As of early October, Biden is planning on implementing a vaccine mandate to account for the millions of unvaccinated Americans in large businesses, healthcare, federal employees, and contracted work. He stated during an event in Chicago, “There is no other way to beat the pandemic than to get the vast majority of the American people vaccinated.” He continues with, “I’m calling more employers to act. My message is to require your employees to get vaccinated . . . Without them we face endless months of chaos in our hospitals, damage to our economy and anxiety in our schools and empty restaurants and much less commerce.”
The mandate would potentially boost the number of vaccinated adults in areas where rates are lower than average. Some businesses have been actively pushing this as a requirement for their employees otherwise they would risk termination; according to employers, a majority of their employees have complied with these rules. As of now, about 25% percent of companies based in the U.S. are making it mandatory for their employees to be fully vaccinated by December 8 of this year. The White House also believes that an increase in vaccination rates would have more people back in the labor force.
Certain major cities in the U.S. have also taken an extra step to encourage people to get vaccinated. The city of Los Angeles recently announced that proof of vaccination will now be required to dine indoors. New York City has also implemented a mandate that all school teachers must be fully vaccinated.
On top of state-wide mandates, federal mandates for U.S. service members have also taken place. The Pentagon announced that military personnel have until November 28 of this year to receive the coronavirus vaccine; however there are still a number of service members who are either unvaccinated or partially. Defense officials have continued to issue warnings about extremely rare exemption cases and potential punishment for those who resist against the rules.
Due to the increase in vaccination rates, the U.S. is celebrating the decline of Covid-19 cases and many Americans are anticipating a joyful holiday season without any further restrictions of complications. Dr. Anthony Fauci insists that this is due to complying with public health precautions while being fully vaccinated.
Experts also expressed concern about the upcoming holidays as temperatures begin to drop and more people are inclined to gather indoors where there is less air circulation, potentially increasing transmission. They fear a mirroring effect of last winter’s deadly surge and continue to encourage everyone to wear their masks indoors and avoid large gatherings as much as possible.
Julie Kim
Asia Journal
