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The Biden administration is advancing emergency workplace safety rules to prevent the spread of the coronavirus after weeks of delay and growing pressure from Democrats and safety advocates. The Labor Department sent the safety standards to the Office of Management and Budget for review Monday night, according to a DOL spokesperson, the first step before they are released publicly and go into effect. (Rainey, 4/26)

At the New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park, a recent job posting for a sommelier lists a string of necessary skills, including exceptional wine knowledge and an ability to lift 50 pounds. The last requirement on the list: a Covid-19 vaccination. As the U.S. job market heats up, positions operating machines in Louisville, Ky., working in offices in Houston and waiting on diners in Manhattan now require that candidates be vaccinated—or be willing to get their Covid-19 shot within 30 days of hire. (Cutter, 4/26)

As the federal government works to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all Americans, lawmakers in more than 40 states have introduced legislation that would forbid mandates requiring people get vaccinated. Often advanced by vaccine skeptics and sponsored by Republicans, most seek to prohibit businesses from requiring employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or limit school and daycare vaccination entry requirements. (Weise and Lange, 4/27)

A staff petition at Houston Methodist denouncing the healthcare system's move to "take this basic American right away" by threatening to fire staff who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine has attracted the support of more than 4,150 signatories, reflecting thin line payers and providers walk when thinking of how to promote vaccination among employees. "Many employees are scared that they lose their job or be forced to inject the vaccine into their body against their will to keep their jobs and feed their family," the petition reads. "We just want the power to choose for ourselves and not take this basic American right away from us!" (Tepper, 4/26)

A private school in the fashionable Design District of Miami sent its faculty and staff a letter last week about getting vaccinated against Covid-19. But unlike institutions that have encouraged and even facilitated vaccination for teachers, the school, Centner Academy, did the opposite: One of its co-founders, Leila Centner, informed employees “with a very heavy heart” that if they chose to get a shot, they would have to stay away from students. In an example of how misinformation threatens the nation’s effort to vaccinate enough Americans to get the coronavirus under control, Ms. Centner, who has frequently shared anti-vaccine posts on Facebook, claimed in the letter that “reports have surfaced recently of non-vaccinated people being negatively impacted by interacting with people who have been vaccinated.” (Mazzei, 4/26)

Some employees at Houston Methodist are upset over the hospital’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine rule, saying they want more time. As of Friday, the hospital said 89 percent of employees have been vaccinated, and they’re telling everyone else they must get the vaccine by June 7 in order to keep their jobs. (Bludau, 4/23)

Drive-thru and walk-up COVID-19 sites are now accepting anyone 16 years old and up. Houston-area cities and counties are doing everything they can to get residents vaccinated. But even with vaccination sites open until 9 p.m. Houston Methodist Hospital registered nurse Jennifer Bridges is just not ready to get a shot, even if it means losing her job. ... Bridges plans to fight off getting the vaccine until the deadline about six weeks away. “I think our rights as human begins are more important than keeping that job,” Bridges said. (Correa, 4/26)