LifeSiteNews has produced an extensive COVID-19 vaccines resources page. View it here.
(LifeSiteNews) — President Joe Biden called on more private companies to force their employees to get the jab after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted its full approval to the two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA shot on Monday.
“Today I’m calling on more countries — more companies, I should say — 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.”
NOW – Biden calls on U.S. companies to mandate the #COVID19 vaccine for employees following the FDA decision.pic.twitter.com/DPITsiv6PL
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 23, 2021
“Require it,” the president directed. “Do what I did last month. Require your employees to get vaccinated or face strict requirements.”
While Biden has repeatedly called for vaccine mandates, even floating the idea of a top-down federal requirement for all Americans, NBC noted that “his message Monday marked a more direct appeal to private employers to play a bigger role in boosting the vaccination rate in the U.S.”
Calling the FDA’s approval for the Pfizer/BioNTech shot the “gold standard,” Biden said Monday’s announcement by the federal agency marked an “important moment in our fight against the pandemic,” NBC reported.
However, many are skeptical of the merit of the FDA’s approval process for the shots.
Despite receiving full FDA approval this week, clinical trials for the Pfizer shot to determine its safety and efficacy are not expected to be completed until 2023.
Meanwhile, Biden’s involvement in promoting vaccine mandates in the private sector has led some to accuse the president of using his position to pressure private companies to enact policies in keeping with the interests of the federal government.
Remarking on Biden’s Monday comments, Scottish television personality Gillian McKeith quipped in a Tuesday tweet, “[t]here is a name for the mix of state and corporate … fascism.”
The “president” Biden calls on companies and private industry to require employees to be jabbed now that approval of ‘you know’ is here….just like he is now doing…… There is a name for the mix of state and corporate….fascism pic.twitter.com/351VjiMdYA
— Gillian McKeith (@GillianMcKeith) August 24, 2021
Likewise, Turning Point USA contributor Jordan Rachel noted that applying pressure on the private sector to impose vaccination mandates is something of a work-around, since a top-down government mandate, as was briefly suggested by the president, would be “unconstitutional.”
In other words, Biden calls on private companies to do his dirty work for him because he knows it’s unconstitutional. https://t.co/tg4e5NbPTo
— Jordan Rachel (@TheJordanRachel) August 23, 2021
Biden’s most recent calls for private sector mandates of the experimental drugs come after his administration issued a series of COVID-19 shot mandates affecting federal employees beginning last month, even before the FDA issued its full approval for any of the COVID-19 drugs currently on the market.
On July 26, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) became the first federal department to compel the shot for its healthcare workers.
Three days later, while shying away from an explicit vaccine mandate, the Biden administration issued new rules requiring all federal government employees (roughly 4 million Americans) to either show proof of vaccination or submit to a slew of harsh requirements, including masking at all times, social distancing, and submitting to travel restrictions.
The Department of Defense (DOD) announced last month that it would require the shot for active duty military personnel, with the Pentagon confirming yesterday the DOD would make good on its promise now that the FDA has approved the Pfizer jab.
The president’s calls for more COVID jab mandates come as an ever-increasing number of local governments and private companies have already begun imposing vaccine mandates on employees and patrons.
While New York City requires proof of at least one dose to enter most indoor establishments, San Francisco became the first city to force people to show proof of being “fully vaccinated” as a condition of entry to most indoor public venues.
Meanwhile, as more and more concert venues, sports arenas, and other venues require proof of the jab, a report by the Daily Wire suggests that movie theater owners likely won’t resist vaccine mandates for movie-goers, a position they acknowledge “may lead to short-term financial pain for the movie business,” but which “in the long run” they believe “will be beneficial.”
Calls for the vast majority of Americans to obtain the experimental shots is expected to ramp up after the FDA’s Monday announcement.
To date, more than 70% of the adult U.S. population has received at least one dose of the experimental drug while roughly 60% are “fully vaccinated,” according to the CDC.
It is unclear how long those who have received both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna shots, or who have gotten one dose of the single-shot Johnson and Johnson drug, will be considered “fully vaccinated.”
Public health officials are now urging Americans who got the Pfizer or Moderna jabs to get a third dose as a “booster.”
In a press briefing last week, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said “[t]e plan is for the rule to be simple: Get your booster shot eight months after you got your second shot.”
To date, those who got the single-shot Johnson and Johnson jab are not being advised to seek a booster shot. Those who got the Moderna or Pfizer injections are recommended to get their booster shots starting late next month.
“We are not recommending that you go out and get a booster today. Instead, starting the week of Sept. 20, fully vaccinated adults can begin getting their booster shots eight months after their second shot of an mRNA vaccine,” Zients said.
As reported by MarketWatch, Biden has said getting a third mRNA shot “will be easy.”
“Just show your vaccination card, and you’ll get a booster,” the president said. “No other ID, no insurance, no state residency requirement.”