Employers Grapple With Implementing President Joe Biden's Vaccine Mandates
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Companies around the country are still trying to decide how to implement President Joe Biden's sweeping new vaccine mandates.
On Thursday, the president outlined who he now wants to be vaccinated. Locally, some private companies already require all employees to be vaccinated, while others are trying to figure out what to do next.
"The Department of Labor is developing an emergency rule to require all employers with 100 or more employees that together employ over 80 million workers to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week," said Biden.
With that announcement, companies are back at the drawing board trying to figure out how a vaccine requirement will affect them.
Giant Eagle says no decisions have been made yet, and school districts across the area are still waiting on guidance.
North Allegheny says: "We, like other employers, are awaiting details on President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate including timing and specifics on implementation. Currently, we have a high percentage of employees who have shared proof of vaccination and we have continued to provide COVID-19 vaccine clinics for our students, staff and the community."
The biggest school district in our area, Pittsburgh Public Schools, says just this week they've reached a memorandum of understanding with the teachers union that says employees will get vaccinated or be subject to weekly testing.
This announcement from the president won't affect all companies and institutions. Locally Duquesne University and Duolingo are two organizations that say they had vaccine requirements before this.
