Mayor Bronson Statement on President Biden's Vaccine Mandate

 

Mayor's Office

9/9/2021

​​Anchorage, AK ­– Mayor Dave Bronson issued the following statement in response to President Biden's directive to the U.S. Labor Department that would require all businesses with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated or get tested once a week.

 “The idea that government would mandate businesses to force personal medical decisions on their employees is flat out wrong and immoral, and beyond the authority of the President. I will not mandate that businesses require their employees to vaccinate. The Municipality will not comply with this directive of the President that will invite endless litigation; this is a obvious attempt to shift the national focus from President Biden's devastating failure in Afghanistan, and we will not violate the privacy and independent healthcare decisions of our citizens in the process. The President's one size fits all approach does not look at the science to getting to natural immunity. The personal choice to vaccinate or not is up to the individual person. My administration is committed to fighting COVID-19 and to get Anchorage's economy back up and running. My administration is committed to giving access to Anchorage residents with all the resources and information they need to make informed personal decisions for themselves and their families."

Bronson Administration's directives in fighting COVID-19 in the Municipality of Anchorage:

  • Directly asked and received authorization from the Anchorage Assembly for $8 million dollars to allow for more testing, vaccinations, and mass care with Assembly Memorandum 524-2021 that was approved on 8/24.
  • Encouraging people in consultation with their medical provider to consider vaccination.
  • Worked with the State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and private providers to stand up access to two monoclonal antibody treatment sites. Residents who are ages 12 and older, who have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and are at risk for severe illness should consider monoclonal antibody treatment to prevent severe symptoms and hospitalization. Contact your medical provider for more information and a referral. If you do not have a health care provider, or need additional information about treatment sites, call the Statewide COVID-19 Helpline at 907-646-3322 and ask for an interpreter if needed.
  • Canvassing businesses and community centers to pass out flyers and share information in areas near upcoming pop-up vaccine clinics;
  • Conducting in-person and phone outreaches to potential vaccination clinic hosts;
  • Sending daily emails to community and media members about vaccination clinics and testing;
  • Conducting direct outreach to specific industries as requested (e.g. childcare facilities) with information about prevention strategies, vaccines, testing, and community resources;
  • Updating the MOA COVID-19 website to reflect current information on testing, vaccines, prevention strategies, recommendations if someone tests positive, data, language updates, and community resources (e.g., a weekly health metrics report  can be found on the Municipal Updates page);
  • Distributing radio and digital PSA's with a message from Mayor Bronson about COVID-19 testing (that message is also on social media via the Anchorage i-team​ Facebook Page);
  • Utilizing social media with regular posts to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter on Anchorage Health Department (AHD) and Office of Emergency Management (OEM) about vaccine clinics, testing, prevention, and data;

For more information, visit the Municipality of Anchorage COVID-19 website: muni.org/co​vid-19.

Media Contact: Corey Allen Young, Communications Director, Mayor's Office, corey.young@anchorageak.gov, 907-229-4150

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