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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now we'll open the phones on how you're navigating mixed vaccine status in your social and work lives. Tweet @BrianLehrer or give us a call at 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280. Some of the context, President Biden recently announced the National Month of Action, this month of June, to try and get at least 70% of Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 before the 4th of July.

Here are the latest stats from the CDC, nearly half of New Yorkers who are eligible are fully vaccinated. New Jersey is right around exactly half. In Connecticut, 54% of residents are fully vaccinated. That means that just about half of the people in our listening area are not fully vaccinated and some may not have had a single dose.

Some of those people, as you may be finding out, are your friends, family members, or coworkers. Many of us are getting kind of shocked by those in our circles who are turning out to be declining vaccination. The question is how are you planning social events with your friends and family members for now? Are you asking for people to disclose their vaccination status? What do you do if you find out that someone is not vaccinated and you are? 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280.

Like if the people in your social circles are not vaccinated, do you still invite them to social events, those individuals, maybe that means spending time with them on the outdoors or with masks still on, or maybe you require them to get a COVID test before spending time together like some entertainment venues do. They say vaccination or recent negative COVID test. What if they're half vaccinated? Does that make a difference? 646-435-7280, 646-435-72860.

Over the weekend in the New York Times, the Ethicist column, I'm sure some of you saw this, a reader posed this question. Can I ask coworkers if they've had the COVID vaccine? Coworkers. How is your employer handling this question of mixed vaccination status at work? According to that article, some employers are telling their workers that it's not okay to ask one another their status. If that's you, you've been told by your employer, how are you navigating that? If you want to know, are you just asking anyway? 646-435-7280, 646-435-7286.

Or what if you're on the other side of this and you've decided not to get vaccinated for now and people are asking you? 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280 as we open the phones on how you're navigating mixed vaccine status in your social life or at work. We'll take your calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls on how you are navigating mixed vaccine status in your social life and at work. 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280. Or tweet your story @BrianLehrer. Sheila in Princeton, you're on WNYC. Hi, Sheila.

Sheila: Hey, I love you. I want to tell you that right now. My story is my daughter was supposed to have been married last May 2nd in Philadelphia. Of course, that was postponed. She postponed it to November, postponed again. It is going forward on the 19th of June. They produced the attendee lists and the rule is everyone has to be vaccinated. Sadly her first cousin, who she grew up with in Atlanta, and it makes me so sad, we've been crying about it so much, refuses to get vaccinated. She's out in Nebraska, has drunk, some crazy Kool-Aid.

His own brother will not get vaccinated and his girlfriend is actually the reason. She's recommending that they take ivermectin, which I've used to cure foxes of mange. It's not for COVID and here's something that's proven. My daughter is a scientist. She has her PhD in molecular biology, and she has read all the reports. She tells her cousin and her fiance's brother the vaccine's efficacy has been proven, blah, blah, blah, and they just won't listen. crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: What are you going to do? What are you going to do?

Sheila: They are not coming.

Brian Lehrer: They're not coming.

Sheila: No, they have been uninvited.

Brian Lehrer: They have been uninvited because you don't consider them safe to be there for other people.

Sheila: Exactly. Not safe for themselves. Because Nora, I said their name, coming from Nebraska will get on an airplane with one of her children, and not having vaccinated, we can't condone that. No, we just can't break the safety for the group by allowing them to come. It's a rule, you break it for one and that's that.

Brian Lehrer: Sheila, thank you for bearing this. I think that it's really helpful for people to hear their stories because, in fact, I can see from the callers that are coming in, you're not the only one with this kind of a story right now. Thank you, where you landed on it is really helpful for people to hear. Thank you, thank you. I think Janet in Rockaway, New Jersey has a similar story. Janet, hi, you're on WNYC.

Janet: Hi, I love your show. Yes, mine is very similar. My son was supposed to be married last summer. Couldn't, we had to cancel. Now it's vaccinated only because most of their friends are vaccinated and wouldn't come unless it was vaccinated only. All my family won't come because they're not vaccinated. I have an 82-year-old sister and her 83-year-old husband are not being vaccinated.

Brian Lehrer: As far as putting everybody together in one room for the wedding, and I guess this question could pertain to the last call or two, have you thought about the option of getting people tested, requiring the test, which maybe they'll agree to before coming to the wedding?

Janet: I don't know if my son and his fiance have thought about that but it was like, well, most of the people told them, the bridal party said we're not coming unless people are vaccinated. I guess that is an option, but I don't even know if they would feel comfortable with them. A lot of them have little children and they are afraid of bringing it home to their children, which is ironic because most of the time the children don't get it, they are carriers, so.

Brian Lehrer: Are you surprised by some of the people you're learning through this wedding process aren't vaccinated?

