D.C. Council member wants to resurrect vaccine mandate
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Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau has drafted emergency legislation to reinstate D.C.’s proof-of-vaccination requirement for some indoor venues, but the road ahead for it is unclear.
Catch up quick: D.C.’s short-lived vaccine mandate was lifted Tuesday, just a month after going into effect for partial vaccinations and on the same day residents were expected to show proof of full vaccination. D.C. mask mandate will be lifted on March. 1
- Following Monday’s announcement by Mayor Muriel Bowser, several council members, including Nadeau, voiced their criticism of lifting the mandates.
Go deeper: D.C. to drop indoor mask and vaccine mandate
Driving the news: Nadeau’s legislation is similar to the mayor’s original mandate. It would reinstate the proof-of-vaccination requirement for restaurants, bars, gyms, and movie theaters, among other places, and exempt houses of worship, pharmacies, and grocery stores.
In a proposed resolution, Nadeau wrote that the mayor lifted the mandate without regard for children under the age of 5 who could not get vaccinated, and pointed to testimony by a DC Health epidemiologist last week during a D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control board hearing that cases in D.C. were nowhere near low enough to justify lifting the mandate.
- When asked about that testimony on Monday, Bowser said that Dr. Anil Mangla did not speak for the department.
Reality check: The council’s next legislative session is in two weeks, but Nadeau tweeted that she plans to ask that chair Phil Mendelson call a special session this week to speed up the process.
What they’re saying: Mendelson, who was critical of the mayor’s Monday rollback of mandates, said Tuesday that Nadeau should poll members to get a sense of whether there is support for reviving the mandate.
- At-Large council member and mayoral candidate Robert White seized on the backlash to lifting the mandate. In a campaign email sent Monday, he called lifting the mandate premature.