Biden’s vaccine rules for 100 million workers are here. Here are the details

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A man approaches a van from a COVID-19 vaccine mobile clinic hosted by McDonald’s and the California Department of the Public Health on September 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.

Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

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Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

The Coronavirus Crisis
Faced with losing their jobs, even the most hesitant are getting vaccinated

Health care workers don’t have testing option under separate rule: A second rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires some 17 million health care workers to be vaccinated by the same deadline, January 4, 2022, with no option for weekly testing in lieu of vaccination. The rule covers all employees — clinical and non-clinical — at approximately 76,000 health care facilities that receive federal funding from Medicare or Medicaid.

Earlier, President Biden had ordered federal workers and contractors to be vaccinated, with no testing option. Federal workers have until November 22 to get the shots, while federal contractors now have until January 4.

Vaccine requirements have proved successful, but a backlash is expected

In rolling out the new rules, Biden administration officials said vaccine requirements are good for the economy and hailed the success of vaccine mandates, with only a small fraction of workers choosing to leave their jobs rather than comply. Employers from Tyson Foods to the Houston Methodist hospital system have reported vaccination rates topping 96%.

Well before the details of the rules were released, there was backlash from Republican states, with two dozen state Attorneys General threatening to sue the Biden administration.

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In a letter addressed to President Biden on September 16, they warned that a vaccine requirement would drive further skepticism of the Covid vaccines and cause some workers to leave their jobs, further straining an «already-too-tight labor market.» They also asserted that an OSHA rule would be illegal and disputed the notion that COVID-19 is a work-related hazard that falls under the agency’s jurisdiction.

Companies covered by the OSHA rule can challenge it in court, and challenges are expected in the coming days.

This week, the Biden administration was quick to lay out its legal authority in issuing the rule, citing the responsibility OSHA has to provide workers with safe and healthy working conditions and to act quickly when workers are found to be facing a grave danger.

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Healthcare workers in Miami, Florida, administer COVID-19 tests at a 24-hour drive-through site set up by Miami-Dade County and Nomi Health on August 30, 2021.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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There is an additional step some states will have to take before the vaccine-or-test rule takes effect in their states. Twenty-one states and Puerto Rico have OSHA-approved state plans that govern workplace safety. Within 30 days, those states must enact rules of their own that are at least as effective as the federal rule.

Last month, the Labor Department threatened to revoke the state plans of three states — Arizona, South Carolina and Utah — that had not yet adopted an emergency rule issued by OSHA in June aimed at protecting health care workers.

While those same states and others could similarly delay the implementation of the federal vaccine-or-test rule, employers in those states may nonetheless decide to move forward on their own.

• vaccine mandate
• COVID-19 vaccination
• COVID testing
• COVID-19