From News Nation:
“US mandates vaccines or tests
for big companies by Jan. 4”
Tens of millions of Americans who
work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated
against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under government
rules issued Thursday. The new requirements, which were first previewed by
President Joe Biden in September, will apply to about 84 million workers at
medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those
employees are unvaccinated. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
regulations will force the companies to require that unvaccinated workers test
negative for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear a mask while in the
workplace. Tougher rules will apply to another 17 million people who work in
nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities that receive money from Medicare
and Medicaid. Those workers will not have an option for testing — they will
need to be vaccinated. Workers will be able to ask for exemptions on medical or
religious grounds. OSHA said companies that fail to comply with the regulations
could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation. It was unclear how OSHA
planned to enforce the rules. A senior administration official said the agency
would target companies if it gets complaints.
The release of the rules followed
weeks of regulatory review and meetings with business groups, labor unions and
others. The regulations form the cornerstone of Biden’s most aggressive effort
yet to combat the spread of COVID-19, which has killed more than 740,000 people
in the U.S. OSHA drafted the rules under emergency authority meant to protect
workers from an imminent health hazard. The agency estimated that the vaccine
mandate will save more than 6,500 worker lives and prevent more than 250,000
hospitalizations over the next six months. Senior administration officials said
the rules preempt conflicting state laws or orders, including those that ban
employers from requiring vaccinations, testing or the wearing of face masks.
The administration will face an
immediate challenge from Republican state officials who are eager to fight
Biden in court and in Congress. Senate Republicans immediately launched a
petition to force a vote to overturn the vaccine mandate, but with Democrats
controlling the chamber, the effort is nearly certain to fail. More than two
dozen Republicans serving as state attorneys general have indicated they plan to
sue, arguing that only Congress can enact such sweeping requirements under
emergency authority. Last week, 19 states sued to stop Biden’s narrower mandate
that employees of federal contractors be vaccinated. That requirement was
scheduled to take effect Dec. 8, but the administration said Thursday it will
be delayed until Jan. 4 to match the requirements on other large employers and
health care providers.
The rules will require workers to
receive either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Jan. 4 or be tested weekly. Employees who test
positive must be removed from the workplace. Companies won’t be required to
provide or pay for the tests, but they must give paid time off for employees to
get vaccines and sick leave to recover from side effects that prevent them from
working. The requirements for masks and paid time off for shots will take
effect Dec. 5.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services issued a separate rule requiring vaccination for workers in 76,000
health facilities and home health care providers that get funding from the
government health programs. A senior administration official said that several
large private health care organizations imposed their own mandates and achieved
high vaccination rates — 96% or higher — without widespread resignations. The
White House sees the new requirements as a potent tool to winnow down the ranks
of the tens of millions of Americans who have thus far refused to get a shot. For
weeks, Biden has encouraged businesses not to wait for the OSHA rule to take
effect. He has touted businesses that have already announced their own vaccine
mandates and urged other companies to follow their lead. Administration
officials say those efforts are paying off, with about 70% of the nation’s
adults now fully vaccinated.
Walmart, the nation’s largest
private employer, said in late July it was requiring all workers at its
headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, as well as its managers who travel
within the U.S., to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 4. But the company
had stopped short of requiring shots for its frontline workers. United Airlines
required U.S. employees to get vaccinated or face termination. Only a very
small number of its 67,000 workers refused to do so. In August, Tyson Foods
told its 120,000 U.S. workers that they must be vaccinated by Nov. 1. A week
before that deadline, the company said 96% of its workforce was fully
vaccinated.
However, some companies have
expressed fear that some vaccine-hesitant workers might quit, leaving their
workforces even thinner in what is already a tight labor market. Several large
business groups complained about the timing of the mandate. Retail groups
worried that the requirement could disrupt their operations during the critical
Christmas shopping period. Retailers and others also said it could worsen
supply chain disruptions. The National Retail Federation suggested that the new
rules are not needed because the rolling average number of new daily cases in
the U.S. has fallen by more than half since September. “Nevertheless, the Biden
administration has chosen to declare an ‘emergency’ and impose burdensome new
requirements on retailers during the crucial holiday shopping season,” said
David French, a senior vice president for the trade group.
The number of new COVID-19
infections in the U.S. is still falling from a summer surge caused by the
highly contagious delta variant, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent
weeks. The 7-day moving average is down 6% from two weeks ago, at more than
76,000 new cases and 1,200 deaths per day. The mandate on federal contractors
led to demonstrations by opponents, including workers at a NASA rocket engine
test site in Mississippi. Some said they are immune because they contracted
COVID-19. Others said vaccines violated their religious beliefs and
constitutional rights. “No one should be forced to take a medical treatment
just to keep their job,” said Nyla Trumbach, an engineer at the site. “There’s
years and years of experience and skill out here, and I just want anyone who’s
watching to see what we stand to lose here if these people don’t keep their
jobs.” Dozens of groups sought meetings with administration officials to air
their concerns and objections to likely provisions of the OSHA rule, including
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the
AFL-CIO and anti-vaccine organizations.
^ This will be an interesting
fight for everyone (the courts, Biden, companies, employees, everyone.) ^
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