Biden to announce sweeping vaccine mandates affecting millions of workers

Federal workers who previously had the choice of undergoing regular testing instead of getting vaccinated will no longer have that option.

President Joe Biden on Thursday plans to announce sweeping new vaccine mandates designed to ramp up pressure on the unvaccinated, putting in place additional requirements for federal employees, large employers, and health care providers that will affect around 100 million workers.

Biden will ask the Department of Labor to issue a rule requiring all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or produce a negative Covid test at least once a week, said a senior administration official. The requirement could carry a $14,000 fine per violation and would affect two-thirds of the country’s workforce, the official said.

Biden will also order that the vast majority of health care facilities require their staff be fully vaccinated as a condition of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, a move that would affect 17 million workers at 50,000 health care providers, the official said. As of July, 27 percent ofthe country’s health care workers were unvaccinated, according to a study by the Covid States Project.

The administration, which shied away from mandates early in the summer, is now embracing them, as the president Biden once billed as the “summer of freedom” ends with thousands of unvaccinated Americans dying from Covid-19 every week. Much of Biden’s wider agenda and political standing is seen as dependent on his ability to address the pandemic, with his approval numbers falling as new infections rise.

Biden will announce the measures in a speech from the White House Thursday as part of a broader plan to combat the virus.

In the remarks, Biden is also expected to announce two executive orders requiring all federal executive branch workers and employees of contractors that do business with the federal government be vaccinated, according to a person familiar with the plans. Biden had given federal workers the choice of undergoing regular testing instead of getting vaccinated, but that testing opt-out will no longer be an option.

“It’s simple: If you want to work for the federal government, you must be vaccinated. If you want to do business with the government, you must vaccinate your workforce,” the senior administration official said.

To make testing more accessible, the president will announce that Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger will start selling at-home rapid tests for no profit for the next three months, resulting in a 35 percent price cut by the end of the week. Medicaid will also cover at-home tests for free for beneficiaries, and the federal government will expand a free testing program to 10,000 pharmacies.

To help address surging cases in schools that has results in hundreds of closures over the past month, an administration official said the president will call on all schools to set up regular testing and plans to make additional funding available for local school districts that have had their funding cut by state governments for implementing Covid safety measures, such as mask requirements.

The Department of Education has launched investigations into whether mask mandates in five states discriminate against students with disabilities who are at heightened risk for severe illness from Covid by preventing them from accessing in person education, the official said.

The administration will also require 30,000 Head Start teachers to be vaccinated and will call on governors to require vaccinations for teachers and school staff, the official said.

The CDC recommends testing be offered to students who have not been fully vaccinated when there is an elevated spread of the virus, and teachers and staff who have not been fully vaccinated should be screened regardless of the level of community transmission.

This story originally appeared on NBC