Last night, President Joe Biden announced plans to require tens of millions more American workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Biden has instructed the Department of Labor to draft a rule mandating that all businesses with 100 or more workers require their employees to either get vaccinated or face weekly testing.

The New York Times stated these “sweeping actions, which will affect two-thirds of all American workers, are the most expansive he has taken to control the pandemic since he assumed the presidency in January, and will affect almost every aspect of American society. Roughly 80 million Americans who are eligible for shots have not been vaccinated.”

The new rule will be enforced by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. As of today, it is unclear when the requirements will take effect. OSHA is expected to issue the rule "in the coming weeks," according to the White House, and implementation timelines in private sector businesses have ranged from weeks to months. The exact timeframe will depend on the final rulemaking process and WANADA will keep its membership apprised on this forum as well as our COVID-19 info page as details emerge.

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In addition to this presidential announcement, per guidance from the Virginia Department of Labor & Industry (DOLI), employers are now required to have all their employees wear masks if the business is located in an area with “substantial or high transmission” which now captures most of Virginia.  

In order for an employer to comply with VA DOLI Section 10.E of the "Final Permanent Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19", it has to demonstrate that it is actually complying with language in CDC publications that could be considered both mandatory and non-mandatory. In other words, an employer would have to comply with a CDC recommended practice even if the CDC publication doesn’t require it.

The CDC guidelines in question can be seen in full here.  

You can determine your jurisdiction's "transmission rate" by using the "COVID-19 County Check" feature here. 

If you have any additional questions concerning any of the items above, please contact myself or Joe Koch by calling the WANADA office at 202-237-7200 or emailing us at [email protected] or [email protected], respectively.