Biden announces sweeping federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates for American employers, employees

All employers with 100 or more employees will be required to ensure that their workforces are fully vaccinated or tested weekly.

Although specific details, regulations, and deadlines remain to be announced, the White House has provided a high-level overview of what is to come for American employers and employees. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

Key takeaways

Randi Winter is a partner at Spencer Fane in the firm’s Minneapolis office. She helps her clients achieve favorable litigation outcomes with respect to business, employment, and licensing disputes. She also represents clients in matters involving health law, labor law, and utility law and is experienced in all facets of litigation and arbitration.

On Thursday, the Biden Administration announced a new plan to use federal regulatory powers to reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans. The thrust of the administrative initiative involves “substantially increas[ing] the number of Americans covered by vaccination requirements,” primarily through mandates that “will become dominant in the workplace.” The Administration estimates that these new mandates will affect over 80 million Americans eligible to be vaccinated but who have not yet gotten their first COVID-19 shot.

Related: Employers moving ahead with vaccine and mask mandates, survey finds

To date, the White House has not provided any information regarding the effective dates for any of its new initiatives. Although specific details, regulations, and deadlines remain to be announced, the White House has provided a high-level overview of what is to come for American employers and employees.

These initiatives include:

Because the White House just announced these new initiatives, we anticipate more information and detail will be provided in the weeks to come. Litigation challenging any new vaccination mandates for employers and employees is also likely.

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