White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says that the Biden administration is not planning on imposing a vaccine mandate and will not keep track of those who have been vaccinated, but that it will allow business, colleges and universities to demand proof of vaccination. The Mail has the story.
[Last week, it was reported that some states are requesting small fractions of their allotted Covid vaccine doses from the Federal Government to save them from having to throw misused doses away due to the waning of demand.]“Private sector companies may decide that they want to have requirements. That’s up to them. We have no plans to change our approach from the Federal Government,” Psaki said…
Nearly half of Americans (46.8%) have had at least one dose of Covid vaccine, and more than 36% have been fully vaccinated.
But nearly 20% of Americans are “vaccine hesitant” – with the highest rates among Republicans – and notions of mandates for vaccination or masks have become politically divisive in the U.S..
So far, liberal states including New York are using vaccine passports at some events, while conservative states like Texas and Florida have banned companies for asking their employees for proof of vaccination.
While public health officials are desperately trying to convince Americans to get vaccinated, they worry that mandates would backfire and only make more people hesitant to get the shots…
It’s up to states whether schools require shots or not, and the Federal Government does not legally require any health interventions, nor proof of them.
Back in April, Psaki said: “The Government is not now nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential.”
She acknowledged that private companies and non-profits likely would consider asking their employees to show proof of vaccination, as is their right, but requiring Americans to get the shots was not on the table for the Federal Government.
“Our interest is very simple from the Federal Government, which is Americans’ privacy and rights should be protected so these systems are not used against people unfairly,” Psaki said.
A number of U.S. universities, including Brown, Cornell and Stanford, have already announced that they will require their staff and students to be vaccinated against Covid before being permitted to return to campuses later this year, though it is unclear how state executive orders banning Covid vaccine passports will affect these demands.
The Mail report is worth reading in full.
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