In the United States, the weather is not really epidemic ebb.
The country is even in the midst of an epidemic wave, carried by the delta variant.
More than 1,500 people died in hospital yesterday as a result of the disease.
The death toll has increased by 30% in two weeks.
It has been months since the United States formally gave up on the quest for collective immunity.
But it's like a hint of annoyance that seems to dawn in the White House, when too many Americans are still reluctant to be vaccinated.
"Our patience is running out," said Joe Biden, before announcing new measures to push Americans to get vaccinated.
What did Joe Biden decide?
The US president signed an executive order for the sole purpose of increasing the vaccination rate. Two frameworks have been established. For federal government employees, their contractors and employees of the public hospital, vaccination will simply be mandatory. And a form of health pass will also come into effect in companies with more than 100 employees.
It is with some mischief that President Joe Biden cited the example of Fox News, which has already implemented the measure while it has helped to instill doubt about vaccines for months.
Managers will be asked to ensure the vaccination of their employees or the presentation of a negative Covid test every week.
Never had Joe Biden gone so far to push for vaccination.
These new measures are expected to affect nearly 100 million Americans, or two-thirds of the country's workforce.
The Department of Labor is developing an emergency rule to require that all employers with 100 or more employees ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week.
pic.twitter.com/Yn2kDf63FU
- Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 10, 2021
If companies do not comply with these new provisions, they would face potentially large fines, which could reach 14,000 dollars per employee, CNN noted, citing a politician.
Employees who refuse to submit to these constraints could be subject to disciplinary sanctions.
Why this measure?
While he delivered a message filled with optimism on July 4, Joe Biden was much more worried last night.
"It's the pandemic of the unvaccinated," he said.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the hospitalization rate of the unvaccinated is seventeen times higher than that of the vaccinated.
“We have been patient, but our patience is dwindling.
Your refusal has cost us all, ”he adds.
The American president has therefore decided to crack down on an America that still seems to be cut in two. The disparities in vaccination rates remain very strong from one state to another. They range from around 40% in states such as Mississippi or Wyoming to 70% in Washington DC. According to a poll commissioned by ABC News and the Washington Post, carried out at the end of August, 52% of Americans approve of Joe Biden's handling of the health crisis… This is ten points less than a poll carried out in month of June.
Joe Biden faces very strong reluctance from antivaccines. The issue of children is at the heart of heated legal debates in the United States. "Parents, vaccinate your teenagers", launched the American president yesterday. He has set himself the goal of keeping schools open as much as possible. In the United States, the majority of schools have been closed for almost 18 months. But even the wearing of a mask is the subject of a standoff. Anti-mask governors have simply banned the possibility of making it compulsory in school. Currently, 90% of teachers are vaccinated, according to the US president, who wants to increase this rate to 100%. Joe Biden also intends to deploy millions of free tests to better control the epidemic. Companies like Amazon,Kroger and Walmart will sell the home tests at cost.
Possible in France?
In France, the control of the health pass is mandatory only in companies in which it is requested from customers.
Elsewhere, employees do not have to present a document certifying a complete vaccination schedule or the performance of a recent negative test.
With regard to compulsory vaccination, it was imposed in particular on all nursing staff.
During his televised address on July 12, the President of the Republic did not rule out imposing vaccination more widely if it became necessary. If nothing has been acted on for the moment, government spokesman Gabriel Attal himself recalled on August 29 on RTL that compulsory and generalized vaccination remained an option. In the Senate, the Socialists defend this solution and decided to table a bill in this direction on August 31. "Are we going to live like that with semi-freedoms for a long time to come, with a health pass that fractures society, PCR tests that will become paying, when we now know that the real means is is the vaccination? The individual freedom of some cannot endanger the collective security of an entire nation ”,explains Patrick Kanner to Ouest-France.