announcer: moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kristen: you are watching getting answers live on abc seven. we ask experts your questions every day at 3:00 to get answers in real time. today, we take a close look at the regal ramifications of president biden's covid battle plan including vaccine requirements. what are employers and employees rights and responsibilities? angela reddick right will be joining us, but let's begin with president biden's order and how it aims to curtail covid desk leases -- cases rise. dr. patel is joining us for the next 20 minutes or so to break it down.

good to see you. we want to start with two truths and ally? >> it is a fun way to start things. kristen: if you are watching on facebook live, dr. patel is going to present three scenarios. two will be true, and let me know which one is the lie. let's go. dr. patel: i'm glad we started with this because it primes people for the analytical thinking we are going to get into. tell me which one of these is not true. a, the first vaccine mandate law was enacted in the united states in 1959 for polio. b, an colleges and universities are mandating the vaccine. c, the department of labor will require businesses with 100 plus employees to get vaccinated or tested. which one is not true? kristen: the president just

announced in his press conference, in his speech about the department of labor requiring business with over 100 employees ticket vaccinated, so i will say that is true. i think more universities than that are mandating the vaccine. i think the vaccine mandates -- i'm not sure about the 1959 date , it could have been earlier, so i am going to see -- i'm going to say either a or b. facebook, what do you say? most people think a is the live. -- the lie. should be go with that? i'm going to go with our viewers. a. dr. patel: a is the lie on two fronts. it was not 1959 and it was not polio. it was 1859 and smallpox. vaccine mandates are not new in

this country. george washington had his own vaccine mandate for troops and smallpox. we have university and business mandates for a long time. when i see tweet from politicians saying vaccine mandates are un-american, well it's a pin un-american for 250 years. according to your standards. being is interesting. estimates are all over the place. the average estimates i've seen are between 700 and 1000. this is a big deal that this many universities and colleges are getting behind mandates. last but not least, you knew that we had just spoken about this, this is going to be arguably one of the most groundbreaking but contentious points about president biden's plan, the mandate for people in the workforce. kristen: it seems like that is the lever he is pulling, to go

after the workplaces. because it is tied to people's livelihoods. talk about the multiple prongs of his plan, which parts do you like and which parts do you think don't go far enough. dr. patel: one of the first things regarding his plan -- i don't want to say goes far enough, the mandate. it is going to be interesting to see how this will be challenged. there are a lot of people out there. ressler brought this up, saying they are waiting for full vaccine approval, what else are they waiting for? a vaccine mandate may get people to pay attention now that they have a reason to learn. this is affecting about 80 million people. here's why this may not be enough, the vaccine mandate if it goes into effect and employers require this, you would have to go and get two

doses. we potentially would not see the effectiveness for four weeks or longer when right now we have 1500 deaths a day, more than last year. i would like to see something else about trying to lift the burden off our health care system. i like the fact there was talk about testing and increasing access to rapid antigen testing because that is important in controlling outbreaks, including schools. those are two important things he brought up today. kristen: that has been a weak point, people saying we have let off on rapid testing. i am glad to see more money devoted to that. what about the tsa? he announced they will double the fine on travelers who won't mask. dr. patel: i was just looking at my phone because i knew i wrote down one of their know.

i'm glad there are harsher restrictions. i do not like using the word difficult, but there are more barriers. if you do not want to get a vaccine, there are more barriers to protect that right, if that is the right to choose to abide by, but if you don't want to follow mask rules, there will be more fines. if you want to start trouble on a plane. i heard this morning, people say it is my right to not wear a mask. my right to not get a vaccine. that may be true, but is -- it is everybody else's right to not get infected by you. it is everybody else's right to go to republic space and not be afraid of getting covid-19 because someone doesn't want to follow the rules. so businesses, schools, universities, hospitals, they also have rights. kristen: it is interesting that with this requirement, employees needing to be vaccinated, they

have the right to pull you out, separate you from those who are vaccinated if you choose to be on vaccinated. i don't know how easy it is to fire somebody, that is one thing we will talk to angela about later, but there is a collective right that president biden seems to be weighting. some people say look, he controls interstate travel. that's federal. why not require vaccines to board an airplane? qantas airlines is requiring that. why not all travel? dr. patel: i wanted to see at least some thing about travel. there's already a mask mandates the government can't control, but it would have been important to address that. another question would be enforcement. does that mean everyone brings their vaccine cards for all travel? is it something we do electronically? i think that is important to bring up right now.

i am not sure why there was no discussion about travel at all because there is a fact i will reveal in the next round, but travel is a big spreader. there's a reason why in the u.s. we have not seen the clear decline in delta cases as we have seen around the world. we have some anymore pockets of an vaccinated individuals where the variant is just making their rounds. when people board flights, it spreads. especially children. we saw over 200,000 infected last week. kristen: that's probably why l a unified is expected to vote this afternoon on vaccine eligibility. we will also talk more on monoclonal antibody treatments, part of president biden's order.

