WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The White House has vowed to continue to work to implement vaccination requirements across the country, including in the states where there are attempts to oppose them.
The announcement comes in the wake of moves by Governors of Texas and Florida to scuttle the Biden administration's vaccine mandate.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday had issued an executive order banning any COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the state. It was followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' proposal to make a legislation to protect workers who lose their job for not getting vaccinated against Covid-19.
These actions by the Republican governors 'fit a familiar pattern that we've seen of putting politics ahead of public health,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing Tuesday. 'Over 700,000 American lives have been lost due to COVID-19, including more than 56,000 in Florida and over 68,000 in Texas. And every leader should be focused on supporting efforts to save lives and end the pandemic,' she told reporters.
She noted that many businesses that are based in their states, including Disney and American Airlines, are taking steps to help boost vaccination rates, reduce deaths, reduce hospitalizations, and expand the country's labor pool.
Psaki said President Biden announced his vaccine mandates for businesses pursuant to federal law and the implementation of federal law because it's an executive order.
She insisted that the President of the United States has the ability and the legal authority to implement the law, and that he will use 'every lever at his disposal to do that.'
More than 34 percent of the U.S. population has not yet taken a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccine despite the Biden administration's intensive vaccination campaign.
44.5 percent of the population is yet to receive the second dose. Only 4.6 percent of Americans have been administered the booster dose.
With 106301 new cases reporting on Sunday, the total number of Covid infections in the country rose to 44,570,588, as per the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
Most number of cases was reported in Texas - 9,748 - while most Covid deaths were reported in Florida - 633.
An additional 2417 Covid deaths Tuesday took the total number of people who died due to the pandemic to 716,479.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2021 AFX News
