The Biden administration may be considering withholding federal funds from institutions as part of an effort to get more Americans vaccinated against COVID-19.
The U.S. government is allegedly considering using federal regulatory powers to withhold funding to institutions, such as long-term care facilities, cruise ships and universities, to push more Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine shot, four people with knowledge of the deliberations told The Washington Post.
Withholding Funding from Institutions
If the plan is imposed, employers who refuse to require their health care workers to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus may face restrictions on Medicare dollars and other federal funding.
The discussions are still in the early stages, the sources noted. President Joe Biden and other administration officials have yet to make a decision. However, one lawyer who is in contact with the administration recommended using federal powers sparingly.
Some experts have previously floated the idea of using federal incentives to boost the country's vaccination program.
"If you look through history, there are presidents who - even in the absence of legal authority - influence people, you might say," Ezekiel Emanuel, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania who recently organized a joint statement from nearly 60 medical groups urging every health facility to require workers to get vaccinated, told The Post, as reported by MSN. "We keep referring to this covid thing like it's an emergency and then we don't behave like it's a wartime emergency."
News about the discussion comes after a White House official, who spoke to Reuters under the condition of anonymity, revealed that the administration is currently working with other agencies to develop a system that would allow it to require all foreign travellers coming to the United States to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Ban on Travelers
Currently, the U.S. is barring travelers from Iran, China, Brazil, Britain, South Africa, India, Ireland and over 29 countries, city-states and microstates in Europe's Schengen area from coming into the country. This restriction does not apply to travelers who are U.S. citizens or those who spent at least 14 days in a country that is not on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's prohibited list.
Health officials in the U.S. on Wednesday reported more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases. The figures were on par with the numbers recorded in February this year, when the vaccines were not yet widely available. On Thursday, the country had a rolling seven-day average of 95,000 new COVID-19 cases.
The more contagious Delta variant has been rampant in recent weeks. It currently accounts for 93% of all new cases in the country. In late May, the variant only accounted for 3% of all sequenced cases in the U.S.
The country has fully vaccinated 49.9% of its total population, according to data from the CDC. The numbers are far from the 90% vaccination rate that experts suggest the U.S. would need to hit in order to reach herd immunity.
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