- Public health experts say it could take a few months to see the impact of the sweeping new vaccine or testing mandates from the Biden administration.
- Experts are hopeful the new mandates will boost vaccination rates and help us prevent and control future outbreaks.
- But it is unclear how many people covered by the mandates are actually unvaccinated.
The Biden administration ordered new mandates requiring employees working for private businesses with at least 100 workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing for the infection.
The deadline for employees in the private sector cannot go into effect until the Department of Labor issues the rule, which is expected in the coming weeks.
The mandates will affect approximately 100 million Americans, a large percentage of which likely remain unprotected from COVID-19.
Public health experts suspect it could take a few months to see the impact of the sweeping new mandates to influence the course of the pandemic.
“Public data have suggested that approvals from federal agencies and vaccine mandates coupled together are likely to pack a powerful punch. It’s become clear that more must be done to reach a critical level of community and population vaccination rates to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr. Chris T. Pernell, a public health expert and preventive medicine specialist with University Hospital in New Jersey and a fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, told Healthline.
Source: healthline