ASCP Doubles Down to Support OSHA Vaccine/Testing Mandate

ASCP is working on multiple fronts to support the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) recent COVID-19 vaccine-or-test rule. On November 17, ASCP joined a statement signed by more than 60 major medical societies and healthcare organizations and 30-plus prominent healthcare experts to support the new requirement. 

Under the rule, companies with 100 or more employees are require to urge their employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Employees who do not get vaccinated must undergo weekly testing and wear a face mask while on the job. The OSHA rule was published on November 5 in response to a directive from President Joe Biden. It would apply to approximately 84 million workers, many of whom are likely already vaccinated.

As ASCP outlined in July, in calling for broader use of employer vaccine mandates, the COVID-19 vaccine is the most effective way to protect everyone from COVID-19. No other measure has been shown as safe and effective at reducing the risk of infection, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. 

ASCP also plans to submit a legal brief with the American Medical Association to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which will be hearing a lawsuit attempting to block the OSHA rule. That lawsuit has resulted in a temporary stay on the OSHA rule. The legal brief urges the court to preserve the federal government's emergency temporary standard for Covid-19 vaccination and testing. The brief states that “COVID-19 poses a grave danger to public health” and halting enforcement of the federal rule would “severely and irreparably harm the public interest.”

ASCP will be submitting formal comments on the OSHA rule in advance of its January 4, 2022 comment deadline.
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