The plan also called for measures to increase the availability of booster shots for people previously vaccinated for COVID-19, and to deploy additional resources to provide care for those infected with the disease.
On January 19, 2022, the Biden administration is reported to begin freely providing 400 million N95 masks in the United States.
Executive orders were announced directing all federal agencies to mandate the vaccination of their employees (with exceptions as required by law, and no option for regular testing in lieu of vaccination)[3] per guidance to be developed by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, and all future government contracts to include a clause requiring compliance with guidance to be developed by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (likely to include a similar mandate).
[5][6][3] Companies with more than 100 employees may choose to require vaccination and must give their workers four hours' paid time off for their vaccination appointments; their unvaccinated employees (if any) must wear masks and be tested weekly for COVID-19, according to an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard.
[4] Biden explained that corporate vaccine mandates had already been implemented by "some of the biggest companies" in the country, including Disney, Fox News, Tyson Foods, and United Airlines, and that "We’ve been patient.
Pursuant to this executive order, the administration released a document titled COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors.
[13] Nevertheless, a substantial majority of federal employees were vaccinated pursuant to the order without objection and prior to the court action.
Employees who work entirely remotely or entirely outdoors, or otherwise do not come into contact with other people through the course of their employment, are exempt from the vaccination and/or testing requirement.
Individual states may be exempted from the OSHA ETS if they adopt their own health and safety regulations of equal or greater effect.
[19][20] Justices Gorsuch, Thomas, and Alito concluded in their concurring opinion that "under the law as it stands today, that power rests with the States and Congress, not OSHA".
However, the controlling per curiam opinion stated: That is not to say OSHA lacks authority to regulate occupation-specific risks related to COVID–19.
Where the virus poses a special danger because of the particular features of an employee's job or workplace, targeted regulations are plainly permissible.
"[24] In addition to mandates, the plan promised steps to quickly role out the availability of booster shots to those eligible to receive them, with boosters to be available for free as early as the week of September 20, subject to FDA approval and review by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
[25] This aspect of the plan raised concerns with some federal officials, who argued that more time was needed to study the efficacy of boosters before widely recommending them.