Biden will end vaccine mandates for federal staff, travelers

The Biden administration will end its Covid-19 vaccine mandates for federal employees, contractors and international air travelers next week.

The White House said in an announcement Monday that those vaccine requirements will end on May 11, the identical day the Covid public health emergency expires.

“While vaccination stays one of the vital essential tools in advancing the health and safety of employees and promoting the efficiency of workplaces, we are actually in a unique phase of our response when these measures aren’t any longer essential,” the White House said.

Although Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths have declined dramatically this 12 months, the virus remains to be killing greater than 1,000 people per week.

The Health and Human Services Department also will start phasing out its vaccine mandate for health-care facilities that take part in Medicare and Medicaid, the White House said. As well as, it can end vaccination requirements for Head Start programs.

And the Department of Homeland Security will lift vaccination requirements for people entering the U.S via its land borders with Canada and Mexico, in keeping with the Biden administration. U.S. residents, nationals and everlasting residents were never subject to those requirements.

HHS and DHS will provide more details on the top of those vaccine requirements in the approaching days, the White House said.

The Biden administration implemented the vaccine requirements for medical examiners, federal employees, contractors, and international air travelers as a part of its drive to spice up lackluster vaccination rates and slow the spread of the virus because the delta variant surged in late 2021 followed by omicron within the winter of 2022.

The mandates faced fierce opposition and lawsuits from critics who decried the necessities as government overreach, while the White House stressed they were essential to guard public health.