Biden Asks Businesses to Mandate Vaccine After Pfizer Shot Gets FDA Approval

President Joe Biden has called on businesses "to do what I did last month" and require employees to get vaccinated or face strict requirements.

"If you're a business leader, a nonprofit leader, a state or local leader who has been waiting for full FDA approval to require vaccinations, I call on you now to do it, require it," Biden said during a Monday press conference. "There is no time to waste."

This announcement follows Monday's full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine. In a statement by the agency's acting commissioner, Janet Woodcock, the FDA declared Pfizer's vaccine had met the "high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality" required for approval.

In his address, Biden likened the COVID vaccine to those shots that helped eliminate Polio, Smallpox, Measles, Mumps and Rubella. He stressed that vaccine requirements have been around "for decades" for students, medical professionals, and troops, saying "it only makes sense to require a vaccine to stop the spread of COVID-19."

President Biden Discusses U.S. COVID-19 Response
The FDA announced full approval of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for people 16 and older, making it the first vaccine to move beyond emergency use status in the U.S. Above, President Joe Biden arrives to speak about COVID-19 vaccines at the White House on August 23, 2021. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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