Biden orders mandatory vaccination in companies with more than 100 workers

The Government of Joe Biden announced this Thursday that private companies with more than 100 employees must guarantee as of January 4 that their workers are vaccinated against COVID-19.

In case of not wanting to be vaccinated, the workers of these large companies will have to undergo weekly tests and also wear a mask all the time.

It is the most significant measure applied so far in the workplace against the pandemic by the Government, since it can affect up to 84 million private sector workers, according to White House calculations.

Although Biden Already announced in September its intention to adopt the measure, it is now that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Department of Labor has given clear guidelines on how to implement it.

In addition to ensuring that workers are vaccinated or undergo regular testing starting January 4, private companies will need to allow employees who so wish to receive the serum during working hours.

In a conversation with journalists, White House officials said that from that date the labor inspections will include controls on the vaccination order, with penalties of $ 13,653 per violation.

They also detailed that with this mandate they hope to prevent “thousands” of deaths and some 250,000 hospitalizations in USA.

A second measure that will also take effect on January 4 is the vaccination requirement for all workers at medical centers that participate in the public Medicare or Medicaid programs.

This second term affects more than 17 million workers.

Both measures announced today by the Government of Biden they add to that already ordered weeks ago for federal government contractors and federal workers, thus covering the majority of the US workforce.

About 70% of the adult population in USA She is already vaccinated with the full schedule, a figure that has risen in recent months since the government began to put pressure on companies to force their workers to receive the serum.