Coronavirus pandemic
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Dozens of health groups urge businesses to voluntarily adopt Biden’s vaccine rule

Doctors, nurses and other associations say blocked mandate is ‘reasonable and essential’ to fight coronavirus

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November 18, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. EST
Health groups are urging businesses to voluntarily comply with President Biden's vaccine-or-test rule even though OSHA has suspended enforcement as legal challenges are heard. (Susan Walsh, AP file)

The American Medical Association and more than 60 other health care associations on Thursday called on employers to voluntarily implement President Biden’s contested vaccine-or-testing mandate, saying businesses had no time to waste ahead of the busy holiday season.

“We — physicians, nurses and advanced practice clinicians, health experts, and health care professional societies — fully support the requirement that workers at companies with over 100 workers be vaccinated or tested,” the organizations wrote in a joint statement. “From the first day of this pandemic, businesses have wanted to vanquish this virus. Now is their chance to step up and show they are serious.”