President Biden on Thursday addressed the “unacceptably high number” of unvaccinated people in America and said his mandate for the private sector will go into effect “soon.”
While “daily cases are down 47 percent” nationally, and “hospitalizations are down 38 percent over the past six weeks,” Biden said there are still 66 million unvaccinated Americans. This is down from 100 million in July.
Insisting that his vaccine mandates are working, Biden said the Department of Labor will “soon be issuing an emergency rule” for private sector companies with 100 or more employees.
He also claimed “misinformation” is contributing to divisions in the country over vaccine mandates, rather than the mandates themselves, and vowed to “battle” it.
“The plan I laid out in September is working. We’re headed in the right direction. We have critical work to do, but we can’t let up now,” Biden said. “My team and I are doing everything we can. But I’m calling on more businesses to step up. I’m calling on more parents to get their children vaccinated when they are eligible. And I’m asking everyone — everyone who hasn’t gotten vaccinated: Please get vaccinated.
“That’s how we put this pandemic behind us and accelerate our economic recovery,” he added. “We can do this.”
Biden left the brief address to the nation without taking questions from reporters.
After the president announced the rule for private companies in September, which also allows unvaccinated employees to undergo weekly testing, the RNC and at least a dozen GOP governors vowed to fight it, with many more expressing their opposition.
“Rest assured, we will fight them to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian,” Gov. Henry McMaster said at the time.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, signed an executive order on Monday barring vaccine mandates in the state.