Joe Biden’s Plan to Combat COVID-19 Is More than a Vaccine Mandate. It’s a Testing Mandate, Too.
A week ago, President Joe Biden signed a measure requiring employees of businesses with 100 or more workers be either vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing if they aren't working from home.
It's been called a vaccine mandate but experts say it can just as easily be thought of as a testing mandate. Both will help the ultimate goal of fighting the pandemic but there are tradeoffs. Vaccination, while contentious for some, is free and a better weapon overall. Testing helps slow the spread but is costly and it's not yet known who will pay.
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For some companies in areas where vaccination rates are low, it could be extremely expensive to pay for weekly testing for all the employees don't want to get vaccinated, said Brooke Iley, co-chair of the labor and employment group at the law firm of Blank Rome in Washington, D.C.
“It's not in their budget, they would be hit very hard if they had to cover these tests,” she said.
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“Joe Biden’s Plan to Combat COVID-19 Is More than a Vaccine Mandate. It’s a Testing Mandate, Too,” by Elizabeth Weise was published in USA Today on September 15, 2021.