Last week, the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration's vaccine-or-test mandate for employers with 100 or more employees while legal challenges continue to play out in lower courts. It was a huge blow to the Biden administration.
When asked about the White House's Plan B, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy acknowledged the administration's disappointment but said that the Supreme Court's decision shouldn't stop private businesses from moving forward with a vaccine mandate anyway.
"The news about the workplace requirement being blocked was very disappointing, Martha. It was a setback for public health. Because what these requirements ultimately are helpful for is not just protecting the community at large but making our workplaces safer for workers as well as for customers," Murthy told ABC's Martha Raddatz.
When pressed about an alternate plan, Murthy said, "There is nothing that stops workplaces from voluntarily putting reasonable requirements in place."
"Many have done so already," Murthy noted. "A third of the Fortune 100 companies have put these in place, and many more outside have, so we are certainly encouraging companies to put these requirements in place voluntarily."
Remember, government officials have been trying to change the language on mandates, preferring to call them requirements instead because the former is now "a radioactive word," according to Anthony Fauci.
The Supreme Court's decision to block the Biden administration's vaccine-or-test requirement for large private businesses is a "setback for public health," Surgeon General Vivek Murthy tells @MarthaRaddatz. https://t.co/omfJqz9kTk pic.twitter.com/JWbXl2fGtE
— ABC News (@ABC) January 17, 2022