The U.S. government has said it will face “a major blow” if an appellate court fails to reverse an exemption from enforcing President Joe Biden’s executive order to forcibly vaccinate federal officials.
The federal government points out that the cost of diagnostic tests for unvaccinated federal workers could be a monthly one. cost $ 22 million.
Jason Miller, deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, revealed in a Justice Department statement late Monday that the government would be hit hard on several fronts if it could not enforce the mandatory vaccination.
“Despite the fact that most of the federal government’s civilian staff has been fully vaccinated, hundreds of thousands of them remain unvaccinated,” Miller said in a statement issued by the Department of Justice on January 28.
The government is hiring about 20,000 employees on a monthly basis and currently, can not require their vaccination, he added.
On Jan. 21, a Texas judge ruled that Biden can not require federal officials to vaccinate against COVID-19, preventing the US government from imposing disciplinary action on workers who did not comply with the presidential mandate.
In September, Biden issued an executive order requiring some 3.5 million workers to be vaccinated by November 22, with the exception of religious or medical reasons. Otherwise, federal workers would face disciplinary action or even dismissal.
Miller said in a statement that as of Jan. 21, about 2 percent of federal staff “had not confirmed that they had been fully vaccinated, nor had they filed an application or received an exemption.”
Workplace safety protocols require federal workers who have not been vaccinated to have negative diagnostic test results at regular intervals. Weekly tests “could cost taxpayers $ 11 million to $ 22 million each month, or $ 33 million to $ 65 million each quarter,” Miller said.
Tens of thousands of unvaccinated federal officials do not expect or have received approval for exemption requests, while tens of thousands of exemption requests are expected to be approved, according to Miller in a statement.
Last week, a federal appeals court refused to block the vaccination decision. The 5th U.S. Court of Appeals is expected to hear the case on March 8.
Miller said the ruling would force government agencies to review “health management plans and programs” and to include “the organization of extended COVID-19 diagnostic programs in the services.”
He added that the exemption order would “jeopardize the federal government’s ability to protect the health and safety of its federal employees”.
The Justice Department cited an executive order issued by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 requiring federal officials to refrain from using illicit drugs while on and off duty, arguing that the president has “broad powers to enforce political regulations.” federal staff “.
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