Biden is asking American companies to introduce mandates for the vaccine

Covid-19 vaccines have been updated

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The Biden administration will require companies to force their employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or to undergo weekly testing as part of a new plan that will also result in the dismissal of government workers if they refuse to take the sting.

The U.S. president announced new measures Thursday night as part of a broader effort to increase vaccination rates and reduce the rapid spread of the Delta variant.

“It simply came to our notice then [the current surge in cases] “It’s incredibly frustrating that we have the tools to fight Covid-19,” Biden said in a speech Thursday. “But a distinct minority of Americans, backed by a distinct minority of elected officials, are preventing us from turning a corner.

“These pandemic policies make people sick, causing the death of unvaccinated people. We cannot allow these actions to stand in the way of protecting the vast majority of Americans who have done their part of the job and want to return to normal life. ”

Under a plan to be completed by the Ministry of Labor, medium and large companies with 100 workers or more will be told to force their employees to be vaccinated or tested at least once a week before coming to work. The rule will affect about 80 million people in the private sector, White House officials said – about half of the U.S. workforce.

A special executive order signed by Biden will instruct federal government employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19, and workers will no longer be able to evade that requirement by undergoing regular testing and wearing masks.

Contractors will also be subject to the same rules, which will cover about 2.5 million people, although there will be exceptions for people based on religion or certain health conditions.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Thursday that the White House wants the federal workforce to be a “role model.” [of] what we think other companies and organizations should do across the country ”.

Federal workers will have 75 days to be fully vaccinated, Psaki added. After this point, if they have not yet been vaccinated, they will be subject to disciplinary action and face dismissal if they continue to refuse.

The administration decided to change the rules regarding vaccine mandates after seeing an increase in the number of new cases about 140,000 a day, a level last seen in the spring before vaccines were universally available.

Despite government warnings about the risk to unvaccinated people, the rate of stabbings in the U.S. is now below than in many European countries, although there are plenty of stocks. The vaccination rate has also slowed. In April, the United States vaccinated an average of nearly 3.5 million people a day, but that number is now less than 1 million.

Devjani Mishra, an employment lawyer at Littler Mendelssohn, said the new rule for private companies would have a significant impact. Given the cost and administrative burden of introducing a staff testing regime, she said she expects many employers to simply impose a strict vaccine mandate.

“This changes the game,” she said. “We have a lot of clients who were hesitant to impose a mandate because they didn’t want to lose the workforce. But if it doesn’t depend on the individual employer and they all work together, it removes the pressure. ”

In addition to stricter vaccine mandates, the Biden administration also calls on large entertainment venues, such as sports stadiums or concert halls, to require customers to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test.

The U.S. government will spend nearly $ 2 billion to purchase 280 million rapid tests on Covid to be used in places where the disease is likely to spread, such as nursing homes, homeless shelters and prisons. The president will also refer to Korea’s wartime defense manufacturing law to ensure manufacturing companies prioritize additional tests over other contracts they may have.