Oklahomans React to Biden’s Vaccine Order

WATONGA – Workers at private companies with more than 100 employees will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19, President Joe Biden announced last week, or else be tested for the disease at least once a week.

Biden’s sweeping and unprecedented action is designed to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has seen a late-summer uptick after months of decline. But while some Oklahomans welcome the order, the state’s Republican leadership has vowed to fight against it.

Gov. Kevin Stitt and other Oklahoma conservatives say the order is a major overstep of federal authority.

“As long as I am governor, there will be no government vaccine mandates in Oklahoma,” Stitt said in a statement shortly after Biden’s announcement. “My administration will continue to defend Oklahoma values and fight back against the Biden administration’s federal overreach.”

Stitt and other GOP governors like Texas’ Greg Abbott and Florida’s Ron DeSantis have vowed to fight the order in court, though it’s unclear how successful such an effort will be. The rule will be developed through the U.S. Department of Labor and has not yet been formally issued.

If allowed to stand, the mandate could impact Blaine County businesses like Wheeler Bros. Grain and national brands like Sonic, Dollar General, Tractor Supply and Love’s.

Wheeler Bros. president Ladd Lafferty, whose company employs well over 100 people, said he’s opposed to the order.

“We don’t like it,” Lafferty told the Watonga Republican. “It turns us into the police, and we don’t have the resources to go through and keep an accounting of those who are vaccinated versus those who are not, and then be responsible for the ones who are not vaccinated to get tested weekly. I mean, that’s a huge undertaking, and we don’t have the resources to do that.”

And above the logistical challenges, Lafferty believes the order is just too intrusive and personal. “I don’t think it’s our place to sit there and tell our employees that they must be vaccinated. We don’t tell them to get the flu shot. We don’t test them for nicotine levels in their blood, or test them to see if they have HIV. I don’t understand why we need to test them to see if they have COVID.”

A corporate spokesman for Tractor Supply said the company is “waiting (for) more details” on the mandate like “all other businesses and retailers impacted.”

Spokespeople at Love’s and and Dollar General did not return a request for comment from the Watonga Republican.

While Biden’s mandate is drawing broad opposition, there is one local group that had already mandated the vaccine for employees – the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. In mid-August, Gov. Reggie Wassana issued an executive order giving employees until Sept. 6 to get their first dose of the vaccine.

Employees who chose not to be vaccinated were placed on unpaid leave. The tribes also have a robust masking and testing policy for employees.

Mercy, a regional health group that operates a hospital and clinic in Watonga, has also mandated that its employees get the COVID-19 vaccine.