|
 Participants in the meeting included the chief executives of Walt
Disney Co, Microsoft Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc .
Biden last week announced https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-deliver-six-step-plan-covid-19-pandemic-2021-09-09
vaccine mandates for nearly all federal employees, federal
contractors, and larger companies as the number of U.S. infections
continued to rise, hospital beds in some parts of the country filled
up and mask requirements returned. After months of trying to
persuade Americans to get free vaccinations, the White House is
pushing state and local governments, companies and schools to adopt
mandates requiring them instead.
Biden said at the beginning of the meeting that it would take some
time to get the new requirements in place.
"It's about beating this virus and saving lives," he said.
Some Republican-led states and a sizable minority of Americans have
defied vaccine recommendations from health officials, citing
economic or freedom-of-choice arguments. With just 63% of the
population having received at least one dose, the U.S. vaccination
rate now lags https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access
most developed economies.
Opinion polls have shown a majority of Americans support some form
of vaccine mandate.
Biden told reporters https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-says-it-is-encouraging-state-local-covid-vaccine-mandates-2021-09-14
on Tuesday that he had seen "positive support for mandates, by and
large," although he conceded that there would always be a small
percentage of people who would refuse to get inoculated.
The White House hopes Wednesday's meeting will serve "as a rallying
cry for more businesses across the country to step up and institute
similar measures," an official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
The meeting involves business leaders and chief executives who have
instituted vaccine requirements or are working to implement the new
rules, the person said.
[to top of second column] |
 The policies announced last
week require nearly all federal workers and
federal contractors to get COVID-19 vaccinations
and push large employers to have workers
inoculated or tested weekly. The new measures
would apply to businesses with more than 100
employees, about two-thirds of all U.S. workers.
Also among those meeting with Biden were the CEOs of the Kaiser
Permanente healthcare system, the Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia and Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream.
Josh Bolten, president of the Business Roundtable representing
employers of 20 million workers, also attended. The Business
Roundtable has welcomed Biden's announcement on mandates. Bolten was
a chief of staff to Republican former President George W. Bush.
The fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus has sparked a
new wave of sickness and death, posing increased risk not just to
the country but to a president who as a candidate promised to get
control of the pandemic.
Some small employers have voiced frustration with the mandate. Large
employers like U.S. automakers General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co
and rare-earths producer MP Materials Corp said they are encouraging
employees to get the vaccine, but they were quiet about Biden's
executive order.
Raytheon Technologies Corp, a weapons maker and aerospace company
that does extensive business with the U.S. government, said on
Wednesday that it expects Biden's vaccine mandate will strengthen
their business outlook heading into the fourth quarter.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Doina Chiacu and Jeff Mason; Editing
by Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis)
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