Nandita Bhose

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Labor Department submitted Tuesday to the White House initial text for President Joe Biden’s proposal to mandate that private sector workers get tested or get vaccinated against Covid-19.

The proposed rule was submitted for review by the department’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration. A source close to the situation told Reuters that some details may change. This suggests that the standard may be published soon.

Businesses with more than 100 employees would be subject to the mandate. The federal emergency temporary standard is a rule-making process that will allow for implementation of this law. The mandate would apply to approximately 80 million people nationwide.

The orders, which cover about two-thirds (100 million) of America’s workforce, are in addition to Biden’s last month order that all federal employees and contractors must be immunized.

Biden announced his mandate in September at an extremely critical moment. The country was trying to manage the pandemic, and large sections of its population were refusing to receive free vaccines. More than 700,000. Americans have been killed by the coronavirus.

Many Republican governors have been critical of the order regarding workplace vaccinations. Texas Governor Greg Abbott (a Republican) issued Monday’s executive order prohibiting businesses and private entities from mandating Covid-19 vaccines for their employees.

Mixed reactions have been received by companies as well. Companies have had mixed reactions to the plan. While many support government’s aim of expediting vaccinations, smaller employers with fewer workers expressed concerns that the policy might be too difficult to implement.