National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins urged the United States to adopt more vaccine mandates on Sunday, and he said he celebrates businesses requiring the shots.
When asked on a segment of ABC’s This Week if it is time for more compulsory COVID-19 dose policies, the medical expert said, “Yeah, I think we ought to use every public health tool we can when people are dying. Death rates are starting up again.”
“Well, that’s [an] obviously hot topic for me as a nonpolitical person, as a physician, as a scientist,” Collins added. “The compelling case for vaccines for everybody is right there in front of you. Just look at the data. Certainly, I celebrate when I see businesses decide that they’re going to mandate that for their employees.”
NIH DIRECTOR FORCED TO CLARIFY STATEMENT THAT PARENTS SHOULD WEAR MASKS AROUND UNVACCINATED CHILDREN
Collins praised the July 29 order from President Joe Biden, which stipulated that all federal employees must be fully vaccinated or be subject to frequent testing. The directive applies to the Department of Defense and all active-duty military personnel, among others.
“I am glad to see the president insisting that we go forward requiring vaccinations or, if people are unwilling to do that, then regular testing at least once or twice a week, which will be very inconvenient,” he said.
Earlier in the week, Collins raised eyebrows when he suggested that fully inoculated parents should wear masks inside their homes among nonvaccinated children under the age of 12. He later walked back his comments and insisted parents should be donning face coverings in “public indoor settings” in certain areas.
“Let me clarify the masking message that I garbled on this morning [on CNN],” Collins wrote in a tweet on Tuesday afternoon. “Vaccinated parents who live in communities with high COVID transmission rates should mask when out in public indoor settings to minimize risks to their unvaccinated kids. No need to mask at home.”
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Numerous businesses, local governments, and other entities have reimposed face-covering requirements and have begun to require vaccinations after a rise in coronavirus cases throughout the U.S. stemming from the delta variant. In one of the most drastic policy shifts, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last Tuesday that restaurants and gyms will require inoculation documentation in the boroughs as part of the “Key to NYC Pass,” which will launch on Aug. 16.
Over the last two weeks, the U.S. has seen a 111% rise in cases, an 84% jump in hospitalizations, and an 89% increase in virus-related deaths. A total of 50% of the country’s population is fully vaccinated, and last week, the Biden administration hit a milestone with 70% of the adult population having received shots.
