It's a method he never wanted to use — and had ruled out before he took office — though, one that he feels he was forced into by a stubborn slice of the public that has declined to get the lifesaving shots and risked the lives of others and the nation's economic recovery.
In the following weeks, over 100 million Americans will be subject to vaccine specifications ordered by Biden — and his administration is urging employers to take extra steps voluntarily that would push vaccines on people or subject them to onerous testing requirements.
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Forcing people to do something they don't want to do is rarely a winning political strategy. Though, with the majority of the nation already vaccinated and with industry on his side, Biden has emerged as an unlikely advocate of browbeating tactics to drive vaccinations.
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Biden on Thursday takes that message to Chicago, where he will visit a suburban construction site run by Clayco, a big building company that is supposed to declare a new vaccinate-or-test requirement for its workforce. The company is taking action weeks ahead of a future rule by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that will ask all employers with over 100 employees to ask that their staff be vaccinated or face weekly testing for the coronavirus.
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White House officials announced Biden will encourage other businesses to follow suit, by taking action before the OSHA rule and to go even further by requiring shots for their employees without suggesting a test-out option.
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Biden is further supposed to meet with the CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby, whose company famously performed a vaccine mandate — with no option for workers to rather be tested. Less than 1% have failed to comply and risk termination.
Though, Biden's mandates have “worked spectacularly well,” announced Lawrence Gostin, a public health specialist at Georgetown University’s law school. He continued that the president's rules have further had a “modeling effect” for cities, states and businesses. That’s what the White House intended.
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U.S. officials started anticipating the need for a more forceful vaccination campaign by April, when the country's supply of shots started to outpace demand. Though, political conditions meant immediate measures to require shots would have likely proved counterproductive.
The concept of mandatory vaccination faced pushback from critics who claim it smacks of government overreach and takes away people’s rights to make their own medical decisions.