White House COVID-19 czar urges businesses require employees to be vaccinated

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Growing list of colleges mandate COVID-19 vaccine

This fall, more than 800 universities will require students to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The White House COVID-19 response team on Tuesday urged businesses in the country to require employees to be vaccinated.

COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients presented a White House briefing alongside the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci.

"Bottom line, vaccination requirements work," Zients said. "They drive up vaccination rates and we need more businesses and other employers, including health care systems, school districts, colleges and universities, to step up and do their part to help end the pandemic faster. We need more individuals to step up to."

He continued: "We continue to push for more vaccination process, including through vaccination requirements. The president first adopted vaccination requirements for federal workers last month and now over 800 colleges and universities, 200 health care employers, small and large businesses across the country and dozens of state and local governments and schools districts have stepped up to follow the president's lead. Tens of millions of Americans are now covered by vaccination requirements."

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Zients opened the briefing by sending condolences to the southern states in America as residents in those states continue to battle hardship brought about by Hurricane Ida, noting that personnel sent to those states to assist with COVID-19 response efforts are "providing emergency medical care."

"As part of our surge response effort, over 350 EMTs, doctors, nurses, health care workers and other personnel have been providing emergency medical care on the ground in the Gulf states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama," Zients said. 

"As we respond to surges, we remain laser-focused on getting more shots in arms, and we continue to build momentum," Zients continued. "Back in July, we were averaging 500,000 vaccinations per day. Today, we're averaging 900,000. That's an 80% increase in the number of shots we're getting into arms each and every day. Last week we got over 6 million shots, the biggest weekly total since July 5."

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Before encouraging businesses to "step up and do their part," Zients touted the increase in the "number of job postings that require vaccinations" and insisted that vaccine "requirements" put forth by businesses and colleges are "already working to get more people vaccinated."

The COVID-19 vaccine is a requirement for all federal employees in the United States, including the White House, CDC and FDA. Those who have not been vaccinated must undergo regular testing for coronavirus, wear face masks, and practice social distancing measures.