Washington: A US Federal Court of Appeals has mandated private employers to give their employees a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, President Joe Biden (US President). Joe Biden’s order was approved on Friday.
This order, which mandates vaccination, will be applicable to companies that employ 100 or more employees and will cover about 84 million workers. Employees who do not get their full dose of vaccine will have to wear masks and be tested weekly for coronavirus. There will be an exemption for employees working outside or only from home. A committee of the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals, by a vote of one to two, overturned a federal judge in a different court that had blocked the enforcement of the order nationwide.
This decision of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of America was to come into effect from January 4. With the order on Friday, it is not yet clear when this decision will come into effect. Judge Julia Smith Gibbons said in her majority ruling, “OSHA is given a clear mandate to regulate the virus. OSHA essentially has the authority to regulate infectious diseases that are not isolated to the workplace.”