kristen: we are back with dr. patel. after president biden laid out his strategy which includes a lot of polling that lever to get businesses, employees to vaccinate, mandate that, as well as federal employees and federal contractors. if you work for a health-care system that takes money from medicare, anything because federal money, tell your employees to vaccinate. let's start with another round two truths and ally. dr. patel: i am pulling up my questions right now. tell me which one of these is not true. a a vietnamese man was sentenced to five years in jail for breaking covid-19 quarantine rules. b, a doctor set up a vaccine

clinic at a marjorie taylor greene rally and vaccinated 25 people. c tsa recorded almost as many travelers this past friday as it did the friday before labor day two years ago. pre-pandemic travel. which one is not true? kristen: gosh, you are getting tricky. there's a little kernel of believability in each of those. dr. patel: i had to. you're getting too good at this. kristen: i'm going to ask facebook. i do remember a vietnamese man was sentenced, i don't know if it was five years, but i remember something about that. i can see a doctor setting up vaccine clinic at a marjorie taylor greene rally. tsa, i know people travele than last year, but i don't know how it compares to two years

ago. our viewers are all over the place. dr. patel, you made this one really challenging. dr. patel: that makes it memorable. kristen: i'm just going to say a, because i want to say it was more than five years. but, i'm wrong. dr. patel: final answer? kristen: final answer. but, i feel about as certain as throwing a cart -- dart. dr. patel: a is actually true. i brought that up is when people come around and say we have a radical government, we have a very split population right now. president biden actually, i am borrowing this, president biden was speaking to a country we all hope is in line for vaccines. imagine if we had some of the penalties other countries did

which have better case rates than we did. c is true, which is concerning because of how many people are not vaccinated. they are flying in huge numbers. 2 million reported last friday. b is false. zero people got vaccinated at the rally. this doctor said he at least got to spread a positive message. people saw him as a community leader and he even said he had operated on some of these people. you trust me to do surgery on your brain, you should trust me on the vaccine. i thought that was very responsible of him to say. there is some good to come out and relate to people and say if you trust one source of information, trust it for something else. kristen: food for thought. i was happy to have gotten that one wrong because it allowed for a full explanation. shout out to those of you who got it right on facebook live.

let's talk kids. rising numbers of kids in the icu, los angeles unified is doing something this afternoon. they will likely become the first large district in the country to require the vaccine for anyone eligible. they have a timeline, i think november for the first shot when they come back for the spring semester they will have to be vaccinated. do you think this is a good idea. dr. patel: i do. i think in terms of equityquity long as that is adhered to and all kids have access, that's a great idea. in conjunction with ways to protect younger kids under 12 or anyone else high risk, it is the responsible thing to do. the run asterisk i would like to see, especially if more school districts go this route, is if there is a hybrid option. there are still people out there

who don't feel comfortable sending their kids to school even with a vaccine mandate. i have heard this from parents with kids who have underlying medical issues. they are like, what do i do? i think it will be interesting and important to see how this affects rates in southern california. it is a good step forward. this is, i believe, the number one or two largest school district in the country. kristen: a district that big, they probably can set aside some faculty or teachers to do zoom learning. the smaller districts have a a a harder time, especially if they don't have people opting for that. but remote learning is not synchronous. here's a question, do you think a third shot will be needed to be considered fully vaccinated soon? dr. patel: great question.

the answer is, i do not know. in terms of being fully vaccinated or what be required of mandates. especially what was just announced. the questions to answer, is a third shot needed in order to have the full boost? we will find out later on when the fda makes a recommendation. we know that it does offer increased protection, but whether you want to call it a booster, it may not be a booster it may just be a third dose in a series like we do with other childhood and adult vaccines, that is not going to end the pandemic. the 80 million to 100 million people who spread it, getting them vaccinated will end the pandemic. kristen: that is what president biden tried to say today. a new study, some people who apparently had covid and later got the vaccine showed " superhuman immunity." what does that mean? dr. patel: you may be referring to this study out of israel.

one of the general things to take away from this study as there were people who had natural immunity who had recovered and they had great protection against the delta variant. they had rates of not getting symptomatic disease that were comparable to people who got the vaccine. this, scientifically, is not surprising. people say hey, you need to recognize this. we recognize natural immunity. the problem is as people go out to get natural immunity, they have to get covid-19. in order to get natural immunity, you need to go get the disease. if you do that, you could spread it to others. the safer option is to get the vaccine. but, one thing that could be interesting to see would be people who have evidence of recovery from covid-19 have antibodies made need only one dose of the vaccine. that is happening in some parts of the world, which is interesting. kristen: we are still

recommending two doses, but that could evolve. dr. patel: and we don't know how long that protection lasts. kristen: ok. right. let' i may not be as pretty. i'm not a cable tv personality or an entertainer like larry. i'm the businessman, the only cpa running for gov ernor. california is a mismanaged mess. taxes, cost of living, water, wildfires, homelessness.

