WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Thursday (Sep 9) took aim at vaccine resistance in America, announcing policies requiring most federal employees to get COVID-19 vaccines and pushing large employers to have their workers vaccinated or tested weekly.
The new measures, which Biden laid out in remarks from the White House, would apply to about two-thirds of all US employees, those who work for businesses with more than 100 workers.
"We've been patient," Biden told the millions of Americans who have declined to get coronavirus shots. "But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us."
Taken together, the policies and speech represented Biden's most aggressive steps yet to prod Americans resistant to getting shots amid a surge in COVID-19 cases from the fast-spreading Delta variant.
The surge has posed increased risk not just to the country but also to a president who ran on promises to get control over the virus and who earlier this year said the country was "closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus."
Despite a full-throttled campaign by the Biden administration urging all eligible Americans to get the free vaccines, just over 53 per cent of Americans are fully vaccinated, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
On Thursday, Biden warned that "we're in a tough stretch and it could last for a while".
Under Biden's plan, the administration will also require vaccinations for more than 17 million healthcare workers at hospitals and other institutions that participate in Medicare and Medicaid social programs for poor, disabled and older Americans, senior administration officials said.
The new vaccination requirements cover about 100 million workers, or about two-thirds of all workers in the United States, officials said.
The plan is likely to face legal challenges, and was immediately disparaged by Biden's Republican opposition. It could be months before the mandates' impact is felt.
Previously Biden, a Democrat, required federal employees be vaccinated or get tested. Now federal workers have 75 days to get vaccinated, or face termination unless they fall into limited exemption categories.
SUBSTANTIAL FINES
The US Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will issue its rule for private companies to require vaccines or tests in coming weeks. OSHA plans to take enforcement actions against those that did not comply, with substantial fines of nearly US$14,000 per violation.
The medical work requirement will be implemented through a health agency rule that it plans to issue in October.
The administration also plans to ramp up testing capacity for the virus.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvYXR0YWNraW5nLWFudGktdmF4eGVycy1iaWRlbi1tYW5kYXRlcy13aWRlc3ByZWFkLWNvdmlkLTE5LXNob3RzLXRlc3RzLTIxNjY0NzHSAQA?oc=5
2021-09-09 20:58:00Z
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