For 100 million people: Biden expands regulations on mandatory vaccination

The US government wants to contain the corona pandemic with the help of vaccination regulations.

New regulations for corona vaccination are to apply to almost 100 million employees in the private sector and the healthcare sector.

US President Joe Biden's government is also tightening vaccination regulations for all federal government employees and suppliers.

Companies with more than 100 employees should be required to have all employees vaccinated or to be tested for an infection with the coronavirus at least once a week.

The regulation is currently being developed under the leadership of the Ministry of Labor and will apply to around 80 million private sector employees, the White House said on Thursday.

In addition, all employees in hospitals and health care facilities who accept payments from state health insurances will have to be vaccinated against Corona in the future.

The regulation will apply to around 17 million employees, it said.

The state programs Medicare and Medicaid mainly cover the elderly, the disabled and the needy.

Vaccination compulsory for teachers too

US President Joe Biden wanted to announce the steps for the further fight against the coronavirus and the strengthening of the vaccination campaign in the late afternoon (local time).

Biden also wants to call on all US states to make the corona vaccination compulsory for school employees and teachers.

Shortly beforehand, the White House had already confirmed that all employees of the federal government will shortly be vaccinated.

There will be only a few exceptions for specific health or religious reasons, said Biden's spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

The previously introduced option of exempting yourself from mandatory vaccination through regular corona tests is to be discontinued.

The scheme should also apply to companies that work for the government.

Federal employees have up to 75 days to get fully vaccinated, Psaki said.

Employees who had not been vaccinated by then were threatened with disciplinary measures via the responsible HR department, which could lead to dismissal.

The government, as one of the largest employers in the country, wants to set a model for all companies with the regulation, said Psaki.

Recently, Biden had repeatedly advertised compulsory corona vaccination in companies and urged employers to act.

Only slow progress

The steps announced by the White House would provide additional support for the vaccination requirements that already exist at the federal level.

The regulations of the Ministry of Defense and the authorities for veterans already affect around 2.5 million employees, it said.

The vaccination campaign in the USA is making very slow progress despite many incentives.

So far, 53.4 percent of the population of around 330 million people have been vaccinated.

The vaccinations are approved for adolescents from 12 years of age and adults.

In the population group aged 12 and over, 62.5 percent are fully vaccinated.

Due to the particularly contagious Delta variant of the corona virus, the pandemic in the USA had recently picked up speed again.

The CDC health authority reported almost 140,000 new infections and around 1,100 deaths per day on average.