总统乔·拜登周四宣布，联邦政府雇员和承包商现在将被要求全面接种疫苗新冠肺炎(新型冠状病毒肺炎)，职业安全与健康管理局将为拥有100名或以上员工的私营企业制定一项规定，要求其员工接种疫苗或接受每周检测。
这些要求是拜登全面的新六部分战略的一部分对抗三角洲变异体这是拜登在白宫发表讲话时推出的。
一名高级政府官员估计，这项新的职业安全与健康管理局要求将覆盖约8000万名工人，不遵守该机构规定的企业可能面临巨额费用，最高可达1.4万美元。职业安全与健康管理局将要求这些雇主为疫苗接种提供带薪休假。
“我作为总统的工作是保护所有美国人，”拜登在宣布广泛的授权之前说。
作为他为联邦行政部门接种疫苗的努力的一部分，国防部、退伍军人事务部、印度卫生服务局和国家卫生研究院将完成其先前宣布覆盖250万人的疫苗接种要求。
这是总统7月份行动的升级，他呼吁联邦工作人员证明自己的疫苗接种状况，如果没有接种疫苗，就接受缓解措施，如口罩使用和定期检测。
拜登周四表示:“我们正处于艰难时期，这可能会持续一段时间。
他还瞄准了共和党官员，这些官员曾努力在他们的州宣布公共卫生授权为非法，比如德克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特和佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯。
“更糟糕的是，有民选官员在积极破坏打击新冠肺炎的斗争，”他继续说道。“他们没有鼓励人们接种疫苗并戴上口罩，而是为社区中因COVID而死亡的未接种疫苗者订购了移动停尸房。这是完全不能接受的。”
共和国总统拜登谴责“民选官员积极破坏”COVID斗争。“他们没有鼓励人们接种疫苗并戴上口罩，而是为社区中因COVID而死亡的未接种疫苗者订购了移动停尸房。这是完全不能接受的。”pic.twitter.com/UmxxN8MKZS
—美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2021年9月9日
总统还宣布，交通安全管理局的州际旅行口罩授权将延长至1月18日，不遵守规定的罚款将增加一倍，获得医疗保险和医疗补助报销的医疗保健机构必须要求其员工接种疫苗。这将覆盖全国约1700万名医护人员。
拜登还直接呼吁未接种疫苗的美国人尽自己的一份力量。
“我给未接种疫苗的美国人的信息是:还有什么要等待的?你还需要看什么?我们已经使疫苗接种免费、安全和方便。该疫苗已获得美国食品和药物管理局的批准。超过2亿美国人至少打了一针。我们一直很有耐心，但是我们的耐心越来越少了。你的拒绝让我们所有人付出了代价。所以，请做正确的事情，”拜登说。
共和国总统乔·拜登敦促团结一致抗击三角洲变异病毒:“如果我们能够团结一致，作为一个国家，使用这些工具，我们就有抗击病毒的工具。”https://t.co/oLSSHmdB8apic.twitter.com/Zeq7rxTQ3X
—美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2021年9月9日
在周四发布的一份声明中，最大的联邦执法联盟FLEOA推迟了总统的疫苗授权。
总统拉里·科姆说:“目前的授权只会破坏这些自愿接种疫苗的努力，降低公众接种疫苗的舒适度。
白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)周三在例行新闻发布会上告诉记者，拜登将“概述下一阶段抗击病毒的工作，以及这一阶段的情况，包括与公共和私营部门合作的措施。”
她说，他将“在我们已经宣布的步骤的基础上，在我们过去几个月采取的步骤的基础上，要求更多的疫苗接种，加强重要的检测措施等，让孩子们上学更安全，所有这些都发生在美国人民正在倾听的时候。同样，这将是我们在未来几个月努力实施的六个步骤。”
拜登的计划还提高了测试的可用性，降低了在家测试的成本，延长了州际旅行和联邦财产的屏蔽要求，并为陷入困境的小企业提供了额外的援助。
但是，除了命令全国210万联邦雇员和130万现役军人接种疫苗之外，拜登在为大多数美国人制定广泛的疫苗授权方面拥有有限的法律权力。
根据美国疾病控制和预防中心的数据，截至周三，大约75%的美国成年人已经接种了至少一剂疫苗，64.4%的美国成年人已经完全接种了疫苗。
拜登的讲话定于9月20日政府开始大规模推广辉瑞疫苗的前11天，这一过程因混乱而陷入困境，因为一些公共卫生专家表示，数据尚不支持对疫苗的需求。
New federal rule to require businesses with 100+ employees mandate vaccinations
PresidentJoe Bidenannounced on Thursday that federal government employees and contractors will now be required to be fully vaccinated againstCOVID-19, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will create a rule for private businesses with 100 or more employees to require their employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.
