Biden Defends His Administration’s Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate

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President Joe Biden defended his administration’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for businesses, saying that they will be good for the economy as a whole and not lead to worker shortages.

The mandate applies to businesses with at least 100 employees and will go into effect on January 4, according to the Department of Labor (DOL).

“As we’ve seen with businesses – large and small – across all sectors of our economy, the overwhelming majority of Americans choose to get vaccinated,” Biden said in a statement. “There have been no ‘mass firings’ and worker shortages because of vaccination requirements. Despite what some predicted and falsely assert, vaccination requirements have broad public support.”

“Businesses have more power than ever before to accelerate our path out of this pandemic, save lives, and protect our economic recovery,” he added. “Vaccination requirements are good for the economy. They not only increase vaccination rates but they help send people back to work – as many as 5 million American workers. They make our economy more resilient in the face of COVID and keep our businesses open.”

The mandate will affect roughly 100 million Americans. It will include a vaccine mandate for all federal workers and contractors, in addition to a requirement that large companies must mandate vaccines or regular testing for employees.