The White House released a report to bolster its case for the Covid-19 vaccine mandate at companies with 100 employees or more. One argument is that increased vaccinations could return up to 5 million people to the workforce; it also argued such a mandate has broad support. Biden was also set to visit the Chicago area today to support his case for the mandate, which he announced last month.
“Without vaccination requirements, we face endless months of chaos in our hospitals, further detrimental impacts on our economy and anxiety in our schools. With them, we will accelerate our path out of the pandemic,” according to the report.
The report comes as some firms remain concerned about the cost and logistics of vaccine requirements; many workers remain concerned about the vaccines as well. In one example, a staffing firm warned the healthcare worker shortage could worsen if vaccine requirements now in place for travel nurses remain, WANE television reported.
One argument the White House report makes in favor of the vaccine mandate for large employers is that it’s good for the economy.
Increasing the vaccination rate could return up to 5 million people to the workforce, according to the report. It based the number on an analysis by Goldman Sachs.
The report also cited working hours. “Small business employee hours grew faster and stayed higher during the rise of the Delta variant in the states that have higher working-age vaccination rates, versus states with lower vaccination rates.”
Another argument: More than 3,500 organizations have already begun requiring vaccinations and a mandate is supported by companies, labor unions, workers and a majority of the public.
“The Business Roundtable — which represents more than 200 businesses that employ a total of 20 million workers — as well as some of the largest labor unions in the country, including the National Education Association and the American Federation for Teachers, all support the President’s plan to increase vaccinations,” according to the report. “And, public polls from Fox News, Axios, and the Associated Press, among others, show that strong margins of Americans support vaccination requirements.”
Vaccine mandates have not led to widespread resignations, according to the report. It noted that hospital Houston Methodist lost only 153 of its 25,000 employees, and Novant Health in North Carolina suspended only about 375 of its more than 35,000 employees for failing to get vaccinated.
The report also said vaccine mandates work. It reported Tyson Foods mandated vaccines for its 120,000 employees on Aug. 3, at which point only 45% of its workforce had gotten a shot. That number stands at 91% today.
The White House report is available online.