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Bill Would Ban Ohio Employers From Mandating Vaccines

Crown Pointe Care Center resident Rebecca Meeker, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccine from Dr. Kate Latta, PharmD, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. Meeker was the first long-term care patient in Ohio to receive a vaccine.
Jay LaPrete
/
Associated Press
Crown Pointe Care Center resident Rebecca Meeker, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccine from Dr. Kate Latta, PharmD, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. Meeker was the first long-term care patient in Ohio to receive a vaccine.

Just over a third of all Ohioans have been vaccinated against COVID-19. And the demand for vaccines is slowing. Even so, there’s a bill under consideration at the Ohio Statehouse that would bar employers from requiring their employees to get vaccinated and it goes a step further. 

Republican Senator Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware) said employers shouldn’t be able to force vaccinations.

“Where are you going to draw the line? Is it vaccinations? Or can you say if you are going to work for me, you are no longer allowed to drink, smoke or eat fat foods or things like that," Brenner said.

Brenner’s bill would also ban businesses from offering goods, services, or entry based on proof of vaccination. Brenner says the virus is not going away anytime soon so Ohioans need to learn to live with it - though experts say more vaccinated people is the key to herd immunity. 

Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.
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