White House wants millions of govt contractors vaccinated by Dec 8
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WASHINGTON • The White House said that millions of federal contractors must be vaccinated against Covid-19 by Dec 8 and that the administration will add clauses to future government contracts mandating inoculations.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Sept 9 requiring federal contractors to mandate vaccinations, but many companies awaited formal White House guidance before moving forward.
United States airlines were among industries awaiting confirmation as they hold contracts to sell tickets to government employees.
Mr Jason Miller, deputy White House Office of Management and Budget director, said on Friday in a blog post the "guidance issued today advances one of the main goals of this science-based plan: getting more people vaccinated".
He said the vaccination policy "will decrease worker absence, reduce labour costs, and improve the efficiency of contractors and subcontractors performing work for the federal government".
An administration official said it was interpreting the requirements for contractors "broadly", saying they extend beyond those who work in federal buildings.
Mr Steve Cave, a King & Spalding attorney who specialises in government contracts, said he expects the order will impact tens of millions of US workers or more. For example, if a federal contractor goes to work at another office in their company, then the employees in that second office will also need to be vaccinated, even if they are not working on a government contract, said Mr Cave.
"The tentacles are far reaching," he said. "The number touched by this will be huge. It's probably in the upper tens of millions."
The new guidance says that contractor employees covered by the rules "must be fully vaccinated no later than Dec 8" and adds that after that date, newly contracted employees must be vaccinated by the first day of work on a new contract.
It adds that contractor employees "working on a covered contract from their residence also must comply with the vaccination requirement".
REUTERS
