Biden gave a warning about possibly imposing more stringent COVID-19 restrictions for Americans as COVID cases are on the rise nationwide.
Biden administration is looking at policies that would mandate COVID vaccine
On Friday, a reporter asked Biden whether people should be expecting more strict COVID rules in the upcoming days. Biden answered by saying that the possibility of having a more stringent restrictiions is high. However, the president did not elaborate what “stricter” COVID restrictions mean.
JUST IN: President Biden sets masking requirements, COVID restrictions for 4 million federal workers, urges states and localities to offer residents $100 to get COVID-19 shots. https://t.co/iYBGzMMToq
— WTOP (@WTOP) July 29, 2021
On the other hand, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky stated in the interview on Friday that the CDC and the Biden administration are looking at imposing a COVID vaccine mandate on Americans.
Walensky further added that she agrees with the plan of mandating the vaccine for Americans. She even likened this move to other coontagious diseases that existed in the past such as measles, polio, among others. However, when Walensky was aksed whether she had anything else to say, she did not made any further comments other than saying they are looking at these policies.
Walensky also mentioned how she understands the hesitations and pushback for mandating a COVID vaccine. However, she maintained that the most efficient way to prevent the spread of the delta variant from infecting more Americans is to make sure that the presence of virus in public is less.
The CDC director futher emphasized that the presence of the virus would only be lessened if people gets the vaccine and wear masks. The CDC released data showing that COVID cases in the country increased by 64% in the past week.
The rate of COVID cases at present is almost the same as the numbers seen last February. Despite the rising cases and the new threat, the administration maintains that an economic shutdown is not going to happen again.
CDC director implied that COVID vaccine is not the first to be mandated and required in a public setting
Although 50% of the population is already fully vaccinated, the delta variant is posing a new threat to communities nationwide. In order to urge people to get vaccinated, Biden even suggested that states should give $100 incentives to people who will get the vaccine.
So far, only private companies like Disney and Walmart, and some municipalities in the country, imposed a vaccine mandate on their employees.
How did CDC Director Rochelle Walensky go from asserting so definitively *just 2 months ago* that there is no health reason for vaccinated people to wear masks, to issuing today's alarmist message about vaccine-resistant strains? There were variants then:pic.twitter.com/apSDki3JV5
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 27, 2021
When a reporter told Walensky about the objections of people hesitant to take the vaccine, as well as their of personal choice and bodily autonomy, Walensky stated emphasized she understands. However, the coronavirus vaccine is not the first vaccine to be required in public schools, travel, employment as well as other settings.
The director of the CDC also noted that the burden is on the CDC to urge vaccine-hesitant individuals to get vaccinated. She then implied that the coercion of people to get vaccinated is not off the table.
