VAX MANDATES: IOWA PUSHES BACK

The Wall Street Journal reported this weekend that the Iowa legislature passed a bill, which Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law and which becomes effective immediately, guaranteeing that any Iowans who lose their jobs for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine will remain eligible for unemployment benefits.
In addition, it allows Iowans to seek medical and religious exemptions from COVID-19 vax mandates.
Gov. Reynolds said “No Iowan should be forced to lose their job or livelihood over the COVID-19 vaccine.”
The WSJ article states that Iowa’s governor “has opposed government requirements for masks and vaccines, even though COVID-19 has killed nearly 7,000 in Iowa and medical science has shown both tools to be effective in reducing the spread of the coronavirus.”
TRENDPOST: Gov. Reynolds has, indeed, “opposed government requirements” before; see “POLITICIANS CLASH ON ENDING MASK MANDATES” (23 Feb 2021).
Furthermore, Iowa’s own COVID-19 figures show that, of the total (as of 26 October) of 6,965 residents whose deaths were listed as COVID-19 related, 6,441 had pre-existing conditions, including the 3,354 who were over 80 yrs. old. The state has a population of about 3.21 million.
As to the WSJ’s remarks about “medical science” showing the effectiveness of masks and vaccines, see “MASK MADNESS CONTINUES” (18 Aug 2020), “‘MASKS ARE A POLITICAL AGENDA'” (20 Oct 2020), and “CDC’S 3 NEW VAX EFFECTIVENESS STUDIES = BIG LIE” (24 Aug 2021).