Government officials are outraged with the Biden administration after an executive order signed by the president is requiring businesses with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccines or have them tested weekly for COVID-19.
“Biden’s vaccine mandate is an assault on private businesses,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a tweet Thursday evening. “Texas is already working to halt this power grab.”
Abbott has previously encouraged Texans to get the COVID-19 vaccine but has been against mandating them. When lawmakers reconvene for a third special session, lawmakers, at Abbott’s request, will consider legislation preventing local governments from requiring COVID-19 vaccines for its residents.
“President Biden’s latest and most far-reaching COVID mandate completely ignores science,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a Friday statement. “Forcibly vaccinating people who already have immunity ignores medical data and is a brazen violation of Americans’ privacy rights. The federal government has no authority to force businesses in Texas and across the country to mandate their employees get vaccinated. American businesses are still recovering from this past year and a half. It is cruel and burdensome to impose this authoritarian mandate.”
Cruz, supporting the vaccine and having received it himself, said Americans have the right to personal choice in the matter of personal health.
“Getting the vaccine is a decision to be made in consultation with one’s doctor, not forced on Americans by the government,” Cruz said.
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