Biden to require federal workers to get vaccinated against COVID - 19

WASHINGTON, Sept 13 Reuters - President Joe Biden announced new mandates on Thursday to encourage Americans who are not vaccinated against COVID - 19 to get a shot. The measures apply to more than 100 million workers, but it is not known how many are already vaccinated.

Here is a look at what these measures are and don't do:

That would cover an estimated four million federal employees and workers covered on government contracts.

In addition, Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA will issue a rule of emergency authority in the coming weeks to require employers with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers get vaccines or get tested weekly. That would have an impact on around 80 million private sector workers.

OSHA said the new emergency temporary standard will also apply to public sector state and local government workers, including educators and school staff, in 26 states and two territories with a state OSHA plan. The Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS will further issue a rule requiring vaccinations for workers in most healthcare facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement, including hospitals, dialysis centers, ambulatory surgical settings and home health agencies - about 17 million healthcare workers. More than half of them have had vaccination (64,2% of hospital staff, 60.7% of nursing home staff and 54,7% of workers working at dialysis facilities).

Federal workers have roughly 75 days to get their vaccinations, the White House indicated.

For healthcare workers, CMS issuing a so-called interim final rule, which becomes effective immediately upon official publication in mid to late October.

The agency has urged all workers who are not currently vaccinated to begin the process immediately.

The clock for private sector workers doesn't tick until the Department of Labor issues its rule, expected in the coming weeks. After that, they are likely to have a period of 50 to 90 days to comply, officials said.

The federal employee mandate includes legally recognized exceptions for limited reasons, such as disability or religious objections, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act forbids discrimination against any employee based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. A very small number of faith groups in the United States have a theological objection https: www.vumc.org. org health-wellness news-resource-messages immunizations to vaccinations and religious beliefs they say interfere with divine providence.

The vaccines are not recommended for people with allergies to some ingredients.

Federal workers who refuse to get vaccinated will eventually receive counseling and eventually face termination if they continue in refusing the vaccination.

Companies that don't comply with the rule could be fined nearly $14,000 per violation.

It is not immediately clear how the CMS can enforce compliance, but the agency has the power to terminate agreements with entities that violate its regulations.