Even as omicron infections continue to decline statewide, a group of Democratic lawmakers presented a bill on Feb. 10 that would require all workers in California to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Assembly Bill 1993, sponsored by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), is one of a series of proposals developed by the Vaccine Work Group, a group of state legislators dedicated to establishing measures to strengthen vaccination laws.
“Vaccination is our path to stability—and away from a permanent state of uncertainty,” Wicks wrote on Twitter on Feb. 11. “As elected officials, keeping our community safe is our top priority, which is why I’m presenting #AB1993 to compel all businesses to require employees to get vaccinated.”
The policy will change current COVID-19 vaccination laws and compel all employers to implement a vaccination program for employees to get vaccinated, according to the bill text. AB 1993, if passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, will take effect on January 1, 2023.
If passed, the law will compel “any employee or independent contractor who is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to present documentation to the employer… that the person has been vaccinated against COVID-19.”
Only those with a medical reason or truly held religious views will be eligible for exemptions, which will be provided by the employer based on state public health agency and Division of Occupational Safety and Health recommendations.
Employers who do not comply with the mandate will face penalties, which will last until the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines that the vaccination is no longer necessary to protect the public’s health.
The California Chamber of Commerce, a corporate advocacy group, said in an email to The Epoch Times that it is “currently examining the content and possible revisions” of the bill and has not taken a position on it yet.
Despite the fact that case rates are dropping, Wicks claims that this law is required to protect businesses due to the virus’s “unpredictability.”
On Feb. 11, Wicks stated on Twitter, “People have experienced so much whiplash these past couple years when it comes to testing, masks, and vaccines – in the workplace, in our schools, in the businesses they visit.” “People want stability, and we have enough information at this stage in the pandemic to provide that.”
Businesses, according to Wicks, “don’t need to be dragged into a political argument; they want predictability.” She also stated that hospitals are overburdened with “unvaccinated COVID patients,” although she did not specify which ones.
Sen. Richard Pan, Sen. Scott Wiener, Sen. Josh Newman, Assemblywoman Akilah Weber, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, and Assemblyman Evan Low are among the seven members of the Vaccine Work Group, which has produced four bills.
Other bills submitted by the organization include Senate Bills 866 and 871, which would allow children aged 12 and up to obtain vaccinations without their parents’ approval and mandate vaccinations for all school children beginning in 2023.
Last year, lawmakers attempted to enact a similar bill, with Wicks spearheading the charge, but it was shelved after drafts of the bill were leaked. She expressed a desire for extra time to prepare the “strongest bill conceivable” at the time.
The launch of this idea comes as Newsom prepares to pull back statewide limits on large gatherings and indoor masking as part of a new COVID-19 pandemic escape strategy known as the “endemic.”
Since March 2020, when the state initially enforced some of the country’s tightest COVID-19 limitations, the tone of the statement has shifted. The state’s indoor mask ban will be lifted on Feb. 15, only two days after the Super Bowl. State officials are keeping an eye on improved case statistics, with the statewide positive rate down to 9.5 percent, the lowest since Christmas Eve, and much below the previous week’s 13.9 percent.
Residents and small businesses demanded a return to normalcy after photos of state and city leaders attending NFL games without masks appeared on social media, despite the fact that the existing indoor mask rule was still in force. At the SoFi Stadium, the Super Bowl drew a sold-out crowd of nearly 70,000 people, with scarcely any masks in sight.
The Super Bowl was exhibit A in terms of reasons why we shouldn’t adhere to the tyrannical COVID-19 plandemic agenda. Every single public figure, celebrities, and politicians alike put their incompetence on display by merely attending this event. There were very few masks in sight and as one could imagine, little to no social distancing. With that being said, is the left afraid? Are their policies pertaining to mandatory vaccination, and masking of your children justified? The answer is no, because if they didn’t believe in herd immunity they wouldn’t have subjected themselves to this “super spreader” event packed in seats like sardines.
