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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden on Friday called some Republican governors “horsemen” for resisting his call for sweeping new federal coronavirus vaccine requirements, which he hopes will put the brakes on the booming delta variant.
Biden visited a public school a short drive from the White House to advocate for new rules he laid out a day earlier that could impact 100 million Americans.
He has also fended off Republicans and some union officials, who say he is overstepping his authority. Biden said they are shirking their responsibility to young Americans.
“I am so disappointed that some Republican governors in particular have been so cavalier with the health of these children, so cavalier with the health of their communities,” Biden said during a visit to Brookland Middle School in northeast. DC “It’s not a game”
The new federal vaccine requirements would affect employees in the private sector as well as health care workers and federal contractors.
First Lady Jill Biden, who joined the president for the school tour, echoed Biden’s message that getting more Americans vaccinated was essential to keep schools open and help working parents.
“We owe them a promise to keep their schools open as safe as possible,” the first lady said. “We owe them a commitment to follow the science. We owe them unity, so that we can fight the virus, not against each other. “
Speaking Thursday at the White House, Biden sharply criticized the tens of millions of Americans who are yet to be vaccinated, despite months of availability and incentives.
“We have been patient. But our patience is running out and your refusal has cost us all, ”he said, biting his words. The unvaccinated minority “can cause a lot of damage, and they are.”
Republican leaders – and some union leaders as well – have said Biden is going too far in trying to beef up private companies and workers, a sure sign of legal challenges ahead.
Governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina said in a statement that “Biden and the radical Democrats (have) thumbed their noses at the Constitution,” while the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Everett Kelley, insisted that “changes like this should be negotiated with our bargaining units, if appropriate.”
Asked Friday about potential legal maneuvers to stop enforcement of the new vaccine requirements, Biden fired back, “Hang on.”
The American Medical Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Business Roundtable also praised Biden’s efforts to get the nation vaccinated, without any direct mention of his mandate for private companies.
Expansive rules mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require that they be vaccinated or tested for the virus every week, affecting an estimated 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers in healthcare facilities who receive federal Medicare or Medicaid will also need to be fully immunized.
Biden is also demanding the vaccination of executive and contractor employees who do business with the federal government – without the ability to test. This covers several million additional workers.
Just two months ago, Biden prematurely declared the nation’s “independence” from the virus. Now, despite more than 208 million Americans having at least one dose of the vaccine, the United States sees about 300% more new COVID-19 infections per day, about two and a half times as many hospitalizations and almost double the number of deaths compared to the same period last year. Some 80 million people are still not vaccinated.
In addition to vaccination requirements, Biden has decided to double federal fines for airline passengers who refuse to wear masks on flights or maintain face coverage requirements on federal property in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease. Control and Prevention.
He announced that the government would work to increase the supply of virus tests and that the White House has secured concessions from retailers such as Walmart, Amazon and Kroger to sell home test kits at cost from from this week.
The administration is also sending additional federal support to help schools operate safely, including additional funding for testing. And Biden demanded that major entertainment venues and arenas require vaccinations or proof of a negative test for entry.
The obligation for large companies to require vaccinations or weekly tests for employees will be enacted by an upcoming Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that provides for penalties of $ 14,000 per violation, an official said. ‘administration.
The rule will require large companies to grant paid time off for vaccination.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will extend an immunization requirement issued earlier this summer – for nursing home staff – to other health facilities, including hospitals, home health agencies and dialysis centers.
Separately, the Department of Health and Human Services will require vaccinations in Head Start programs, as well as schools run by the Department of Defense and the Indian Education Bureau, affecting around 300,000 employees.
Biden’s order for executive and contract workers includes exceptions for workers seeking religious or medical exemptions from vaccination, according to press secretary Jen Psaki. Federal workers who fail to comply will be referred to their agency’s human resources departments for advice and disciplinary action, including potential termination.
Biden urged COVID-19 vaccine requirements in environments such as schools, workplaces and college campuses. Thusday, the Los Angeles Board of Education v called for a requirement that all students aged 12 and over be fully immunized in the country’s second-largest school district.
Walmart, the country’s largest private employer, said in late July that it was demanding that all workers at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, as well as its managers who travel to the United States, be vaccinated against COVID-19 before October 4. But the company had shut down before demanding shots were fired on its frontline workers.
CVS Health said in late August that it would require some employees who interact with patients to be fully immunized by the end of October. This includes nurses, care managers and pharmacists.
Within government, several federal agencies have already announced vaccine requirements for much of their staff, especially those in health-care positions like the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Pentagon last month decided to require all military personnel to be vaccinated. Together, the White House estimates that these requirements cover 2.5 million Americans. Thursday’s order is expected to affect nearly 2 million additional federal workers and potentially millions of contractors.
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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed reporting.
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