Top White House officials are attempting to increase vaccination rates by urging private employers to require workers to get the jab.
After the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, President Joe Biden spoke out to ask companies to place vaccine requirements on their workforce.
“Today, I’m calling on more country — more companies, I should say, in the private sector to step up with vaccine requirements that’ll 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 full FDA approval to require vaccinations, I call on you now to do that — require it. Do what I did last month and require your employees to get vaccinated or face strict requirements.”
Biden previously announced that federal workers must choose between the vaccine or rigorous testing, masking, and social distancing requirements.
Some of America’s largest companies, including Walmart, Walt Disney, Google, Facebook, and Uber have imposed vaccine mandates for workers. The Walmart requirement applies only to office workers and regional management staffers, not to warehouse workers, store associates, or other “front line” workers.
So far, almost all U.S. trucking companies have shied away vaccine mandates for workers, but the FDA approval and increasing pressure from the federal government could sway some. However, polls indicate that the trucking community isn’t keen on getting vaccinated, and with many companies struggling to hire and retain drivers amid lingering supply chain volatility caused by the pandemic, it seems unlikely that vaccine mandates for drivers could become widespread anytime soon.