oblivion – where it will always be with us – with the FDA planning for annual shots, does it makes sense to penalize people for deciding against that protection – whether you agree with that choice or not?

John ended his email saying, “The city can not treat one group of individuals different than another.”

We know the vaccine works. Get vaccinated. Get boosted, especially if you’re over 65 or have other risk factors.

When it comes to mandates, what do you think? Let us know at Dan@WRAL.com