President Takes Action to Up Vaccination Rate

On Thursday, President Joe Biden issued an executive order requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for staff members at all healthcare facilities that receive federal funding. According to the White House, this would cover more than 17 million employees in total. Under the new rules, these employees won’t have the option to get routinely tested as an alternative to being vaccinated. 

Among other things, the new policy implements a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all hospitals and other facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding — about 50,000 healthcare providers in total. Biden’s plan also involves an emergency requirement that companies with more than 100 employees require workers to be vaccinated or get tested weekly.  

These new requirements are part of a larger plan to stop the spread of COVID-19, which Biden unveiled Thursday afternoon. The effective date of the various rules implementing these vaccine mandates varies depending upon the federal agency involved, so stay tuned for further updates.