Gov. Ivey issues letter to OSHA over vaccine mandates

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey submitted a formal letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) opposing the federal government’s vaccine mandate for companies with 100 employees or more.

OSHA instituted an emergency temporary standard in November that implements a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for companies with 100 or more employees. The standard requires those companies to mandate their employees either take the COVID-19 vaccine or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

Ivey’s letter, dated, Dec. 3, urges OSHA not to the temporary standard as a permanent standard, as it is being challenged in court proceedings currently, citing the damage it could potentially cause to Alabama’s economy.

“If a federal court strikes down the ETS, well and good,” Ivey said. “If not, I ask that OSHA not continue its provisions under a final standard.

“The economic damage likely would be great. Ending the provisions sooner rather than later could lessen the damage likely to be caused by then.”

Ivey said that the best way to encourage vaccination is through education but also notes that the majority of Alabama’s population remains unvaccinated.

“The COVID-19 vaccination dashboard run by the ADPH showed that as of yesterday, 41.5 percent of Alabamians aged 18-24, 50.5 percent of those aged 25-49 and 67.4 percent of those aged 50-65 had gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine,” Ivey said. “That means significant percentages of Alabama’s workforce have not received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

“Given all the efforts to educate and persuade Alabamians of the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, I can only conclude that many Alabamians have profound – and sincere – medical, religious and other reasons not to take it. I believe the best way to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations in Alabama, and elsewhere, is through education, transparency, communication and persuasion, not government mandates.”

In October, Ivey signed an executive order which prevents any agency, department, board, commission or other state entity from imposing penalties on businesses that are not in compliance with the federal vaccine mandate.