In the last 2 weeks, Biden had compelled thousands of government employees to certify their immunization history or risk further restrictions. At the White House, he spoke with business people to encourage others to perform the similar. However, with the change in situation even harder steps are expected from the administration to curb the spread of infection.
As vaccine rates in the United States started to drop, President Joe Biden advocated rewards including a million-dollar prize lottery if that was what it needed to convince people to encourage vaccines. However, as the number of additional coronavirus illnesses rises, he’s experimenting with a more aggressive strategy. He has already spoken to experts in medical and administration to have some strategic steps that can help to prevent the infection and reduce cases in different states.
“To the mayors, school superintendents, educators, local leaders, who are standing up to the governors politicizing mask protection for our kids: thank you,” Biden said Thursday. “Thank God that we have heroes like you, and I stand with you all, and America should as well.”
However, the government had made some strong moves towards requiring vaccinations for visitors entering the United States from other countries irrespective of their local rules. The White House is also considering ways to be extra proactive at the federal and regional levels, such as possible assistance for public schools that impose restrictions to curb the spreading of the disease, despite Republican opposition.
Again for time being, Biden has forced all government employees to certify their vaccine history, with individuals who had never gotten a dosage being asked to keep communication gap, test regularly for the disease, and undergo additional possible job limitations. Flu vaccination regulations are also “the right lever at the right time,” according to Ben Wakana, the White House COVID-19 response’s director-general of strategic
communications and engagement, who noted the populace’s growing trust in flu shots but said it traces a new process in the govt’s project to motivate Americans to even get shots.
“Through vaccination requirements, employers have the power to help end the pandemic,” according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients, who named firms, institutions, and local governments that have implemented them.
Although significant concern from companies that the hodgepodge of municipal and regional verifications left companies lacking a clear mechanism to implement requirements, Zients said the White House currently has zero intentions to establish the framework for so-called vaccination cards. Since of political concerns, the Biden administration offered to provide certification standards but eventually leaving almost all to the private industry and localities.
That isn’t to suggest they won’t be employed in the coming, as social perception continues to tilt in favor of vaccines as a method of restoring normality.
Lawrence Gostin, a professor of health law at Georgetown University, said Biden would likely need to continue to turn up the pressure on the unvaccinated. “He’s really going to have to use all the leverage the federal government has, and indeed use pressure points,” Gostin said. “And I think there are a few that he can do but he hasn’t done yet.”
“The country is completely fatigued with lockdowns, business closures, and masking,” added Gostin, “and vaccines are literally our only tool. We’ve tried masking, distancing, occupancy limits, even entire lockdowns now for coming along nearly two years. And the virus just keeps raging back. And the vaccines are the only thing we have now to defeat the virus. We need to use that tool and we need to use it vigorously. And I think there will be large public support for that.”
