New York Times The requirements helped end the public health emergency. But they also prompted a politically charged debate.
The Biden administration will end most federal Covid-19 vaccine requirements next week, rolling back a vast assertion of government power that helped bring an end to the worst public health threat in 100 years but roiled American politics in the process.
The White House announced the shift in policy on Monday, roughly three years after the start of a pandemic that eventually prompted the United States and nations around the world to require hundreds of millions of people to be vaccinated against the fast-moving and rapidly changing coronavirus.
But on May 11, those requirements will end for federal workers, international travelers, contractors, Head Start employees and health care workers at many hospitals.
“While vaccination remains one of the most important tools in advancing the health and safety of employees and promoting the efficiency of workplaces,” the White House said, “we are now in a different phase of our response when these measures are no longer necessary.”