Covid: Biden Has Huge Corporation Personnel Vaccinated Or Tested.
Key Sentence:
- US President Joe Biden has announced broad new measures on Covid-19.
- Which require workers at large companies to be vaccinated or undergo weekly tests.
The measures include a vaccine mandate for millions of federal government employees and come as Biden is under pressure to combat a spike in cases. More than 650,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, and hospitals are congested.
The president has promised a "summer of freedom" from the virus, but the Delta option has increased infections. Biden ordered the US Department of Labor to require all private companies with 100 or more employees to enforce duties at least once a week or require employees to provide evidence of a negative coronavirus test.
The contract affects about 80 million workers.
"This is not about freedom or personal choice, but about protecting yourself and those around you," the president said while presenting the six-point plan. Nearly 17 million other health workers who receive government benefits will also face similar charges, he said.
Box analyzer from Anthony Zürcher, a reporter from North America
The time for sweet words to trick Americans into getting a Covid-19 vaccine is over. The time for a government mandate has come.
That was the open message Joe Biden sent to the country on Thursday afternoon. The president blames the ongoing health crisis in the United States at the feet of the 25 percent of the public and unvaccinated politicians who he says are "actively working to undermine the cause."
Biden says his new vaccine order isn't about freedom or personal choice, but that it's what some Americans see - as a forced choice between vaccinations and getting on with work. So while the mandates would increase the number of Americans vaccinated, they would also fuel a debate fraught with political tension.
In July, Biden gave an upbeat speech about how quickly Americans would declare their "independence" from the virus. Unfortunately, due to the delta option, this independence day did not come. This is Mr. Biden's bid to use government power to turn the situation around.
The president's plan uses the full power of his executive branch to deal a blow to unvaccinated Americans. Some of his initiatives address shared concerns among Americans who haven't received the vaccine — such as not wanting to lose their job due to exposure or recovering from side effects.
The president said OSHA would announce large companies' vaccination requirements for workers in the coming weeks. The separate federal mandate, which the White House says will affect some 2.5 million officials, overturns Biden's previous order allowing officials to undergo routine tests if they do not wish to be vaccinated. In addition, workers who refuse to strike can now be fired.
In general, current regulations require that about two-thirds of all American workers be vaccinated.