Labor Sec’y Walsh: We’re Not Imposing a Vaccine Mandate, Employees Can Get Tested

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh argued that there is not a vaccine mandate for companies with more than 100 employees because people who choose not to get vaccinated are “going to get tested and then, in the workplace, when they’re around other people, they’re going to wear a mask.”

Walsh said, “OSHA’s done this for over 50 years. So, they certainly have the enforcement mechanism down. But I’m not looking — I’ve gotten the question a lot today, I’m not looking at the negative side of this. I’m looking at the positive side. We’ve seen many companies in America that have brought in a mandate, they have about 85 to 90% of their employees getting vaccinated already. And what we want to do is just encourage people to get vaccinated, if they choose not to get vaccinated, we’re asking — they’re going to get tested and then, in the workplace, when they’re around other people, they’re going to wear a mask. This is not a mandate.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett