Following the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine, Joe Biden has called upon private companies to implement vaccination mandates for their employees.
As National File reported, the FDA on Monday approved the Pfizer COVID vaccine for anyone aged 16 and above. “While this and other vaccines have met the FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock in an FDA news release.
Following the FDA’s announcement, Joe Biden took to a press conference to demand that private companies now institute vaccination mandates for their employees “Today I’m calling on more countries, more companies I should say in the private sector, to step up the vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people,” Biden said. “If you’re a business leader, a non-profit leader, a state or local leader, who has been waiting for the full FDA approval to require vaccinations, I call on you now to do that. Require it. Do what I did last month – require your employees to get vaccinated, or face strict requirements.”
NOW – Biden calls on U.S. companies to mandate the #COVID19 vaccine for employees following the FDA decision.pic.twitter.com/DPITsiv6PL
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 23, 2021
As Biden noted, every federal government employee must currently “attest” to their vaccination status, with stringent restrictions put in place against anybody who is unvaccinated. “Any federal employee who does not attest, or who is not vaccinated, will be required to mask, no matter where they work, get tested once or twice a week, socially distance, and generally will not be allowed to travel for work,” said White House Coronavirus Reponse Director Jeff Zients, along with ensuring the same restrictions for any contractors. “If you want to do business with the federal government, get your workers vaccinated.”
Despite the call from Biden for vaccination mandates, Rochelle Walensky, the Director of the Center for Disease Control, admitted that the effectiveness of the vaccines are “waning,” especially against the Delta and other variants. “Reports from our international colleagues, including Israel, suggest increased risk of severe disease amongst those vaccinated early,” Walensky confirmed.