New Hampshire AG joins opposition to Biden vaccine mandate

By Christian Wade | The Center Square

New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella has joined other Republicans in threatening to sue Democratic President Joe Biden over his COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Formella was one of 20 Republican attorneys general who wrote to Biden last week urging him to drop his vaccine requirement for employers, calling the plan “disastrous and counterproductive.”

“There are many less intrusive means to combat the spread of COVID-19 other than requiring vaccinations or COVID-19 testing,” the AGs wrote. “The risks of COVID-19 spread also vary widely depending on the nature of the business in question, many of which can have their employees, for example, work remotely.”

The state AGs also claim that the requirements are “likely to increase skepticism of vaccines” and vowed to challenge the new rules in court.

Public domain

About 55% of eligible New Hampshire residents are fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. Nearly 60% have had at least one shot, the agency says. Data shows that vaccinations in New Hampshire have been largely stagnant since the summer, despite being one of the top states for vaccinations.

“From a policy perspective, this edict is unlikely to win hearts and minds – it will simply drive further skepticism,” they wrote. “And some Americans will simply leave the job market instead of complying. This will further strain an already tight labor market, burdening companies and threatening the jobs of even those who have received a vaccine.”

Biden’s mandate, details of which are still being worked out, will require employers with more than 100 workers to require them to be vaccinated or tested weekly. The new rules will apply to federal workers and contractors who do business with the federal government. Companies face fines of up to $14,000 per violation, Biden administration officials said.

The plan will also require vaccinations for about 17 million health care workers at hospitals and other facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid funding.

The White House estimates the mandates could affect 100 million Americans who are still not vaccinated against the virus, including thousands of workers in New Hampshire.

The state attorneys general argue that Biden’s mandate is not only illegal, but fails to acknowledge that some workers are not at risk for getting infected.

“Your sweeping mandate fails to account for the fact that many workers – for example those who work from home or work outdoors – are at almost no risk of exposure from their coworkers regardless of their vaccine status,” the AGs wrote. “A one size fits all policy is not reasoned decision making. It is power for power’s sake.”

About 55% of eligible New Hampshire residents are fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. Nearly 60% have had at least one shot, the agency says. Data shows that vaccinations in New Hampshire have been largely stagnant since the summer, despite being one of the top states for vaccinations.

Nationally, more than 180 million Americans – at least half the U.S. population – are fully vaccinated, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gov. Chris Sununu has said he is eager to join the fight against Biden’s new requirement, saying he won’t support a federal rule that requires people to get vaccinated.

“I am as pro-vaccine as it gets, but I do not support this mandate from Washington as it is not the answer,” Sununu said last week. “We need folks to get vaccinated, there’s just no question about that. But this was not the right approach.”

New Hampshire GOP Chairman Stephen Stepanek praised the state’s push to join the national fight against Biden’s vaccine mandate, which he called a “power grab.”

“I myself decided to be vaccinated when the option was available, but I would never force such compliance upon those who are unvaccinated,” Stepanek in a statement. “In times like these we must find empathy for our fellow Americans and rally behind the freedoms on which our country was founded.”

But New Hampshire Democrats and public health officials have criticized the governor’s vows to challenge the mandate, saying it sends the wrong message.

“Whether a “mandate” or not, the basic fact is Sununu and NH AG are wrong: there’s ZERO individual Constitutional right to override or harm public health,” Democrat Dan Feltes, a former Senate leader and gubernatorial candidate, posted on social media. “If Sununu really believes ‘we are all in this together’, he’d incentivize vaccinations, not sue @POTUS (President of the United States).”

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11 thoughts on “New Hampshire AG joins opposition to Biden vaccine mandate

  1. VT next to NH is such a wuss.
    VT has been co-opted by the technofascist communist party.
    Without a whimper.
    Baa Baa Baa.

    • lol…..the truth. Here’s a video your folks might like in NH. We do have many people pimpin’ for the New World Order over here, that’s for sure!

      https://generaldispatch.whatfinger.com/a-manufactured-illusion-dr-david-martin-with-reiner-fuellmich-lugnuttz-truth-bombs/

      Oh we’re so full of pride in Vermont, that we know everything, we put it on our license plates, VERMONT STRONG!…….the first step in learning is being humble, willing to say, I don’t know everything and that others may know more. Not happening in Vermont. Our hearts are so hardened we can’t see the forest through the trees.

      Vermont has adopted “science” and politics as their religion. We have public burnings at the stake for those whom don’t comply, just ask our principles in education. What happens when you suggest looting and arson might not endear your cause? You’re fired and it’s publicized across the state! That is a modern witch burning,

      I use science in quotes, because if you question the “science” you are also publically ostracized. What this really does is expose how utterly useless our current educational programs, that are forced upon our teachers and students truly is. Science and the scientific theory is a all about questioning the hypothesis. Science, not “science” welcomes the challenge because when it’s proven it become law, like the law of gravity….

      Yet we know not the difference between politics (political science) and science, because of our indoctrination factories, forced upon our teachers and students.

      Our state is also one of the least educated in things that are true and loving, which can be found in a book upon which the entire western civilization is based upon…it’s a really good book that nobody knows about. One version was put out in 1611, still holds true.

  2. COVID-19 UPDATE: Three States with Highest Vaccination Rate Lead the Country with Greatest Increase in COVID-19 Case Rates Last Week
    September 20, 2021, 3:45pmby Jim Hoft 676 Comments

    “Data from John Hopkins COVID-19 Tracker shows that several states with the highest vaccination rates like Maine, New York, and Vermont have the highest increased rate in COVID-19 cases last week.”
    And the state with the greatest decreased rate in COVID-19 cases was Texas.
    Includes DOH numbers:
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/09/__trashed-35/

  3. No we are not ‘all in this together’ Dan Feltes.
    The country has been torn apart and Americans have been pitted against one another..
    we are not in Anything At All “Together” anymore. We are moving towards needing a Two State Solution in fact- we are now so divided.
    And further, it’s my job to worry about my own self and my family, not everyone else.
    If everyone worries about their own selves, then we are all covered.
    All the Left wants to do is use this to promote Socialism and manipulate us into group-think.
    Dan should read the Constitution with his glasses on next time.
    It’s not up to my neighbor to keep me safe- it’s up to me to keep myself safe.
    Self Sufficiency and personal freedoms are of the founding principles of this nation..
    And NH takes this all very seriously.

      • I totally agree with this Stardust.
        The Left is largely parasitic.. they have created people that need safe spaces, want free stuff, don’t know whether they are a man or a woman, they need therapy dogs. They’ve imported gazillions of people that are new to indoor plumbing.
        We’ll be fine without them.. most Conservatives are simple, self sufficient folks that just want to be left alone to live in peace.. must of us want for little aside of the basics.
        We value time and freedom above toys and stuff that goes into storage units.
        We don’t need to be robbed to fund their wealth redistribution plans.

  4. Where’s our leftist AG Tj protecting Vermonters rights from the illegal mandates
    being throw at us by the illegal administration in the DC swamp???

    He had all kinds of time to harass President Trump with lawsuits that had nothing to do with Vermonters..

    Good for NH the only freedom loving/protecting state in all of New England

    • Update on little lefty Tj.. seems he to busy suing “Big Oil” to take on the
      illegal and corrupt bidung admin’s decree’s.. as if the joke bidung didn’t raise
      gas prices enough for th’s taste..working full time against Vermonters..

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