Vivek Murthy, who serves as the U.S. Surgeon General in the Biden administration, has envisioned on onslaught of vaccine mandates in the future. Recently, Murthy claimed that he could foresee various businesses and universities starting to impose vaccine mandates.
Murthy’s commentary emerges in light of the recent FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine for individuals over the age of 16. According to Murthy, FDA approval is likely to encourage a rise in vaccine mandates across the nation.
Murthy delineates “two potential things” that may occur in light of the FDA’s approval: First, more individuals may decide to get vaccinated, namely those individuals “who were perhaps on the fence about getting vaccinated.” The Surgeon General believes that FDA clearance may “tip” these individuals into becoming vaccinated.
Secondly, Murthy also envisions “more universities and workplaces” that had been contemplating whether or not to implement vaccine mandates are likely to begin requiring vaccine mandates. Previously, these entities may have been reluctant to mandate a vaccine without FDA approval; however, with FDA clearance, they now have greater justification to implement vaccine mandates.
“You’ll see more of them likely moving forward,” Murthy proclaimed, a direct encouragement of entities to start requiring COVID vaccines for employees, students, and other related individuals.
Today, FDA approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of #COVID19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. https://t.co/iOqsxXV1fj
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) August 23, 2021
Murthy also proceeded to throw his support behind various school districts that have implemented COVID vaccine requirements for staff and teachers. Per the Surgeon General, these measures are completely “reasonable,” in spite of the immense controversy that these vaccine mandates have caused across the nation.
Aside from vaccine mandates, Murthy also went on to promulgate the importance of booster shots, which he alleges are necessary to keep Americans more well-protected against the virus. The Surgeon General observed that vaccines appear to be a fairly strong defense against the virus, though they may not be as effective as originally perceived, which will be revealed once health officials acquire more data.
The Biden administration intends to start rolling out booster shots, starting on September 20.
