Biden urges businesses mandate COVID-19 vaccine following full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot
President Biden leaned into the new FDA licensure, or full approval, of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, encouraging businesses to require vaccinations among employees
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President Biden leaned into the new FDA licensure, or full approval, of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, encouraging businesses to require vaccinations among employees.
"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. "If you’re a business leader, a non-profit leader, a state or local leader, who has been waiting for full FDA approval to require vaccinations, I call on you now to do that… do what I did last month, requiring employees to get vaccinated or face strict requirements."
FDA APPROVES PFIZER'S COVID-19 SHOT: WHAT IS LICENSURE?
Biden touted full FDA approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, calling it a "key milestone in our nation's fight against COVID," and urged unvaccinated individuals to receive their shots amid rapid spread of the highly transmissible delta variant driving infections nationwide.
The president noted an accelerated vaccination pace, with one million shots administered each day across three consecutive days last week, figures not seen since June, and a 56% uptick in the vaccination rate over the last month. The U.S. also logged 6 million vaccinations in the last seven days, the highest seven-day total in over a month and a half.
In recent weeks, the Biden administration has rolled out vaccine requirements among federal workers, members of the armed forces, federal medical facilities and nursing home workers.
Ahead of full FDA approval for Pfizer's vaccine on Monday, an increasing number of companies had been requiring their employees to be fully vaccinated before heading back to the office amid fears that the delta variant of the coronavirus will hinder the economic recovery. Companies requiring employees to receive the vaccine include Citigroup, Delta Air Lines, Equinox Group, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, and many others; for the growing list, click here.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.