The Biden administration will end Covid vaccination requirements for federal employees and international air travelers on May 11, the White House said on Monday.
The announcement means the requirement will be dropped the same day the administration said it would end the public health emergency tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
The administration is also ending vaccination requirements it had put in place for international air travelers as part of its effort to curb the spread of new variants. The new travel rules mean international air travelers who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents will no longer need to be fully vaccinated before flying to the United States.
“While vaccination remains one of the most important tools in advancing the health and safety of employees and promoting the efficiency of workplaces, we are now in a different phase of our response when these measures are no longer necessary,” the White House said in a statement Monday.
A federal appeals court in March blocked President Joe Biden’s executive order requiring federal employees get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reversed an earlier ruling that had upheld the vaccination requirement.
Biden in September 2021 first issued his order requiring that executive branch agency employees get vaccinated, while making exceptions for those with medical and religious reasons for forgoing the vaccine.
In spite of the ongoing legal battle over the mandate, the White House said Monday that the administration had achieved “98% compliance” among the federal workforce.
Since he took office, Biden has come under strong criticism from Republicans over his administration’s Covid response, particularly over vaccination and mask requirements.
Last month, Biden signed into law a Republican-backed resolution terminating the coronavirus national emergency first declared in March 2020 a month earlier than the Biden administration had planned.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
