In Democratic-led Washington state, only four lawmakers were present in the 98-member House of Representatives this week as they took great care to hold a mostly remote meeting. Anyone who works there must be tested for COVID-19 three days a week and show proof of vaccinations — including booster shots — before stepping on the floor of the House.

By contrast, Missouri’s Republican-led legislature began fully face-to-face meetings with no COVID-19 screenings at the Capitol and no need for vaccinations or masks. A week after the meeting, lawmakers have filed nearly three dozen bills to ban, discourage or waive vaccination requirements.

The different approaches underscore the persistent partisan divide in pandemic policy, as states begin their third year of legislative sessions amid what many see as a virus outbreak that many see will abate, but as omicron changes. The number of hospitalizations has soared to near-peak levels.

Lawmakers in many Republican-led legislatures are beginning their 2022 sessions to seek to outlaw vaccine mandates and remove them as lawmakers in some Democratic-led states meet remotely due to new concerns about COVID-19. Pandemic precautions.

“We’ve actually entered two different camps with two different views of reality,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. He described the “intellectual divide” as “very bad.” Disturbing”.

“In many ways, the data around vaccines, masks and all that stuff is representing the role of government,” Benjamin said.

Political divisions that began with government-ordered shutdowns, social distancing and mask orders in the early stages of the pandemic have progressed as governments have made vaccinations the primary means of fighting the virus, which has killed more than 835,000 people in the U.S. die

Republican legislation opposed to vaccine mandates, largely enacted by President Joe Biden’s administration, would require COVID-19 vaccinations or regular testing for medium and large employers, health care providers and federal contractors. Many Democratic governors have also issued vaccine or testing requirements for government workers, health care providers, schools or child care providers.

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While vaccines don’t always prevent disease, they have proven effective in reducing severe cases of COVID-19 that lead to hospitalization or death. The Republican opposition is largely rooted in liberal ideology.

“Injecting something into your body as a condition of employment so you don’t get fired or not hired is not American,” said Republican Rep. Brian Seitz of Missouri from Branson. “It leans towards socialism, communism and any other ism you want to talk about.”

Seitz has filed bills that would bar health workers from vaccinating, bar the government from doing business with entities that require vaccinations, and create the right for individuals to refuse vaccinations and wear masks. Other Missouri bills would ban mandatory COVID-19 vaccine use in schools and hold employers responsible for any harm caused by their vaccination requirements.

Similar bills are pending elsewhere. After passing legislation in November to make it easier for employees to refuse to comply with vaccine regulations, some conservative Republicans in the Kansas legislature now want to go a step further and bar employers from enforcing such regulations.

Vaccine legislation has sparked internal divisions in some Republican-led states.

Fast-track legislation in the Indiana House of Representatives would significantly limit workplace COVID-19 vaccines despite opposition from Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and Republican Senate leaders that the bill falsely interferes with private business decisions vaccination requirements. Some Republican lawmakers in Ohio also continued to push for a ban on vaccine authorization, despite warnings from Republican Gov. Mike DeWine that he would veto the legislation.

The question of whether to ban mandatory vaccinations by businesses is also expected to be a hot topic when the Oklahoma state legislature meets next month.

“This issue is a difficult one for people to balance,” said Greg Treat, the Oklahoma City Republican Senate President. “I’m a big believer in the rights of individuals, and I’m also a big believer in the right of businesses to conduct business as they see fit.”

Legislation by Republicans in Maine to ban mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for five years faces huge odds in the state’s Democratic-led legislature, despite Tuesday’s hearings. The hearings were held by videoconference — a practice that appears to be more common in Democratic-led states than Republican-led states this year.

The 400-member New Hampshire House of Representatives convened last week at the Hotel Expo Center instead of its chamber to distract lawmakers, but the Republican majority refused to allow remote participation. At least two lawmakers have tested positive for COVID-19 after the first day of the meeting.

Former New Hampshire House Speaker Dick Hinch is one of eight lawmakers to die from COVID-19 in states since the pandemic began. More than 500 state lawmakers have contracted the virus, according to an Associated Press count, but since some legislatures have yet to publicly confirm cases, the actual number is almost certainly higher.

In Democratic-led Massachusetts, the Capitol has yet to reopen to the public after legislative leaders closed it to everyone but lawmakers, some staff and the press at the start of the pandemic. Since then, the legislature has largely gone online. Legislative leaders have announced plans to gradually reopen by requiring proof of vaccinations (or showing medical or religious immunity) to work inside the building.

In Vermont’s Democratic-led legislature, one of the first actions in 2022 is to authorize teleconferencing as COVID-19 cases surge. Lawmakers also quickly passed a measure that would allow city governments and school districts to pass budgets without in-person meetings.

In Washington state, Republicans voted against the COVID-19 deal passed by the Democratic-led Legislative Council. While more members than the House of Representatives are allowed to be present, Senate policy restricts 15 of the 49 senators from being present in person. The rest were relegated to remote participation. Senators and staff members must test negative for COVID-19 before entering the Senate chamber, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated. At least five senators have tested positive since Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Andy Biliger in Washington said the goal of the restrictions “is to make the operation of the Senate as safe as possible.”