The approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 and over is expected to lead to a wave of mandates for public and private sector employees as well as students returning to college campuses this fall.
The Department of Defense announced a mandate immediately after Monday’s announcement that the vaccine was granted full approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
“We’re preparing, now, actionable guidance to the force. We’re going to move forward making that vaccine mandatory,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said.
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The Pentagon announced on Aug. 9 that members of the military would be required to get the vaccine “immediately upon” receiving the blessing from the health agency.
State and local government workers will also be subject to mandates now that the vaccine has been granted approval. In Oregon, for instance, Democratic Gov. Kate Brown announced that all healthcare workers and K-12 educators would be required to get the shots in the next six weeks.
Teachers and staff in New York City Public Schools, the largest public school district in the country, serving roughly 1 million students, will also face a mandate without the option of getting tested every week instead. They will be required to have gotten at least one shot by Sept. 27, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.
De Blasio will have to discuss the terms of the mandate with unions, though. The United Federation of Teachers, the labor union that represents most teachers in New York City public schools, said Monday that exemptions and repercussions for the staff that refuse to get the shots are still being negotiated with the city government.
“Our first priority is keeping our kids safe and the schools open,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. “While the city is asserting its legal authority to establish this mandate, there are many implementation details, including provisions for medical exceptions, that by law must be negotiated with the UFT and other unions, and if necessary, resolved by arbitration.”
Students returning to many college campuses will also be subject to vaccine requirements. Vaccine mandates for the City University of New York and State University of New York systems, the University of Vermont, the University of Richmond, the College of William and Mary, and the Colorado State University system will be implemented for students attending classes in person this fall.
On Monday, President Joe Biden called on the private sector to require vaccinations for employees. More major companies are expected to join those that have already set vaccine mandates, such as Google, Walmart, and Netflix.
“As I mentioned before, I’ve imposed vaccination requirements that will reach millions of Americans. Today, I’m calling on more companies … in the private sector to step up the vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people,” Biden said. “It only makes sense to require a vaccine to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
He applauded those companies as well as the state and local governments that have mandated the shots, saying earlier this month that he will “have their backs and the backs of other private and public sector leaders if they take such steps.”
“But others have declined to step up. I find it disappointing,” he said.
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Eagerness to get the shots waned in the spring and full approval, federal officials believe, could move some holdouts to get the vaccine. Polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted in June found that roughly 31% of unvaccinated adults would be more likely to get the vaccine if it were approved by the FDA.
To date, 73% of the total adult U.S. population has received at least one dose of a vaccine, while more than 62% are fully vaccinated. The Pfizer vaccine has also been authorized for use in children 12 to 15, though the shots have not been fully approved for that age group. Many parents who are vaccinated are still holding off on inoculating their children, an issue that could be remedied by fully approving the vaccine for teenagers.
