By ADAM STATEN
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced a coronavirus vaccine mandate.
Holcomb
Biden’s mandate makes the vaccine mandatory for all businesses with 100 or more employees or their employees will be required to be tested once a week. Companies found in violation of the mandate could face thousands of dollars in fines.
Additionally, Biden signed an executive order requiring all government employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, government employees do not have the option of weekly testing.
The mandate could apply to as many as 100 million Americans.
The newly-announced mandate from Biden is taking things too far, according to Governor Eric Holcomb.
On Friday, Holcomb released the following statement in response to Biden’s mandate:
“I believe the vaccine is the number one tool that will protect us and our loved ones against COVID-19. It is the tool that will end the pandemic. However, I strongly believe it’s not the state or federal government’s role to issue a vaccine mandate upon citizens and private businesses. This is the approach our administration has taken all along. The announcement from President Biden is a bridge too far. Private businesses should be able to look at their own mission, their staff and their goals and make the decision best for them that will keep their doors open.
“I believe it is fundamentally a citizen’s right to choose whether or not to get the vaccine. While I wish everyone would get the vaccine, we are a country built on this exact type of freedom.”
Senate Democrat calls Holcomb’s statement “extremely irresponsible”
On Friday, Senator Tim Lanane (D-Anderson) released the following statement regarding Governor Holcomb’s opposition to this mandate:
Lanane
“Governor Holcomb’s opposition to mandating the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine is extremely irresponsible. President Biden correctly recognizes that the science and the data tell us that the unvaccinated population is allowing the virus to spread and mutate at an unacceptable rate. It is well established that vaccines can be required in the United States, as every student attending a public school knows. In fact, the 1905 Supreme Court Ruling in Jacobson v. Massachusetts established that requiring vaccines to protect public health is constitutional, and this precedent was just referenced again by the Supreme Court in the recent case over Indiana University’s vaccine mandate. Our state has allowed healthcare employers to mandate employee vaccines for years, to no public outcry.
“Over 100 years of Supreme Court precedent tells us that President Biden’s announcement today is not an encroachment on freedom, and it is not unconstitutional. Unfortunately, Governor Holcomb is choosing to put the interests of the far-right anti-science wing of his party above the health of Hoosiers, especially children under 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated. Hoosiers deserve better, and they deserve real leadership.”