About 80 million employees of companies with more than 100 employees will need to be vaccinated or tested negative every week.
Washington is tightening its rules to speed up Covid-19 vaccinations. This will become mandatory for the 4 million employees of the federal government, according to a document released by the White House on Thursday, 9 September. In private companies with more than 100 employees, they will now have to certify an equivalent health pass.
Until now, unvaccinated federal employees and employees of government contractors could continue to work with negative test results. A decree signed by Joe Biden removes this option: they will now have to be fully vaccinated within 75 days, otherwise Disciplinary sanctions, explained her spokeswoman Jenn Psaki. From “limited exceptions” may be granted on the basis of disability or religious objections.
For the private sector, the Ministry of Labor will introduce mandatory vaccination or weekly screening for employees of companies with more than 100 employees, or more than 80 million people. Mandatory measures have already been implemented by some companies.
In a speech on Thursday, Joe Biden denounced “an identified minority of Americans” Supported by “an identified minority of politicians” which, according to him, prevent the United States from “turn the page” of Covid-19 by refusing to be vaccinated.
In the United States, 53.3% of the population is fully vaccinated. Nearly 80 million eligible Americans are not. Joe Biden set a goal of 70% of adults receiving at least one dose by July 4th, National Day, but that limit was not exceeded until August 3rd.