What communicators should do following Biden’s new vaccination mandate

Communicators reacted with a mix of caution and support for President Joe Biden’s sweeping new vaccine policies, which require virtually all federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated and all employers with more than 100 employees to require vaccination.

The Biden administration said Thursday that the president’s executive orders will affect roughly 100 million Americans.

In the orders, all executive branch employees and federal contractors will be required to be vaccinated. Biden also announced new vaccination requirements for health care providers. He said he asked the Department of Labor to issue an emergency rule requiring all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any unvaccinated workers to produce a negative COVID test at least once a week.

“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin,” Biden said, speaking directly to the millions of people who he said were still unvaccinated. “Your refusal has cost all of us.”