Biden administration scraps vaccine mandates for travel and federal employees
Haisten Willis
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The federal government will drop its vaccine mandates May 11.
That’s the day the public health emergency over COVID-19 will end and, with it, one of the biggest political battles of the pandemic.
BIDEN’S FINAL PANDEMIC FLIP-FLOP IS TO END IT
“Since January 2021, COVID-19 deaths have declined by 95%, and hospitalizations are down nearly 91%. Globally, COVID-19 deaths are at their lowest levels since the start of the pandemic,” read a statement from the White House announcing the move. “Following a whole-of-government effort that led to a record number of nearly 270 million Americans receiving at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, we are in a different phase of our response to COVID-19 than we were when many of these requirements were put into place.”
The Biden administration fought and lost a Supreme Court battle over vaccination mandates for private employers but kept in place mandates under the government’s direct purview, including for incoming international travelers. The United States was one of the last major countries to keep such a requirement.
The public health emergency has been in place since March 2020, while the national emergency ended last month after a vote from both chambers of Congress.
Vaccine mandates were also in place for federal employees and contractors, Head Start educators, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-certified healthcare facilities. All of those will end May 11 as well.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
While the White House took plenty of criticism over its embrace of strict COVID-19 policies, it took a victory lap in ending them.
“Our COVID-19 vaccine requirements bolstered vaccination across the nation, and our broader vaccination campaign has saved millions of lives,” the statement said. “We have successfully marshalled a response to make historic investments in broadly accessible vaccines, tests, and treatments to help us combat COVID-19.”