vaccine mandates
Few employees out of compliance, as USDA vaccination rate rises
Seven of every eight USDA employees are partially or fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and there are few holdouts against President Biden's order to get vaccinated or seek a waiver, said the White House on Thursday. Slightly more than 2,000 of the USDA's 92,000 employees have not responded to the presidential directive, according to White House data.
USDA vaccination rate is lowest in federal government
Six of every seven USDA employees are partially or fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and the USDA says it expects that in the weeks ahead more will get vaccinated in compliance with the federal mandate. All the same, the USDA's vaccination rate of 86.1 percent was the lowest among the 15 federal departments, according to the White House.
Vaccination rule applauded by unions at meat plants
The Labor Department requirement that large companies vaccinate or test their workers for Covid-19 is a step toward greater worker safety at slaughterhouses and other food processing plants, said labor unions on Thursday. The emergency temporary standard (ETS) sets a Jan. 4 deadline for employees to be fully vaccinated but does not apply to employees who work alone, from home, or exclusively outdoors.