Surgeon General Vivek Murthy defended President Joe Biden‘s administration’s new COVID-19 vaccination requirements, saying they are “an appropriate legal measure” that is in line with traditional safety requirements in schools and workplaces.
The Biden administration’s measure could affect up to 80 million workers and is expected to be issued by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration within the coming weeks. Employers will be expected to ask all employees to either test weekly or be fully vaccinated against the virus — or face fines of $14,000 per violation.
“We have to put this in context. There are requirements that we put in workplaces and in schools every day to make sure that workplaces and schools are safe,” Murthy said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Those who oppose the measure have questioned the president’s legal authority to implement the vaccine mandate, including numerous Republican lawmakers and governors who have come out in full force against Biden’s decision.
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Surgeon General Vivek Murthy defends Pres. Biden’s new actions to combat COVID-19, telling @GStephanopoulos that it is an “ambitious” and “thoughtful” plan to increase vaccinations.
“Delta is a tough foe. It has throw curveballs at us.” https://t.co/qivnLzlPrl pic.twitter.com/eYSJjPPXSM
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 12, 2021
The surgeon general rejected allegations of illegality, saying, “These are focused on areas where the federal government has legal authority to act,” adding, “We know these kind of requirements actually work to improve our vaccination rates.”
Murthy also challenged critics who accused Biden of changing his position on mandates after the president previously admitted on Dec. 5, “I don’t think it should be mandatory, I wouldn’t demand it be mandatory.”
The surgeon general said the change was made in response due to the emergence of the more transmissible delta variant.
“Over the last several months we’ve been working hard to get vaccines out to the public, partnering with the private sector, using every power the government has. Now in the face of Delta, we’ve got to move to the next phase of that response,” Murthy said.
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“What we cannot allow is for this pandemic to turn us on each other,” Murthy told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos when asked about possible defiance of the mandate. “Our enemy is the virus; it is not one another.“
