President Joe Biden is planning to make an announcement on Thursday that is going to sweep the nation, including new vaccine mandates.
Biden is expected to ask the Department of Labor to issue a rule requiring all employers who employ 100 employees or more to require the workforce to be fully vaccinated or produce a negative Covid test at least once a week, according to a report from NBC. Businesses could face a $14,000 fine per violation and this would affect two-thirds of the America’s workforce.
The president is also expected to order most health care facilities to require their staff be fully vaccinated as a condition of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, a move that would affect 17 million workers.
Biden’s administration wanted a “summer of freedom” months ago, leaning away from mandates. But now, they are leaning towards them as unvaccinated people continue to die from Covid-19 every week.
As Covid cases and quarantines result in school closures, Biden is expected to call on all schools to schedule regular testing with plans to provide additional funding for local school districts that have already had their funding cut by state governments.
Biden will make the official announcement in a speech from the White House Thursday at 5 p.m.