Janet: Oh, very surprised. I don't want to say it on air, but I have a certain person in my family who was a teacher, teaches on college level, and will not get vaccinated because she feels it's experimental. It's very surprising.

Brian Lehrer: Janet, thank you very much. Congratulations on the wedding in any case of your son. Marcy and Little Silver, you're on WNYC. Hi, Marcy.

Marcy: Hi. How are you today?

Brian Lehrer: Good. How are you today? You have a story for us, right?

Marcy: I'm good, thanks. I do, yes. I had a party on Friday with an invitation and I will say that I'm a local chef and caterer, and we just came out and said it. Most of my friends and family are vaccinated and we sent out a summer soiree, "Can't wait to see you in the backyard party," and at the end of the invite, I wrote, "If you're not vaxed, don't fret. We'll have a mask if you forget," so encouraging everyone to come, but setting some ground rules just in case you are not vaccinated.

Then upon arrival to the party, we pinned all of the vaccinated folks with a little pin that said, "Relax, I'm vaxed," and it worked out really well. Unfortunately, but fortunately, a lot of my, not a lot, but some unvaccinated folks did not come, but everyone who was here was happy and safe and really a beautiful night to all be together.

Brian Lehrer: Your standard was a vax or a mask. Some of the unvaxed people who didn't come, do you think it's because they also objected to wearing a mask? Sometimes those go hand in hand.

Marcy: I will say for a few of them, yes. I have a very close family member and they are refusing to get vaccinated right now. Now, they had other plans and other things going on, but I do think that was part of it, yes.

Brian Lehrer: Marcy, thank you so much for your call. Felicia in Nassau County, you're on WNYC. Hi, Felicia.

Felicia: Hello. Good morning.

Brian Lehrer: Good morning. You have a story for us.

Felicia: Can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Can you hear me?

Felicia: Yes, sir. I can hear you.

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead.

Felicia: My husband and I recently came back from Michigan for a service for my father and mother outside at a cemetery, and then we went to a state park for refreshments. This was my side of the family. All of the people there were vaccinated except us. We told them prior to coming that we were not comfortable going to a restaurant inside and we would be keeping our masks on at all times, which everybody did, even the vaccinated people did, but they assumed that we were vaccinated. When we told them they were a bit surprised, but everybody's dealt with it. We still got hugs, but we all wear our masks and we were social distanced outside, shat was okay.

We went to a party over the weekend for my husband's brother and the issue didn't come up at all. We weren't asked if we were vaccinated, we didn't ask who was assassinated, but we still wore our masks outside. That was a few more people there and in closer contact, but still outside, but we still wore our masks and sanitized our hands and no social distancing, but we still wore our masks. It depends on who's side of the family you're on and who thinks it's an issue and who doesn't.

Brian Lehrer: You told our screener something about your side of the family and your husband's side of the family having different approaches to this.

Felicia: Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. Yes. I'm white and he's Black, so we have different cultural approaches to it. Some of the people on my husband's side of the family are vaccinated. My husband and I are not. We're not ready to get vaccinated yet. Everybody on my side of the family, even the children that were able to because they were 15 got vaccinated. It all breaks down to a personal option. It wasn't an issue as far as we were shunned off to a corner because we weren't vaccinated. We spoke about it, we aired our opinions about it, and then we moved on.

Brian Lehrer: Have you felt an obligation to disclose your non-vaccinated status before going to an event where people might assume the other?

Felicia: Absolutely. I would. Yes, absolutely. Well, that's a tricky question. I'm not going to walk into a party and say, hi, I'm not vaccinated. We wear our masks all the time. I think people that still wear masks are unvaccinated. I think that's pretty much of a sign in itself when nobody else has one, but you, but I would disclose that, of course, if someone asked me. I'm hesitant on walking into a place and getting a list of who's vaccinated and who's not, it's tricky.

Brian Lehrer: Felicia, thank you so much. Let's squeeze in one more. Here's Alyssa, says she's a physician in New Rochelle. Alyssa, if you can do it in 30 seconds, we'd appreciate it because otherwise, the show is going to end right on us.

Alyssa: Sure. General colleague hospital, medical practitioner frustration with people who are elderly and are clearly not vaccinated but have been eligible for it for six months now who are now in the hospital, borderline dying, got it from their kids who were also eligible for the last six months and are not getting vaccinated, and they are just proliferating the disease. Also, it's now our responsibility to take care of them at the risk of ourselves and the other people in the hospital, and it's extremely frustrating. I have issues with the people who don't believe in getting vaccinated and it's disturbing and discouraging.

Brian Lehrer: Alyssa, thank you for your call, a disturbing and discouraging way to end. We could do a whole show on that. Certainly, people in the medical community whose colleagues are not getting vaccinated and then putting certain responsibilities as she was just describing on them. Thank you all for your calls.

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