Stefanik, Tenney vote for early end to COVID-19 emergency, federal vaccine mandate for medical workers

Alex Gault, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read

Feb. 1—WASHINGTON — The north country's two congresswomen both voted in support of legislation that would end the COVID-19 health emergency and end the requirement that federally employed health care workers get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Two bills passed in the Republican-controlled House largely along party lines, although seven Democrats supported the bill to end the vaccine requirements. Reps. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Willsboro, and Claudia L. Tenney, R-Canandaigua, voted in support of both bills for largely similar reasons.

"Instead of thanking (health care workers) for their service, Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine power grab forced them out of the workforce and created a staffing crisis and healthcare shortage for Americans," Rep. Stefanik said in a statement.

"As New York families and small businesses have returned to normal, it is finally time for the government to do the same by ending the permanent state of emergency and lifting its overreaching and unconstitutional mandates," Rep. Tenney said in a statement.

The Republican-led bills are unlikely to see a vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate, and the Biden administration announced late Monday plans to end the COVID-19 emergency on May 11. The White House has opposed the Republican efforts to end the emergency early and does not support an end to the medical worker vaccine mandate.

An end to the emergency means an end to the special government measures that were put in place to combat the pandemic. COVID-19 at-home or in-office tests, currently given free of charge to anyone with insurance coverage, will no longer be free. Vaccines will largely remain free, although privately insured people will have to make note of what providers are "in-network" for their plan and company. Pfizer and Moderna have announced they will begin charging insurance companies between $82 and $130 per dose of the vaccine once the emergency is ended.

Additionally, Medicare and Medicaid recipients will have to reapply for coverage again starting April 1, a requirement that was suspended in March 2020. Millions are expected to lose medical coverage, either because they no longer qualify for the benefit or because they did not successfully reapply. Hospitals that take Medicare patients will receive a lower payout for COVID-19 cases as well.