President Revamps Coronavirus Response, Campaign to Combat Vaccine Misinformation Launched

On Sept. 9, President Joe Biden announced a series of wide-ranging measures aimed at strengthening America’s pandemic response and vaccination uptake. During a White House briefing, President Biden outlined a number of new initiatives, including the following:

• Federal employees and contractors will be required to get vaccinated (unless they have a medical or religious exemption);
• Businesses with 100 or more employees must require employees to get vaccinated, or undergo weekly coronavirus testing;
• Healthcare entities, such as hospitals, home healthcare facilities, or other medical facilities must require their employees to be vaccinated, unless they have a medical or religious exemption;
• Hospitals will receive increased staffing assistance from a doubling of the Defense Department’s clinical care teams; and
• Access to testing will be boosted at local testing sites and via the sale (at cost) of almost 300 million new rapid, at-home tests.

ASCP has advocated for a more aggressive response by federal, state and local governments, as well as businesses and schools, to address the pandemic. The President’s plans are consistent with several of ASCP’s recommendations to expand access to testing and to encourage the uptake of approved coronavirus vaccines. ASCP joined more than 50 other medical societies in a July 26 joint statement urging healthcare employers to vaccinate their employees, while allowing for medical and religious exceptions. “As healthcare professionals, it is our obligation to lead the way,” said ASCP CEO E. Blair Holladay, PhD, MASCP, SCT(ASCP)^CM. “We need to stand up for science. This statement accomplishes that by bringing together the entire medical community to ensure all healthcare professionals are vaccinated and that our healthcare environments are safe for everyone. The health and safety of U.S. workers, communities, and the nation depends on it.

ASCP has since expanded its recommendations on the importance of vaccination uptake in an August 11 statement. In advocating for these policies, ASCP has been in regular contact with both the Biden and Trump Administrations on a range of issues, from COVID-19 testing and vaccine uptake to laboratory workforce issues. In response to ASCP’s work, White House Vaccine Coordinator Bechara Choucair, MD, recently thanked ASCP for its efforts to “advance [COVID-19] vaccination efforts across the country.”

ASCP is also excited to report that the American College of Physicians has launched an initiative to combat vaccine misinformation. In a Sept. 9 statement, ACP said it is “concerned about the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 virus, vaccination and treatments, and its detrimental impact on public health…The spread of inaccurate and incorrect information about COVID-19 hinders our ability to mitigate the spread of the virus and combat the global public health crisis.

Dr. Holladay said in response: “without question, the single most important thing we can do to protect ourselves, our families, our friends and colleagues, and our communities, from this very real pandemic is to get vaccinated. All the vaccines approved by FDA for use in the United States are proven effective at preventing the disease and its transmission. They are safe, and they are our ticket out of this pandemic.”

ASCP looks forward to working with ACP and others to encourage Americans to get vaccinated and to promote other safety measures, such as masking in accordance with guidelines for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.