Biden's compulsory vaccination: "The time to wait is over"

Appeals have not had enough effect, now stricter rules should help.

Joe Biden, who had previously hesitated with vaccination regulations, is now doing what he can do without a Congress resolution: With a presidential decree, he prescribes federal authorities and, within limits, the private sector to require employees to vaccinate.

"The time to wait is over," said the President on Thursday in the White House.

Last but not least, it is about "protecting vaccinated employees from the unvaccinated".

The Ministry of Labor is due to issue an order shortly that will affect all companies with more than a hundred employees.

Accordingly, employees of such companies will soon either have to be fully vaccinated or have themselves tested for the coronavirus on a weekly basis.

Companies could also do without the test option and require vaccinations for everyone, the ministry emphasized.

Employers who violate the rules are expected to pay fines of up to $ 14,000.

Biden appeals to governors

Biden's new guidelines are the strictest for federal employees. You have to be fully vaccinated - the option to get tested instead is eliminated. The same will apply to all company employees who work for the government. However, the regulation stipulates that employees have 75 days to be immunized - only then could they be dismissed. According to American media reports, there should be exception clauses for medical or even religious reasons against the vaccination. And, according to the New York Times, federal court and congressional staff will not be affected - the new guidelines will only apply to the executive branch.

Biden announced that he is planning further action for health and social services funded by the federal health programs Medicare and Medicaid. And the traffic authority will double the fines for passengers who refuse to wear a protective mask on airplanes. Appealing to people's voluntariness has proven inadequate, the president said. "We have been patient, but our patience is getting smaller and your refusal has cost us all," Biden said to those who still do not want to be vaccinated. Eighty million people still refuse immunization.

Biden also once again appealed to the governors to issue similar orders, particularly for schools and universities.

He urged cinemas, theaters, and other entertainment venues to require guests to have either vaccination certificates or a negative test.

This is already the case in cities like New York, where people are now dancing indoors again in discos.

"Intervention in individual freedom"

Biden does not need a Congress resolution for the new rules, which affect around one hundred million people and thus almost two thirds of all employees. The White House said that he had consulted with the health authorities and lawyers before issuing the relevant orders. The Republican National Committee, the Republicans' national organization platform, has already announced that it will take the order to court. Lawrence Gostin, a lawyer at Georgetown University, told the New York Times that Biden's move was "brave," but legally very secure. The Association of American Hospitals, on the other hand, was critical: compulsory vaccinations for medical staff could lead to an exacerbation of the staff shortage.According to the “Covid States Project” of Harvard University and other universities, 27 percent of employees are currently still unvaccinated.

Vaccination and protective measures against the coronavirus have become an ideological issue since the beginning of the pandemic.

Many conservatives portray compulsory immunizations as an encroachment on individual freedom. Several Florida governors, such as Ron DeSantis, went so far as to forbid their school authorities from compulsory vaccination in the classroom.

DeSantis appealed a court order earlier this week that upheld stricter school districts.

"The government has exceeded its powers"

In the United States, the faltering vaccination campaign and the delta variant of the coronavirus are causing the number of infections to rise dramatically in many areas. So far, 53 percent of the population have been vaccinated, although the government announced months ago that there was enough vaccine for everyone. The seven-day average number of new infections is currently more than 144,000. More than 101,000 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 infection, and clinic spaces and staff are becoming scarce in regions with low vaccination rates.

For example, there are still 23 vacant beds in intensive care units across the state of Arkansas, according to Governor Asa Hutchinson. According to Hutchinson, 91.5 percent of Covid patients in the hospital and 90 percent of the virus deaths in his state were not fully vaccinated. But that didn't stop the Republican from cursing Biden's vaccination ordinance like many of his party colleagues.

He was in favor of vaccination and supported it when companies voluntarily required their employees to have one. But he was against restricting the "freedom" of companies, said Hutchinson, who heads the Association of Governors - wanting to impose vaccination rules on employers is an "overstepping of competencies" by the government. Arizona's Governor Doug Doucey tweeted that Biden's approach was "dictatorial," while his colleague Kristi Noem from South Dakota called the regulations unconstitutional.