September 10, 2021 – President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered sweeping new federal vaccine requirements for as many as 100 million Americans — private-sector employees as well as healthcare workers and federal contractors — in an all-out effort to curb the surging COVID-19 delta variant.
The expansive rules mandate that 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.
The Associated Press also reported that 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.
In addition to the vaccination requirements, Biden moved to double federal fines for airline passengers who refuse to wear masks on flights or to maintain face covering requirements on federal property in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
The administration is also sending additional federal support to assist schools in safely operating, including additional funding for testing.
He announced that the government will work to increase the supply of virus tests, and that the White House has secured concessions from retailers including Walmart, Amazon and Kroger to sell at-home testing kits at cost beginning this week.
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 (OSHA) that carries penalties of $14,000 per violation, an administration official said. The rule will require that large companies provide paid time off for vaccination.
President Biden also called for large entertainment venues and arenas to require vaccinations or proof of a negative test for entry.
In a push to increase vaccinations for the public, press secretary Jen Psaki said, “We’ve seen that there are a range of ways. One of them is private sector companies mandating, in different capacities, that their employees get vaccinated, or certain school districts mandate. Another is certainly fear of the Delta variant. And we need to continue to take more steps to make sure school districts are prepared and make sure communities across the country are prepared.”
Many private companies have already set their own mandates for vaccinations, with some even going so far as to require a vaccine as a term of employment. As the Delta variant continues to stress the limits of healthcare, The Washington Post report says the “seven-day average of coronavirus deaths across the United States was 1,524 as of Wednesday, compared with 509 one month ago, amid lackluster vaccine uptake in many states and controversies over mask and vaccine mandates.”
An AP-NORC poll conducted in August found 55% of Americans in favor of requiring government workers to be fully vaccinated, compared with 21% opposed. Similar majorities also backed vaccine mandates for health care workers, teachers working at K-12 schools and workers who interact with the public, as at restaurants and stores. Could further vaccine mandates turn the tide for the pandemic in the remaining months of 2021?