Arlington Firefighter Samuel Rochin, right, administers a COVID-19 vaccine to health care worker Vannia Atao at the Esports Stadium in Arlington on Jan. 05, 2021.Conservative Texas lawmakers are taking another shot at prohibiting private businesses from requiring employees to get COVID-19 vaccines.
The bill passed the committee along party lines, with six Republicans voting for it and three Democrats opposing it. The legislation could reach the Senate floor for debate as early as Thursday, which could feature proposed amendments creating exemptions for health care facilities.over who was covered by the order and how enforceable it was. That order expired in June, triggering a legislative attempt to codify it during the regular session earlier this year.
“I want to point out that we can’t just broadly cover this in a political way,” Hancock said. “It needs to be surgically addressed, no pun intended, and we do all need to be aware that as we provide freedom for some individuals, we’re taking away from others.” Some Republican members of the committee who expressed support for the bill asked opponents if they would accept legislation that allowed businesses to be exempt from the ban as long as they could not punish employees who claim medical, religious or conscience-driven objections to getting the vaccine.
In both cases, the business or facility also would have been required to have procedures for unvaccinated staff to protect other employees from exposure. “Physicians and health care facilities need to have flexibility to act in the best interests of our patients and our staff,” said Dr. Jimmy Widmer, a family physician and past leader of TEXPAC, the political arm of the Texas Medical Association. “A doctor’s office in Texas should have the freedom to set their own vaccination in alignment with the needs of the patients we serve.”