Photo: Matt Smith Photographer / Shutterstock.com
Will it work?
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Nov 04, 2021
To add to the many efforts from Joe Biden’s White House against the COVID-19 pandemic, our president rolled out 2 new rules for workers across the country.
As a strong advocate for vaccine mandates which have had a positive impact on the country, statistically, Biden decided he would pass more mandates — this time affecting 84 million workers.
U.S. companies with at least 100 employees must have workers vaccinated by January 4th.
Previously, Biden had passed vaccine mandates for government workers and contractors who work alongside the government.
The previous mandate was met with a lot of vitriol from the right who are in a constant battle against people who want the pandemic to be over.
Despite the controversy, however, very few people actually opt to get laid off versus getting the vaccine — proving its effectiveness.
This time, Biden is extending the vaccine mandates to private sectors and ruled that U.S companies with at least 100 employees must have workers vaccinated before the Jan 4th deadline.
According to the rule that was issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, companies must self-enforce the rule to make sure all of their workers are vaccinated.
Normally, Biden wouldn’t be able to force private companies to make sure that their workers are vaccinated but an official said that OSHA acted under emergency authority over workplace safety.
Employers are also required to give their workers paid time off for however long they take to get the vaccine and provide sick leave for workers to recover from any side effects, but they’re not going to pay for any COVID testing.
The vaccine isn’t the end-all-be-all either — workers are still allowed to work without getting the vaccine by testing negative for COVID once a week and following the mask mandate that is also a part of laws.
Health care workers must get vaccinated, without exemptions.
A second rule that was added by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services dictates that some 17 million health care workers must also get vaccinated by the 4th without any op-out.
This rule includes all health care facilities that are federally funded through Medicaid or Medicare — equalling over 76,000 facilities.
The vaccine mandates have been good for the country and for the economy.
There are several companies in the country that boast insanely high vaccination rates.
United Airlines revealed that they’ve vaccinated nearly 100% of their staff — sitting at 99.5%.
Tyson Foods, New York City schools, major hospital systems in Maine, and the NBA, are all boasting vaccination rates of over 90%.
Not only is it good for the health of the citizens of the United States, but it also helps the economy by keeping everyone healthy and working.
It allows people to go outside with a little less fear and a little more inclination to spend their money — especially after being cooped up for so long.
The only question now is whether or not the GOP will try to officially make a move against it.
On September 16th, a letter written to Biden by 24 state Attorney Generals criticized the previous vaccine mandate asserted that an OSHA rule would be illegal, and disputed the notion that COVID is a work-related hazard that falls under the agency's jurisdiction.
But the new mandate is largely expected to be privately enforced by the companies themselves and not OSHA.
Considering there are only a couple thousand state and federal OSHA inspectors nationwide, they will rely on employee complaints and add COVID-related inspections to their to-do lists when they are already on-site somewhere.
If the employers fail to meet the January 4th deadline, they could face fines of up to $13,653 per violation for serious violations and 10 times that for willful or repeated violations.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.