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WASHINGTON – The US Labor Department on Tuesday submitted to the White House the initial text of President Joe Biden's plan to require private-sector workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or get tested regularly.
The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration submitted the proposed rule for review. Some details could change, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The move indicates the proposed standard could be released soon.
The mandate would apply to businesses with 100 or more employees and will be implemented under a federal rule-making mechanism known as an emergency temporary standard. It would affect roughly 80 million workers nationwide.
Along
with Biden's order last month that requires all federal workers and contractors
to be vaccinated, the orders cover 100 million people, about two-thirds of the
US work force.
Biden's mandate announcement in September came at a breaking-point moment as the country struggled to control the pandemic and a large swath of the nation's population refused to accept free vaccinations that have been available for months. The coronavirus has killed more than 700 000 Americans.
The workplace vaccine order has spurred pushback from many Republican governors, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
If you come across Covid-19 vaccination information that you do not trust, read Covid-19 vaccine myths debunked: Get the facts here. If you can't find the facts you're looking for, email us at the address mentioned in the article and we will verify the information with medical professionals.
