A new set of mandates announces by President Joe Biden seeks a more aggressive approach to combating COVID-19 without calling for a national vaccination requirement.
According to the Associated Press, a new set of vaccine mandates announced by President Joe Biden will now require all employers with more than 100 workers must be vaccinated or submit for weekly virus test for the virus weekly and workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare/Medicaid will also have to be fully vaccinated.
The new mandates require that all federal workers and contractors must get vaccinated, with limited exceptions. Private employers with 100 or more workers will have to require them to be vaccinated or tested weekly, although employers must provide paid time off for vaccination.
All health care workers employed at hospitals, clinics and other facilities that accept Medicare/Medicaid payments must get vaccinated. Any employees working at a Head Start early childhood education and other federal education program must get vaccinated.
Mask requirements will continue for interstate travel and in federal buildings and the Transportation Security Administration will double fines on airline, train, and other travelers who refuse to mask up.
The Associated Press also reported the Pentagon would double military medical teams helping local hospitals overwhelmed with virus patients. Federal agencies will also boost shipments of a COVID-19 treatment known as monoclonal antibodies by 50 percent, and medical teams will be dispatched to help administer the treatments.
But despite the aggressive new requirements, the new mandates stop short of any kind of national vaccination requirements, and also observe the role of local and state governments even in a time of crisis. For example, the new mandates only urge state governors to encourage vaccination for school district employees and only encourage stadiums, concert halls, and other venues for large events to require proof of vaccination or negative COVID test.
The new mandates were announced in response to the dramatic increase in COVID-19 infections since the end of July, and reports estimate that 80 million people remain unvaccinated.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, a total of 40,523,954 COVID-19 cases have been reported as of September 8, 2021. the current seven-day moving average of daily new cases (136,558) decreased 12.7 percent compared with the previous seven-day moving average (156,341) as of September 8, 2021. The website also reported the current seven -day moving average was 99.3 percent higher than the value observed approximately one year ago (68,527 new cases on July 20, 2020). The current seven-day moving average is 46.2 percent lower than the peak observed on January 10, 2021 (254,016) and was 1,076 percent higher than the lowest value observed on June 18, 2021 (11,613).
As of September 15, vaccination continues to only be an option for the individuals not working in the previously mentioned fields. Any new federal requirements will depend on what happens in the coming months.