Mississippi officials speak out against Biden’s plan to require COVID-19 vaccine.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden revealed a six-pronged strategy the White House says is meant to reduce the spread of the COVID Delta variant and boost vaccination rates nationwide for the 80 million unvaccinated Americans. Biden said his mandates are not about freedom or personal choice, but rather protecting Americans.
“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin,” Biden said. “And your refusal has cost all of us.”
According to the White House, Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan aims to get more people vaccinated, decrease hospitalizations and deaths, and keep schools and the economy open.
Happening Now: President Biden delivers remarks on his plan to stop the spread of COVID-19 and boost vaccinations. https://t.co/brjkj4oaV5
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 9, 2021
President Biden announced that he is instructing the Department of Labor to require all employers with one hundred or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week. Biden said that he is also instructing the Department of Labor to require employers to give employees paid time off to get vaccinated.
“We’re going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers,” Biden declared. “We’re going to reduce the spread of Covid-19 by increasing the share of the work force that is vaccinated in businesses all across America.”
The President has issued an executive order that will now require all executive branch federal employees to be vaccinated along with federal contractors.
“If you want to work with the federal government and do business with us, get vaccinated. If you want to do business with the federal government, vaccinate your workforce,” Biden proclaimed.
Alongside the new vaccine requirements for private businesses, Biden announced a series of steps to encourage mask mandates in K-12 schools, require vaccines for faculty and staff, and step up testing for COVID-19.
Biden’s plan takes on elected officials and states that are undermining what he believes to be the right course of action, making an indirect reference to Republican-led states like Florida, Texas and Mississippi.
“Right now, local school officials are trying to keep children safe in a pandemic while their governor picks a fight with them and even threatens their salaries or their jobs. Talk about bullying in schools,” Biden said. “If they’ll not help – if these governors won’t help us beat the pandemic, I’ll use my power as President to get them out of the way.”
In his televised speech, the President talked about a “distinct minority of elected officials” who have resisted masks and vaccine mandates on freedom-of-choice and economic grounds. Biden stated that they are “making people sick.”
“We cannot allow these actions to stand in the way of protecting the large majority of Americans who have done their part and want to get back to life as normal,” Biden said.
President Biden is also mandating that those who work in hospitals, home healthcare facilities, or other medical facilities, some 17 million healthcare workers, be vaccinated.
“If you’re seeking care at a health facility, you should be able to know that the people treating you are vaccinated,” Biden added.
Many Americans, Mississippi officials, and other government officials are hitting back at President Biden’s plan to pursue vaccination mandates, a step Biden himself said he would not do in December 2020. Yet, now, some nine months later, Biden is doing what he once said he would not.
Mississippi Reaction
Governor Tate Reeves stated on Twitter that the President has “no authority” to do this and called it an “unconstitutional move.”
The President has no authority to require that Americans inject themselves because of their employment at a private business. The vaccine itself is life-saving, but this unconstitutional move is terrifying. This is still America, and we still believe in freedom from tyrants.
— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) September 9, 2021
Governor Reeves appeared on FoxNews’ Ingraham Angle Thursday evening. Reeves said Mississippi will consider legal action against the overreach from the President regarding these vaccine mandates. He said Biden is picking a fight with over 80 million American workers, adding the President’s actions will not help in the effort to get more people vaccinated.
https://youtu.be/RWsMwKQDJHg
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith explained that though COVID-19 vaccines are life saving, President Biden’s plan is “alarming and divisive.”
Covid-19 #vaccines are life-saving, but the new @POTUS plan is alarming and divisive. Expansive federal mandates are not the answer. Talk to a doctor and make your own decision to get vaccinated.
— U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (@SenHydeSmith) September 9, 2021
Congressman Michael Guest said in a two-part Tweet that, “The President’s actions infringe on the basic liberties we hold dear and only serves to further divide our nation. Americans have the right to make healthcare choices for themselves & their family & these decisions should never be forced upon us by the federal government.”
Although the vaccine has been proven effective, President Biden lacks the constitutional authority to enforce a vaccination mandate on the American public. (1/2)
— Congressman Michael Guest (@RepMichaelGuest) September 10, 2021
Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson warned about the government’s ability to conscript private businesses to force private employees to receive mandatory medical procedures the government desires.
A government that can conscript private businesses to force their private employees to receive a mandatory medical procedure is a government with unlimited powers far beyond the bounds envisioned by our constitutional framework. Wake up America!
— Commissioner Andy Gipson (@CommAndyGipson) September 9, 2021
The website for President Biden’s Covid-19 Action Plan says that In the weeks ahead, the President will announce additional steps to build on the progress the Administration has made to combat this pandemic around the globe.
The White House did not say when President Biden’s plan would take effect, but said workers would have ample time to get vaccinated.
Anne Summerhays