ELected officials only seek to herd the sheep around because they’ve been led astray from Elohim the true shepherd. The holy spirit has blessed many of us with the gift of discernment, to witness the masses being led astray. That being said, we have yet to fulfill our responsibility as followers of Christ. We have to aid our adversaries through prayer and patience; Satan has laid his burdens upon many, leaving them jaded and their hearts hardened. It’s our responsibility to convey God’s grace to those who have been led astray. 1 Peter 4:12-14 says: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Stay inquisitive in the word of God, and the world around you
Demonstrators protesting in sympathy with the Freedom Convoy truckers in Ottawa have stopped a key Canada-US border crossing in Manitoba.
The Emerson Port of Entry is being blocked by a demonstration involving a large number of automobiles and farm equipment, Manitoba RCMP announced on Twitter on Feb. 10.
According to the police, both northbound and southbound traffic has come to a halt.
A demonstration involving a large number of vehicles & farm equipment is blocking the Emerson Port of Entry. No traffic is getting through either northbound or southbound. The Port of Entry is shut down. Please avoid the area. #rcmpmb is on scene. pic.twitter.com/SpKzwzMfKZ— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) February 10, 2022
This is the third time in recent weeks that a border crossing between Canada and the United States has been shut down. Protesters have also shut down the roadway leading to the Coutts border in southern Alberta, as well as the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan.
The demonstrations are in support of the ongoing truckers’ convoy campaign in Ottawa, which is fighting against federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and limitations.
Since Jan. 29, Alberta protesters have closed and reopened the lanes of Highway 4 on a regular basis. The protest caused the lanes to be stopped again late on February 8, according to the RCMP.
On February 6, protesters began assembling around the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. The border remained closed as of February 10th.
While the U.S.-bound lane is open, Windsor police claimed on Twitter on Feb. 10 that the presence of demonstrators is still “making it difficult to access the bridge.” Traffic congestion along Wyandotte St. W. near the bridge, they added, might also cause delays.
The trucker protest movement in Canada began as a protest against the federal government’s requirement that truck drivers have COVID-19 vaccination for cross-border travel, but it has since grown to demand an end to all COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, with supporters from across the country joining the movement.
The anti-vaccination mandate trucker protest that has paralyzed the Canadian capital, Ottawa, has spread to Michigan’s border and threatens to halt an auto industry struggling to cope with what industry experts have described as a “fragile supply chain.”
Demonstrators have been setting up blockades at the two bridges linking Ontario and Michigan since Monday. The Blue Water and Ambassador bridges together serve thousands of trucks every day, many of them carrying automotive parts and finished vehicles.
Traffic over the Ambassador Bridge has come to a virtual halt. Only a small number of trucks moved from Canada to Michigan on Wednesday. The situation at the Blue Water Bridge connecting Sarnia, Ontario, to Port Huron, Michigan, isn’t much better, with reported delays of at least 4½ hours.
The Chrysler Pacifica minivan plant was the first direct casualty on Wednesday. Stellantis, the world’s largest automaker, has temporarily halted production at the plant due to a shortage of parts. Ford became the second automaker to take efforts to address parts shortages on Wednesday.
General Motors, Detroit’s largest automaker, confirmed late on Wednesday that it had temporarily cut the second shift at a plant in Lansing, Michigan producing SUVS for the Buick, Chevrolet and GMC brands. Toyota also shut down production at three of its plants in Ontario due to parts shortages from the trucker blockade.
If we need to hurt the pockets of the rich to get the attention of our governing officials, so be it. All we can do is pray for these brave individuals who are placing themselves between us and the twisted tyranny chalked up by the likes of Klaus Schwab and his constituents. Make no mistake, there are people out there who aren’t exactly under an illusion that support this tyranny. They’re unapologetically radicalized, and they have support from organizations like the World Economic Forum, The United Nations, Centers for Disease Control, and the list goes on. The bible describes a grave illusion cast upon society during the end times, many don’t have the time of day or mental capacity to identify a globalist threat cloaked as a pandemic response. Stay inquisitive in the word of God, and the world around you.
