WASHINGTON (AP) — In his most forceful pandemic actions and words
President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered sweeping new federal vaccine
requirements for as many as 100 million Americans
— private-sector employees as well as health care workers and federal contractors
— in an all-out effort to curb the surging COVID-19 delta variant.
All employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated
or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans.
And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal
Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.
Biden is also requiring vaccination for employees of the executive branch
and contractors who do business with the federal government
— with no option to test out.
That covers several million more workers.
The U.S. is seeing about 300% more new COVID-19 infections a day
about two-and-a-half times more hospitalizations, and nearly twice the number
of deaths compared to the same time last year. Some 80 million people remain unvaccinated.
After months of using promotions to drive the vaccination rate,
Biden is taking a much firmer hand, as he blames people who
have not yet received shots for the sharp rise in cases
killing more than 1,000 people per day
and imperiling a fragile economic rebound.
The requirement for large companies to mandate vaccinations
or weekly testing for employees will be enacted through a forthcoming rule
from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that carries penalties of $14,000 per violation
The Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Pentagon moved last month
to require all service members to get vaccinated...
Combined, the White House estimates those requirements cover
2.5 million Americans.
Thursday’s order is expected to affect nearly 2 million more federal workers
and potentially millions of contractors.