The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced a Jan. 4 vaccine deadline for all employers with more than 100 employees. Failure to comply with Joe Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandate will result in thousands of dollars in fines.
“The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is announcing the details of a requirement for employers with 100 or more employees to ensure each of their workers is fully vaccinated or tests for COVID-19 on at least a weekly basis,” the White House said Thursday. “The OSHA rule will also require that these employers provide paid-time for employees to get vaccinated, and ensure all unvaccinated workers wear a face mask in the workplace.”
“All covered employers must ensure that their employees have received the necessary shots to be fully vaccinated – either two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson – by January 4th,” the statement continued.
A senior administration official said failure to comply would result in fines up to $14,000 per violation and multiple citations per business.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also issued a rule requiring all health care workers in facilities tied with Medicare and Medicaid to be fully vaccinated. The mandate is set to go into effect Jan. 4, covering roughly 76,000 health care facilities across the country, according to Fox Business.
The outlet further reported that while the OSHA mandate allows for Covid-19 testing requirements, the CMS mandate does not. The mandate, however, does allow medical and religious exemptions.
When Biden first announced the vaccine mandate in September, Republican governors, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, vowed to sue the administration over their unconstitutional rule.
Similarly, moments after OSHA announced their vaccine mandate, Job Creators Network, a small business advocacy group, filed a lawsuit against the order, reported the Washington Examiner.
“The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate is clearly illegal and will have a devastating impact on our small business community and our entire economy,” CEO of the Job Creators Alfredo Ortiz said.
20 other states have also filed multiple separate lawsuits to block the mandate.
“This federal vaccine mandate is unconstitutional, and I can’t think of a worse decision for Joe Biden to make right now,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said on Thursday. “Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate is going to create more supply chain blocks, and that’s going to lead to more inflation — of course, Biden knows this, so he’s decided to hold off on enforcement until after the holidays. I will continue to do everything in my power to put a stop to this unconstitutional mandate.”
Republican senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn, also blasted the Biden administration over their vaccine mandate according to a Twitter post by Fox Nashville, saying, “Our economy is crumbling, and President Biden is doing everything in his power to make it worse.”
While Biden claims that Americans overwhelmingly support his vaccine mandates and “there has been no ‘mass firings’ and worker shortages,” thousands of American workers have quit or been fired over the mandate.
In October, Washington state reported roughly 1,900 workers have quit or been fired for refusing to get vaccinated. 400 workers quit their jobs at the Henry Ford Health System in Detriot, Michigan, and 175 employees were fired at Novant Health in North Carolina.
Numerous medical personnel warned against the vaccine mandates, fearing it would short-staff their health centers.
“As a practical matter, this policy may result in exacerbating the severe workforce shortage problems that currently exist,” American Hospital Association President and CEO Rick Pollack said in September.
Arkansas Community Hospital Executive Director James Magee also announced that his facility would not require Covid-19 vaccinations.
“Mandating that really works a hard step on the smaller hospitals because we don’t have an extra pool of nurses to draw from out there,” Magee said.