Biden’s big vaccination plan
Here are five things to know about the administration’s COVID-19 mandates.
By Erin B. Logan for the LA Times
The Biden administration believes mandating COVID-19 vaccinations is the best way to reduce hospitalizations and deaths from the disease and get the U.S. economy on more solid footing.
President Biden has announced a wave of vaccine requirements, the most sweeping of which will affect businesses with more than 100 employees. That regulation, which is expected to be issued by the Labor Department, and other Biden rules could end up affecting two-thirds of the U.S. workforce. Biden said Thursday that getting vaccinated will help “put this pandemic behind us and accelerate our economic recovery.”
Here’s how the mandates are progressing.
What mandates is the federal government issuing?
The broadest mandate will affect businesses with more than 100 employees. Under a rule proposed by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, such companies will be required to ensure their workers are fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing for the coronavirus. The plan would give workers paid time off to get their shots and recover from any side effects. OSHA could levy a $14,000 fine on businesses that don’t comply.
OSHA on Tuesday submitted a proposed rule to the White House for approval; that regulation is expected to soon be finalized, according to news reports.
Another mandate targets about 17 million healthcare workers: The Department of Health and Human Services is crafting regulation that will affect workers at about 50,000 providers, including hospitals and dialysis centers, that receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, according to the White House.
Biden has also enhanced vaccine requirements for the federal workforce. Federal employees must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22 or face disciplinary action. Federal contractors have until Dec. 8 to be fully vaccinated.
Biden’s requirements would affect around 25 million unvaccinated American workers and could result in 12 million people, or more than 3% of the total population, getting vaccinated by March, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. The requirements could bring the rate of partial vaccination among the U.S. population up to 82% by mid-2022, the analysts found. About 90% of adults would have at least one dose of a vaccine, the analysts wrote.
Why is the president seeking these mandates?
The Biden administration was initially optimistic that vaccine rates would increase without mandates. But the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant led to a surge in cases, while vaccination rates have declined. Since spring 2020, the coronavirus has killed more than 723,000 Americans. The increase in cases and the massive death toll altered the White House’s calculus on mandates.
The nation “is in a very critical period as we work to turn the corner on COVID-19,” Biden said Thursday. So far, about 77% of eligible Americans have had at least one shot, according to federal statistics, and about 66% are considered fully vaccinated.
What has been the reaction from state officials?
The president has met with stiff resistance from Republicans in seeking to enact vaccine requirements, and his mandates are expected to face legal challenges.
Two dozen Republican state attorneys general last month called Biden’s plan “counterproductive” and “illegal” and vowed to fight in court the requirement on businesses.
Republican-controlled states have also sought to derail that mandate. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday issued an executive order that bars all entities, including businesses, from enforcing a vaccine mandate.
In Arkansas this month, lawmakers approved a measure that would create exemptions for workers facing mandates.
How does the American public view the plan?
Half of Americans approve of the OSHA plan, according to a poll released last month by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While 51% say they approve of it, 34% disapprove, and 14% hold no opinion.
Support tends to reflect party allegiances: 77% of Democrats back the plan, and 62% of Republicans disapprove of it, the poll found.
How have companies responded?
Even before Biden announced the OSHA rule, corporations were implementing their own vaccination mandates. Many business leaders have said mandates will get employees back into offices and factories, boosting profits.
When Tyson Foods in August required workers to get vaccinated, fewer than half had gotten a shot, according to the White House. By late September, more than 70% of the company’s workforce was at least partially vaccinated. The food giant gave workers until Nov. 1 to comply with the policy.
Other corporations — including Cisco, Delta Air Lines, CVS Health, Google and Goldman Sachs — have a variety of policies that either incentivize or require workers to get vaccinated. Some of the policies allow exemptions for medical or religious reasons.