President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday submitted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers for review, the first solid step it’s taken since Biden announced plans for the requirement last month.
Biden said the Department of Labor would develop the mandate, centering around a provision that every company with more than 100 employees would need to receive proof of vaccination from each worker or make them get tested for COVID-19 once a week.
A Department of Labor spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email late Oct. 12 that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an office within the agency, has been working “expeditiously” to develop the mandate, which it described as an “emergency temporary standard.”
Earlier Tuesday, as part of the regulatory review process, the agency “submitted the initial text of the emergency temporary standard to the Office of Management and Budget,” the spokesperson added.
Once the office concludes its review, the mandate will be published in the Federal Register. The public can view it and submit comments about it.
The submission is the first concrete step the administration has taken since Biden made his announcement on Sept. 9, leaving many business owners stunned.
“The bottom line: We’re going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers. We’re going to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by increasing the share of the workforce that is vaccinated in businesses all across America,” Biden said from the White House.
The White House had said previously it wouldn’t support forcing Americans to carry proof of vaccination but has since ordered federal workers to get a vaccine before announcing a private company mandate.
The mandate has drawn significant pushback, with state-level officials in over half the states promising to fight it once it’s unveiled.
By Zachary Stieber
