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US President Biden sets COVID vaccine rules for businesses
US President Joe Biden has set a new COVID-19 mandate for businesses that employee at least 100 people
Under new requirements, starting January 4, companies with 100 employees or more must enforce a vaccine mandate, with workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or instead be tested weekly.
Republican governors however have hit back at the President, stating that Biden is “overstepping his authority”
A statement from the White House read “Today, the Labor Department issued its rule requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for companies with 100 or more employees. If you work for one of these companies you will either need to get vaccinated or test at least weekly.”
Within hours after the announcement was made by the White House, governors from Florida, Iowa and Indiana had vowed to fight the new rule, arguing it infringes on individual freedom.
Despite growing political opposition to mandating vaccinations, the delayed roll-out of the order has offered a reprieve to businesses across America, currently facing labor shortages during the holiday season.
The President’s related decision to push back a deadline for federal contractors to the same date suggested the White House accommodated requests from companies and industry groups.
The new rules will cover about 100 million Americans – two-thirds of all workers in America
Biden reminded citizens that vaccination mandates are “nothing new” – and have been around “a long time” to curb diseases and outbreaks of viruses.
“We’ve been living with them throughout our lives for all sorts of diseases. Safety rules in the workplace are nothing new either. We require hard hats in construction sites and safety goggles in labs. And with today’s actions, we now have requirements to protect people from something that has taken the lives of 750,000 Americans.”
While the rollout of the COVID vaccine continues across the US, deaths from the virus continue in the thousands. The average of about 1,100 Americans are dying daily from COVID-19, most of them unvaccinated.
COVID-19 has killed more than 745,000 people in the United States.
