The US government announced details of the requirements announced by President Joe Biden for companies with more than 100 employees.
As of January 4th, these employers will have to require their employees to have either a full vaccination against corona or weekly negative tests. “This regulation affects 84 million workers,” said a government official.
Because vaccines are safe and free, the authorities did not require companies to offer or pay for corona tests, it said. Companies that do not comply with the requirements would have to pay a fine. The sum could vary between around 14,000 US dollars (around 12,000 euros) and more than 136,000 US dollars (around 117,000 euros) – depending on the severity or number of violations.
The vaccination or test regulations also apply to health care workers whose facilities receive federal funds from the public health insurances Medicare and Medicaid. “The regulation applies to around 76,000 health facilities and more than 17 million employees in the health care system,” it said. Biden had announced these measures weeks ago.
The US vaccination campaign is making slow progress. So far, a good 58 percent of the population of around 330 million people have been vaccinated. In the summer, the USA was hit hard by the delta wave – but the number of infections is now falling again significantly. Biden had repeatedly advertised the vaccination against Corona. In view of the slow progress, however, he increased the pressure and insisted on extensive vaccination requirements.