Biden calls on private companies to issue vaccine requirements

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Monday urged private companies to demand their employees get vaccinated against Covid-19, hours after the Food and Drug Administration fully approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose vaccine for people aged 16 and over.

Speaking at the White House, Biden said he called on companies to “step up requirements for vaccines that will reach millions more.”

The president had previously expressed support for workplace vaccine requirements, but his message on Monday marked a more direct call for private employers to play a bigger role in boosting immunization rates in states. -United.

“If you are a business, nonprofit, state, or local leader waiting for full FDA approval to require vaccinations, I am now asking you to do so,” Biden said. “Demand it.

About 70% of eligible Americans received at least one injection, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 60 percent are fully immunized.

Some public health experts have argued that full FDA approval would make it easier for private employers to demand vaccines in their workplaces. Some also hoped it would help convince hesitant people to get vaccinated.

The Pfizer vaccine is the first Covid vaccine to gain full FDA approval.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said on Monday that the Defense Department would issue new guidelines requiring military personnel to be vaccinated.

At the end of July, Biden announced that federal employees would be required to get vaccinated or tested for Covid regularly, wear a mask and practice social distancing in their workplace. Some private companies quickly issued similar demands for their employees, but the measures met resistance from Republican state legislatures and governors.

Private companies are allowed to require vaccinations under the protection of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Biden said he does not have the authority to issue a nationwide vaccine warrant.

Biden said on Monday that full FDA approval was “the gold standard” and called it “an important moment in our fight against the pandemic.”

“The moment you were waiting for is here,” Biden said. “It’s time for you to go get your shot.