His trip comes nearly a month after announcing federal vaccine requirements.
President Joe Biden is in Illinois Thursday to promote his administration’s push for COVID-19 vaccine mandates for large employers, as a new White House report outlines the importance of those requirements in driving up vaccination rates and helping Americans return to work.
“This extensive analysis looks at existing vaccination requirements in healthcare systems, educational institutions, businesses – and the public sector have seen vaccination rates already soar by 20%,” White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday aboard Air Force One en route to Illinois.
According to the White House, more than 3,500 organizations have already instituted some form of vaccine requirement, including 25% of businesses, 40% of hospitals, and colleges and universities serving 37% of all graduate and undergraduate students. They said thousands more businesses will institute requirements over the weeks ahead as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule for businesses with more than 100 workers is still being finalized.
The 26-page report says more than 185 million Americans are now fully vaccinated and that “the unprecedented pace of the president’s vaccination campaign saved over 100,000 lives and prevented 450,000 hospitalizations.”
White House COVID-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar also announced on Thursday that 78% of adults in the U.S. have now received at least one vaccine dose.
Biden’s visit, which was rescheduled from last week so the president could focus on infrastructure negotiations in Washington, D.C., comes nearly a month after he laid out a six-point plan to combat the pandemic, which included a vaccination requirement for federal government employees, health care workers and all businesses with more than 100 employees.
While in the suburban Elk Grove Village, Biden will visit a construction site overseen by Clayco, one of the Midwest’s largest construction companies, as it announces its vaccination requirements. He will also meet with United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, who implemented its requirement for employees to be vaccinated in August and now boasts a 97% vaccination rate.
Biden’s visit comes as the president’s overall approval rating is declining, including his handling of COVID-19. In a Quinnipiac poll among U.S. adults released on Wednesday, fewer than 4 in 10 Americans now say they approve of Biden’s overall job performance, four points lower than Quinnipiac reported in a poll three weeks ago. Meanwhile, 50% disapprove and 48% approve of his COVID-19 response.
ABC’s Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report