these aren't political issues; they're readily fixable management issues. career politicians? celebrities? i've solved problems all my life. let's fix this great state! [music] 'my own garden is my own garden,' said the giant, so he built a high wall all around it. then one morning the giant heard some lovely music. through a little hole in the wall, the children had crept in. and the giant's heart melted... and they found the giant...all covered with blossoms. [ sfx: bzzz bzzz bzzz ] [ sfx: ping ping beep beep bloop bloop ] [ sfx: honk ] [ sfx: pop pop pop pop ] [ sfx: pop ping bloop pop ping bloop ]

the day can wait. enter the golden state with real california dairy. kristen: part of president biden's plan to fight covid includes vaccine requirements. there are questions about what that means for employers and employees. internally -- attorney angela reddick is here to break it down. >> thank. kristen: president biden's orders he issued in the past hour, were there elements there you thought maybe problematic or legally challenged? is it all constitutional? angela: the issue this being declared a national emergency, the covid-19 issue and the pandemic, he is

exercising presidential authority to be able to take steps to ensure a safe environment for everyone. by mandating that federal employees and contractors get the vaccine is a part of emergency measures, which i think might be difficult to challenge the constitutionality of based on this having virtually been declared a national emergency. kristen: he was not super clear, but i think the intention is there will still be exemptions honored if you apply for medical or religious exemptions. does that have to be recognized in order not to violate title vii? angela: yes, for sure. even with the national emergency and the president taking these drastic steps, employees are still entitled to their rights. there are two exemptions, one, health or medical reasons

validated by one's doctor that would keep you from getting the vaccine. if you provide proof of that medical situation to your employer, they at least have to go through the interactive process to determine if you qualify for that exemption. the second is for religious reasons. if you hold sincere religious beliefs that are validated via minister, priest, rabbi or what have you that shows that based on your sincere religious beliefs and the practices of your religious sect, that there are reasons you cannot get the vaccine, the employer also has to go through the interactive process. those two exemptions still apply even in this situation. kristen: i have heard some exempted employees say they are not being treated fairly. if that for example, united airlines, they say they are going to separate unvaccinated

workers and put them on unpaid leave. is that allowed? angela: it is. you have to remember big picture , an employer has the duty to ensure everyone in the work environment is protected. employees, customers, clients, so if there is concern that one group of employees could possibly spread covid to other employees or to customers or clients, that employer can take steps to ensure they are protecting the overall environment. the concept of what is fair or not fair, or feeling as though one is being mistreated, it does not rise to the same level as issues of race, gender or other forms of discrimination or what might be considered unfair treatment. because this has been declared an international pandemic, more leeway is given to the president and other authorities seeking to

stop the spread of covid. kristen: president biden also said the labor department is going to tell companies that they have to give paid time off to employees to get the vaccine. is that a protection that was not there before? angela: no. it is not. we do get paid time off for some things, but specifically to get a vaccine, that was not a part of the regulations. that is new. it speaks to the fact that the president thinks this is something that federal employers have to take seriously, so they have to give employees time off. very much like voting and other rights. they have to give time offer employees to get vaccinated. kristen: are you seeing getting the vaccine as a job requirement prerequisite? angela: certainly this vaccine, the covid vaccine.

for many employment environments is becoming a condition of continuing employment, or starting employment. many employers, because of the duty they have to create a safe working environment for everyone , are making get now a condition of employment. kristen: and that is legal? not seeming to be challengeing angela: so far it is legal. doesn't mean it can't be challenge. everything can be challenged. i think we are going to see challenges to these policies, but for now, employers have a backing of government saying this is a national emergency and you need to take the steps to stop the spread of this disease. kristen: i want to know, what you do if your employer

having you come back to the office and you are not ready yet? angela: employers have great leeway to require people to come back to the office. again, if there is a medical reason you can't return, you can get that validation from your doctor. your employer is required to look at what reasonable accommodations are available. or if there are other reasons that could be validated that you would not be able to come to work. kristen: thank you so much,

kristen: thank you for joining us on this interactive show, getting answers today.

dr. patel joined us to break down everything you need to know about president biden's tonight, president biden addressing the nation a short time ago. his new vaccination mandate affecting millions of americans. amid soaring covid cases, more than 1,000 americans now dying a day, more than 1 in 4 new cases now churn. the president late today now hiding his frustration with the nearly 80 million unvaccinated americans. telling them, quote, the time for waiting is over. reminding them the fda has given full approval. and the president now ordering companies with 100 workers or more to require workers be vaccinated or be tested weekly. a new executive order requiring most federal employees and contractors to get vaccinated. what the president said about booster shots, that third shot. where does this stand tonight? and are those booster shots ready to go?