84 million American workers, if they want not to pay fines that could go up to $ 14,000, they will have to be vaccinated against Coronavirus or they will have to undergo weekly tests. All of this, decided by the White House together with the business and trade union world, it will take effect from 4 January. Companies with more than 100 employees they will have to request that their employees be fully vaccinated against the Coronavirus or undergo weekly tests.
This measure, the most decisive prepared so far, will be of great interest 84 million workers who will have to respect the order in order not to fall into heavy penalties which, depending on the severity, could reach a maximum of $ 14,000.
The new vaccination plan was announced as early as September, when Biden used presidential power to get the measure passed immediately. However, many companies have decided to wait for clarification of the Government on who will have to pay for Covid-19 tests and whether the regulations will also apply to smart working workers.
OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has drawn up a protocol that provides, among other things, that unvaccinated workers take a Covid test (which must be negative) at least once a week in order to go to the office and then always wear a mask. As for the 17 million health workers in hospitals and institutions backed by Medicare funds and Medicaid health insurance, vaccination is mandatory, with no alternative. The only exceptions to not getting vaccinated are for medical and religious reasons.
According to OSHA forecasts, Biden’s executive order will save more than one life 6,500 workers and will avoid more than 250,000 hospitalizations in the next six months. In September, the country, after the deaths of nearly 800,000 people, forced all civil servants in its central administration to vaccinate as the first in the world.
What is still unclear is how the government will check that medium / large companies comply with the new requirements at the regional level. But administration officials have confirmed that the announced measures are above state laws or orders, including those that prohibit employers from requiring vaccinations, Covid tests or the use of masks from their workers.
The legal battle now moves to the political terrain. Republicans in the Senate have already proposed to vote to revoke the mandate of the mandatory vaccine. But this initiative is doomed to die as the Democrats are in control of the Upper House. But already several republican area attorneys general announced that intend to take legal action against the new regulation, arguing that only Congress can enact requirements under emergency authority. And the legal battle has just begun.
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