It was going to come sooner or later. Not everyone is going to like it or be happy about it. If you want to wear a mask, no judgment from me. I don’t wear one. But that’s the direction we need to be going in if we’re going to function as a society. It’s not only inappropriate but illegal for a place of business to follow people around asking for a vax card. Do people “cheat?” Yes, but that’s their business and I leave it right there. I’m not going to cross that line because I have better things to do. I’m happy to be able to go shopping at my local store and actually feel like a normal shopping experience. It’s therapeutic.
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And influenza is a respiratory illness, not a GI illness. Sometimes young children and an occasional adult will also have GI symptoms with influenza, but for the overwhelming majority, influenza (“the flu”) presents as an illness of the respiratory tract.
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You are if you are fully vaccinated but are one of the breakthrough cases who are asymptomatic but capable of spreading it.
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People keep saying that people who won’t get vaccinated are only hurting themselves.
This isn’t entirely true. The more people who get infected with COVID, the more chance of a mutation that not only evades the protections of vaccines, but is much more virulent than it already is. This happened with the 1918 flu. When it first circulated, it was a typical flu. As it mutated, it got much more virulent. I’ve seen estimates that as many as 50 million people or more died of that flu, MANY of them young and healthy people (their robust immune systems went crazy, killing them quickly and horribly).
It is NOT a good thing to let this virus continue to circulate.
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Also, are people not worried about younger children who cannot be vaccinated yet? yes, the death rate is extremely low (but not non-existent), but we don’t know how common the long-term effects will be, especially in young children.
I spend a lot of time around my two-year-old and infant grandkids, and I do not want to take the chance of bringing home an asymptomatic case of mine to them, which could become a serious case for them. I also feel bad that they cannot go inside, basically, anywhere, because we all know that the anti-vax folk certainly won’t be wearing masks.
These are not anti-math concerns.
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It is not illegal here. We had several restaurants and bars requiring proof of vaccination in order to enter. At the time the state had a limit on occupancy except if 80% were vaccinated, so those businesses that wanted to increase capacity just required everyone to show proof of vaccination. All their employees also had to be vaccinated.
I don’t know if they are still checking since the rules changed, but it is not illegal for them to do so. Their businesses, their rules as long as they are not discriminating based on one of the protected classes (race, religion, sex, etc). Being unvaccinated is not a protected class.
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It’s a HIPAA violation, and yes it is completely illegal to do that. LOL! Businesses are going to do what they have to in order to make a living, so it’s hard to fault them. I’m just glad “normal” is becoming more socially acceptable.
Privacy | HHS.gov says that “The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically.” (emphasis added)
Businesses or other entities that are not health plans, health care clearinghouses, or health care providers do not appear to be covered.
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“HIPAA governs doctors, hospitals, companies like that,” said Matthew Kugler, associate professor of law at Northwestern University. “If your restaurant says, ‘Hey, show me your medical record,’ that’s something they can say. You don’t have to say ‘yes,’ like you can be like, ‘No, screw you, I’ll go elsewhere.’ But it isn’t a HIPAA problem for them to ask to see it. It’s only a HIPAA problem if they break into your doctor’s office and steal it.”
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Employees regularly require proof of vaccinations already. Anybody working in healthcare needs to provide proof of yearly flu vaccines (and at hiring proof of other vaccines).
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If it’s illegal how can schools require evidence of vaccinations and physical forms filled out by doctors?
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good question!
It’s absolutely NOT a HIPAA violation as private companies not in the business of providing healthcare or safeguarding medical records are not bound by HIPAA. It could be seen as an invasion of privacy, inappropriate, an overreach, etc., but it has zero to do with HIPAA and is in no way illegal.
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Perhaps true, but it seems like a moot point anyway. Walmart and the big box stores have set a precedent and the competitive pressure seems to be working, especially when you’re trying to compete with Amazon. That makes life better for me…I’ll take it.
Small anecdotal sample when I ran out for errands at lunchtime today, in a Boston suburb that’s been very Covid-skittish but followed the state policy in lifting all mandates as of May 29. Few people were wearing masks while walking around in the center of town, which wasn’t the case a week ago even with the outdoor mask mandate already gone. Dropped off a package at FedEx and the store still had its same masks-required sign, with no reference to vaccination status. I put mine on – probably would have anyway, as I’m technically not fully vaccinated until I hit the two-week mark next Monday, but I was only going in for a few seconds to use the dropbox. Went to Whole Foods after, and again, the old masks-required sign was up and unmodified. It was busy but not jammed, and I saw only three people not wearing masks. All older women, as it happened. Two had masks on but down around their chins, and one had no mask at all.
Where I really noticed the difference was playing golf in the next town over on Memorial Day, at a public course where I play about every week. There’s been no mask wearing on the course itself throughout the pandemic, as the sport is perfectly distanced and played in the spacious outdoors. Until about two weeks ago, people were wearing masks outside around the clubhouse/starter area, and of course inside the clubhouse. A week ago, it seemed to be masks only indoors; the starter outside wasn’t wearing one. And on Monday, it was completely pre-pandemic conditions with the exception of hand sanitizer on offer and a plexiglass shield still up at the pro-shop counter. No masks, inside or out, on anyone.
It is a HIPAA violations for OTHERS to share your health information. It is not a violations for you to provide your own information. If you don’t want to provide it, take your business elsewhere.
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Right, but also of note is that it’s a HIPAA violation only for certain “others” to share your health information. They must be a covered entity in order for HIPAA to be violated.
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This statement basically says that you will be wearing your mask everywhere for the rest of your life. The chance of break through cases is EXTREMELY small and as we all believe Covid will be with us forever there will always be that EXTREMELY small chance of the break through cases.
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No it doesn’t. It simply addresses the statement that “you are not helping others by wearing a mask.”
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You’re so statistically unlikely to infect someone in that situation that wearing a mask for that reason is like carefully adjusting your financial plans to account for the chance of winning a $100 million lottery.
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