New Biden Vaccine Mandates Coming to Nursing Home Across the Country
Public health experts are once again sounding the alarm over rising pandemic numbers here in the United States, as the delta variant continues to spread from coast to coast, and at an accelerating rate.
Masks and social distancing are back in a big way of late, despite the fact that a number of freely available COVID-19 vaccines have been in circulation for months now, and nearly 70% of the nation has been fully inoculated.
This has led to a number of calls for vaccine mandates to soon go into effect, which is something that personal freedom advocates warn could lead to further infringements down the road.
Despite that pushback, the Biden administration announced this week that there would be more required jabs in the coming weeks.
President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he is directing all nursing homes to require their staff be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Biden said he is directing the Department of Health and Human Services to draw up new regulations making employee vaccination a condition for nursing homes to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The decision on nursing home staff represents a significant escalation in Biden’s campaign to get Americans vaccinated and the tools he is willing to use, marking the first time he has threatened to withhold federal funds in order to get people vaccinated.
“Now, if you visit, live or work at a nursing home, you should not be at a high risk of contracting Covid from unvaccinated employees. While I’m mindful that my authority at the federal government is limited, I’m going to continue to look for ways to keep people safe and increase vaccination rates,” the President said during a speech at the White House.
Biden then decided to sic the Department of Education on local leaders who refuse to institute his idea of a safe schooling environment.
Additionally, the President announced that he is directing Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to use “all of his oversight authorities and legal action, if appropriate, against governors who are trying to block and intimidate local school officials and educators” who want children to wear masks in the classroom.