In one of his most controversial announcements yet, Joe Biden has announced that all private sector employees that work for a company that has hired more than 100 employees will have to get vaccinated or show a weekly negative test for the COVID-19 virus.
This announcement will force millions of reluctant or hesitant individuals to get the vaccine or lose their jobs. Some companies may allow for weekly COVID-19 testing but it is currently unclear who would be forced to pay for the tests. Does the cost fall on the employer or on the employee? The answer to this question will likely be answered when more details of Biden’s plan are released to the public in the next several weeks.
Republicans across the country believe that this is an illegal requirement and several Governors from Republican states are promising to pursue legal action to prevent the vaccine mandates from taking place. It’s also possible that the Supreme Court will take action and announce that the mandates are not allowed.
Only time will tell if Biden is successfully able to mandate the vaccine for these private sector employees or if it could backfire and leave his administration responsible for angry unvaccinated citizens and a higher unemployment rate.
One of the disappointing parts of Biden’s announcement in addition to what has been discussed so far is that his administration is willing to impose fines up to $14,000 to businesses that don’t verify all of their employees are vaccinated. This comes about a year after states were forced to lockdown businesses due to the virus and so that only essential businesses could remain open.
Members of both political parties have expressed their personal beliefs that Joe Biden is overreaching with his authority to mandate these vaccines on the private sector. Lawsuits that climb all the way to the Supreme Court are fairly likely and it seems possible that it could be struck down.
So, how exactly is Biden going around the constitution to justify his vaccine mandate? His administration claims that the ‘Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970’ grants him the authority to enforce these workforce regulations regarding the vaccine.
Legal challenges are underway and it could be weeks or months before we know whether Biden’s administration is successful in enforcing the vaccine mandate. Even if he is successful, businesses are already losing workers and will likely lose millions more if this vaccine mandate goes into effect. The worker shortage that the administration has been facing may spiral out of control to a level that has not been seen in over a century.