The leaders of the Arlington, Va.-based Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) on Nov. 4 applauded the Biden administration for its imposition of a mandate for COVID-19 vaccination on employers with 100 or more employees. That move, which was executed through the announcement of an emergency temporary standard created by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), was separate from the administration’s promulgation of an emergency interim final rule by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), mandating vaccination in virtually all patient care organizations that accept Medicare and/Medicaid reimbursement. The IDSA also at the same time applauded CMS’s mandate, announced the same day. The IDSA, on its website, describes itself as “a community of over 12,000 physicians, scientists and public health experts who specialize in infectious diseases. Our mission is to improve the health of individuals, communities, and society by promoting excellence in patient care, education, research, public health, and prevention relating to infectious diseases.”
As the Associated Press’s David Koenig wrote on Nov. 4, “Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under government rules issued Thursday. The new requirements are the Biden administration’s boldest move yet to persuade reluctant Americans to finally get a vaccine that has been widely available for months — or face financial consequences. If successful, administration officials believe it will go a long way toward ending a pandemic that has killed more than 750,000 Americans. First previewed by President Joe Biden in September, the requirements will apply to about 84 million workers at medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those employees are unvaccinated. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations will force the companies to require that unvaccinated workers test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear a mask while in the workplace. OSHA left open the possibility of expanding the requirement to smaller businesses. It asked for public comment on whether employers with fewer than 100 employees could handle vaccination or testing programs,” he wrote.
OSHA explained the move through a summary posted to its website, noting that “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS)to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the workplace. The ETS establishes binding requirements to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers (100 or more employees from the risk of contracting COVID-19 in the workplace.”
In response to both the OSHA and the CMS mandates, the IDSA released a statement, which it attributed to Daniel P. McQuillen, M.D., FIDSA, the IDSA’s president. The statement began, “The Infectious Diseases Society of America supports COVID-19 vaccine mandates announced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for large private employers and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for employees at Medicare and Medicaid-participating health care facilities. Today’s announcements provide these businesses and facilities with clarity on compliance. Too many people have already died or suffered serious illness. Increasing vaccination will help us end this pandemic, and these mandates are an essential tool in the fight to control the spread of COVID-19.”
Further, the statement by Dr. McQuillen went on, “These mandates build on other steps taken to boost vaccine uptake, including making the vaccine free and widely available and providing information about the vaccines’ safety and efficacy. Vaccine requirements are not a new concept. They have been in place for America’s schoolchildren and health professionals for decades, reducing the rates of polio, meningitis and other serious diseases. The bottom line is that vaccine requirements help save lives. The COVID-19 vaccines are safe, studied extensively by the nation’s foremost medical experts and effective at preventing infection — especially when it comes to cases leading to hospitalization or death. Hundreds of millions of individuals have already done their part to help end this pandemic by receiving the vaccine, and these policies will help ensure even more individuals are vaccinated.”
