By: Zeke Miller - The Associated Press
The White House announced on Thursday new federal immunization requirements affecting 100 million Americans.
This in an effort to increase the numbers of people immunized against COVID-19 and curb the growing delta variant, responsible for the death of thousands of people each week and jeopardizing the nation's economic recovery.
President Joe Biden's plan reaches the private sector, forcing all employers with more than 100 workers to get vaccinated or tested for the virus on a weekly basis
, affecting about 80 million Americans.
The approximately 17 million health facility workers who receive Medicare or federal Medicaid will also need to be fully vaccinated.
Biden will also sign an executive order requiring vaccination of executive branch employees and contractors doing business with the federal government, with no option to get tested.
The President will announce the details of these requirements in a speech scheduled for this Thursday afternoon from the White House
as part of a new "action plan" to address the increase in coronavirus cases and the stagnation of vaccines against it. COVID-19, which has raised questions about his management of the pandemic.
[Children already account for 27% of new COVID-19 cases. A Florida judge rules again how to protect them]
President Joe Biden will unveil the government's six-pillar strategy to contain the pandemic, which includes boosting booster doses, regular testing in schools and requiring the use of masks.
Just two months ago, Biden prematurely declared the nation's "independence" from the virus.
Now, despite the fact that more than 208 million Americans have at least one dose of the vaccines, the US is producing 300% more new COVID-19 infections per day, which corresponds to about two times and a half more hospitalizations and nearly double the deaths compared to the same time last year.
Biden's plans were advanced Thursday afternoon by White House press secretary Jen Psaki
and other senior administration officials before the speech.
After months of using strategies to boost vaccination rates,
Biden is taking a much firmer stance,
as his aides blame people who have not yet received vaccines for the sharp increase in cases that is killing more than 1,000 people by day and jeopardizing a fragile economic recovery.
Psaki said Biden's "overall goal is to
reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans
,
"
noting that some 80 million adults still do not.
An AP-NORC poll conducted in August found that 54% of Americans approved of Biden's handling of the public health crisis, up from 66% the previous month, driven by a drop in support from Republicans and independents.
[Most of the 100,000 people currently hospitalized for COVID-19 in the US were not vaccinated]
In addition to vaccination requirements, Biden is trying to double federal fines for airline passengers who refuse to wear masks on flights or maintain face covering requirements
on federal property in accordance with the Centers' guidelines. Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The government will also work to increase the supply of tests for the virus, it will be announced that the White House has secured concessions from retailers,
including Walmart, Amazon and Kroger, to sell home test kits to market price.
The Administration will also send additional federal support to help schools operate safely, including additional funding for screening.
Biden will ask that large entertainment venues and stadiums require vaccination or negative testing to enter.
The requirement that large companies require their employees to be vaccinated or tested weekly will be enforced through an upcoming Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that
carries penalties of $ 14,000 per violation, according to an Administration official. .
The White House did not immediately say when it would take effect, but said workers would have enough time to get vaccinated.
The rule will also require large companies to provide paid time off for vaccination.
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[This nasal spray could become a new type of vaccine against COVID-19]
Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
will expand the vaccination requirement issued earlier this summer for nursing home staff to other healthcare settings, such
as hospitals, home health agencies and dialysis centers.
On the other hand, the Department of Health and Human Services will require vaccination in Head Start programs, as well as in schools managed by the Department of Defense and the Office of Indian Education,
which will affect about 300,000 employees.
Biden's order for executive branch workers and contractors includes exceptions for workers seeking religious or medical exemptions from vaccination, according to Psaki.
Federal workers and contractors will have 75 days to get fully vaccinated.
Workers who fail to do so will be referred to their agency's human resources departments for advice and disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
"We would like to be a model" for other organizations and businesses across the country, Psaki said, referring to the federal workforce.
The AP-NORC poll found that 55% of Americans are in favor of requiring civil service workers to be fully vaccinated, compared to 21% who oppose.
Biden has promoted the requirement for the COVID-19 vaccine in settings such as schools, workplaces and college campuses.
The White House hopes the strengthened federal mandate will inspire more companies to follow suit.
The rate of vaccination against COVID-19 decreases and only 53% of the country's population is fully immunized
Sept.
9, 202100: 54
The Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Indian Health Service, and the National Institutes of Health have previously announced vaccination requirements for much of their staff, and the
Pentagon decided last month to require that all service members get vaccinated.
Together, the White House estimates that these requirements cover 2.5 million Americans.
More than 177 million are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus,
but confirmed cases of the virus have skyrocketed in recent weeks to an average of about 140,000 a day, with an average of about 1,000 Americans dying daily from the virus, according to CDC data.
Most of the spread, as well as the vast majority of serious illnesses and deaths, is occurring among those who are not yet fully vaccinated against the virus.
"We cannot accept that this is the new normal," said Dr. Leana Wen, a
former Baltimore health commissioner who regularly comments on the pandemic.
If the pandemic continues, it will mean 500,000 deaths a year.
Wen has been urging the White House to take a firmer line on vaccine requirements, including the use of so-called vaccine "passports" for travel and mandates in the workplace.
"I want to see the full power of the federal government here,
and no more half measures," he said.
US reaches 39 million COVID-19 cases while many hospitals are saturated
Aug. 30, 202101: 40
Federal officials are advancing their plans to begin administering booster vaccines
.
Last month, Biden announced plans to make them available to users beginning September 20, but it is likely that by then only Pfizer's vaccine will have received regulatory approval for a third dose.
Federal regulators are seeking additional data from Moderna that will likely delay its booster approval until October.
Authorities intend to administer the booster vaccines about eight months after the second dose of the two-dose vaccines.
[COVID-19 deaths double over last year's Labor Day]
