Federal Employees in USVI, Private Businesses With More Than 100 Employees to be Affected by Biden's Mandatory Vaccine or Weekly Testing Initiative

President Joe Biden's sweeping announcement on Thursday that calls for private employers with 100 or more employees to require workers to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing, is set to impact the U.S. Virgin Islands, where private businesses and the central government have steered clear of such mandates. The mandate also requires federal employees in the executive branch and government contractors to be vaccinated.

The announcement is part of a six-point Biden administration initiative to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, whose Delta variant has disrupted America's march back to normalcy. It includes boosting vaccinations, the improvement of access to testing, and making Covid-19 treatments more readily available.

Governor Albert Bryan, who had stated he would require vaccination or mandatory weekly Covid-19 testing for government employees beginning Sept. 9, walked back the comment. A request for comment from Mr. Bryan relative to the Biden plan and its impact on the USVI had not been returned at time of publishing.

The Biden mandate is set to affect roughly 80 million private sector workers, and businesses that don't comply can face fines of up to $14,000 per violation. The mandate also requires vaccination for workers in a plurality of healthcare settings that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement. The Juan F. Luis Hospital and the Schneider Regional Medical Center are Medicare and Medicaid participating institutions.