Monday, September 27, 2021

Show Me Your Papers (said with best German accent)

Today all employees in my district received a voice mail and an email.  Identifying information has been removed from the email, otherwise it's copied:

Good afternoon, 

In August, state officials issued a health order which requires all individuals providing services to California schools to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or participate in weekly COVID-19 testing. As an employee of XXXX School District, you are subject to the requirements of this health order. 

Before Oct. 8, all employees must verify their vaccination status. You can do so by using your district login credentials to access the “Verify COVID-19 Vaccination/Testing” tile found in **link**.

Click the “Verify Vaccination Status” option from the main menu. You can log in while at work or at home and on any device including your smartphone or tablet. (Taking pictures of your documents with a mobile device may be easier than scanning them in.) 

Detailed instructions on this process are attached to this email. You can also read detailed instructions on how to complete this process at **link**.  

If you are fully vaccinated, you have met the requirements of the health order once you submit your vaccination verification and receive a confirmation email. You are not required to participate in weekly COVID-19 testing but are encouraged to test every other week to screen for asymptomatic infections. 

If you are not fully vaccinated, or if you fail to verify your vaccination status by Oct. 8, you will be required to test for COVID-19 on a weekly basis. Testing will be made available to you at no charge. Testing locations may include your school or worksite, district testing sites, health care providers, or private providers. More information on testing can be found in the FAQs. Each week, those required to test will need to return to the verification system (found in **link**) to verify their result.

If you need more information or would like to submit a question about the process please visit **link**.

We understand that any distraction from supporting our students, families and co-workers is a burden. Thank you for doing your part to help meet the requirements of this health order and maintain the safety of our schools and community. 

I have to "show my papers" in order to work.  There are places in this country--for example, our two largest cities--where you have to "show your papers" in order to go out to eat, and suggestions of requiring your "papers" to go to the grocery store no longer seem so farfetched.  We continue to slide away from being "citizens" and slide closer to being "subjects" of the state.  Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato.

Update:  I never dreamed the Australians would have sunk so low, so fast:

Australian officials on Monday again reminded their subjects that the nation's "zero COVID" strategy has somehow given them the power to strip the people of their freedoms.

Government leaders in the state of New South Wales — where the bureaucracy just a month ago announced that it was giving vaccinated citizens a "reward" of one extra hour outside their homes for recreation time — announced during a Monday press briefing that unvaccinated folks "will lose their freedoms" in October, Sky News reported...

The state has been touting its 70% threshold goal and said Monday that it expected to hit that goal by Oct. 11. The updated "freedoms" for the 80% threshold will include freely traveling anywhere in NSW; allowing people to stand up and drink in pubs (aka "vertical drinking"); up to 10 visitors at a private residence; groups of up to 20 people allowed to gather outside; no limits on fully vaccinated attendance at weddings and funerals; and a number of other "extra freedoms" the government will deign to give the hoi polloi.  

Perhaps Mr. Jefferson's Tree of Liberty needs a little watering down under.

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