The requirements are part of Biden's sweeping new six-part strategy tocombat the delta variant, which was rolled out in remarks from Biden at the White House.
A senior administration official estimated that this new OSHA requirement will cover about 80 million workers and businesses that do not comply with the agency's rule can face substantial fees -- up to $14,000. OSHA will require these employers to offer paid time off for vaccination.
"My job as president is to protect all Americans," Biden said before announcing the broad mandates.
As part of his effort to vaccinate the federal executive branch, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indian Health Service and the National Institutes of Health will complete implementation of theirpreviously announcedvaccination requirements that cover 2.5 million people.
This is an escalation of the president's action in July calling for federal workers to attest to their vaccination status and submit to mitigation efforts if they are not vaccinated, such as mask usage and regular testing.
"We're in the tough stretch and it could last for a while," Biden said Thursday.
He also took aim at Republican officials who have worked to outlaw public health mandates in their states, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"To make matters worse, there are elected officials actively working to undermine the fight against COVID-19," he continued. "Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated and mask up, they're ordering mobile morgues for the unvaccinated dying from COVID in their communities. This is totally unacceptable."
Pres. Biden decries "elected officials actively working to undermine" COVID fight."Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated and mask up, they're ordering mobile morgues for the unvaccinated dying from COVID in their communities. This is totally unacceptable."pic.twitter.com/UmxxN8MKZS
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)September 9, 2021
The president also announced that the Transportation Security Administration's interstate travel mask mandate will be extended through Jan. 18, the fine for noncompliance will double and health care facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement must require their employees to be vaccinated. This will cover about 17 million health care workers across the country.
Biden also appealed directly to unvaccinated Americans to do their part.
"My message to unvaccinated Americans is this: What more is there to wait for? What more do you need to see? We've made vaccinations free, safe, and convenient. The vaccine has FDA approval. Over 200 million Americans have gotten at least one shot. We've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us. So, please, do the right thing," Biden said.
Pres. Joe Biden urges unity in fight against delta variant: "We have the tools to combat the virus if we can come together as a country and use those tools."https://t.co/oLSSHmdB8apic.twitter.com/Zeq7rxTQ3X
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)September 9, 2021
The largest federal law enforcement union FLEOA, pushed back on the president's vaccine mandate, in a statement released Thursday.
"A mandate at this time only undermines these voluntary vaccination efforts and reduces public comfort in getting vaccinated," President Larry Cosme said.
Speaking at her daily briefing Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Biden would "outline the next phase in the fight against the virus and what that looks like, including measures to work with the public and private sector."
She said he would be "building on the steps that we've already announced, the steps we've taken over the last few months, requiring more vaccinations, boosting important testing measures and more, making it safer for kids to go to school, all at a time when the American people are listening. Again, this will be six steps that we'll work to be implementing over the months ahead."
Biden's plan also increases testing availability and lowers the cost of at-home tests, extends masking requirements for interstate travel and on federal property, and provides additional aid to struggling small businesses.
But besides ordering the nation's 2.1 million federal employees and 1.3 million active duty service members get vaccinated, Biden has limited legal authority to institute a broad vaccine mandate for most Americans.
About 75% of the adult U.S. population has received at least one vaccine dose and 64.4% of the adult U.S. population is fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A recentABC News/Washington Post pollshowed Americans in August souring on Biden's handling of the pandemic, with his approval rating for his handling or the response dropping 10 points from June, down to 52%
Biden's remarks are scheduled for just 11 days before the administration is set to begin widely rolling out booster shots of Pfizer on Sept. 20, a process mired by confusion as some public health experts say the data doesn't yet support the need for boosters.
