WASHINGTON—President Biden will meet Wednesday with the chief executives of United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Kaiser Permanente in a bid to encourage more companies to follow their lead and require workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Howard University President Wayne Frederick and Diane Sumpter, a small business leader from South Carolina, are also expected to attend the virtual meeting alongside United CEO Scott Kirby and Kaiser Permanente CEO Gregory Adams, a White House official said.
The companies and university have all said staff must be vaccinated, and Howard is also requiring students to get the shots. Mr. Biden plans to highlight the four as a model for other private-sector leaders, as officials race to get more Americans vaccinated and slow the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant, which has triggered a rise in cases and hospitalizations across the country.
The official said the participants reflect four sectors—large corporations, small businesses, healthcare providers, and colleges and universities—that the administration sees as pillars in inoculating the U.S. against the virus.
Mr. Biden has asked the private sector to help accelerate vaccination against Covid-19. Two weeks ago, he announced new requirements for federal workers to either get vaccinated against the virus or get tested regularly, and he called on businesses to take a similar approach.
