BIDEN DEFENDS VAX MANDATE

President Biden stood by his administration’s coronavirus vaccination mandate for businesses, arguing on Thursday it will not lead to worker shortages amid pushback from Republicans over the impact it could have on the economy.

“As we’ve seen with businesses – large and small – across all sectors of our economy, the overwhelming majority of Americans choose to get vaccinated,” Biden said in a statement.

“There have been no ‘mass firings’ and worker shortages because of vaccination requirements,” he added. “Despite what some predicted and falsely assert, vaccination requirements have broad public support.”

The president also argued that vaccine requirements are nothing new, noting they exist for other diseases, and that safety requirements are also not new. He said that he “would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary” but that the requirements are because “too many people” are unvaccinated.

“The virus will not go away by itself, or because we wish it away: we have to act. Vaccination is the single best pathway out of this pandemic,” Biden said.

Conflict: Republicans have criticized the mandate since Biden first announced it in September with some GOP governors, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, vowing to fight it in court.

The top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), issued a statement on Thursday, saying “job creators should not be forced to become the vaccine-and-testing police for [Biden].”