ATLANTA – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday said he’s fighting back against the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors.
Georiga was among several states, including Florida, that filed a lawsuit alleging the president doesn’t have the authority to issue the rule and that it violates procurement law.
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Kemp called the mandates an “unlawful and dangerous overreach” during a news conference in Atlanta.
“In Georgia, this mandate could affect thousands of people,” Kemp said. “After telling Americans in July of 2021, that it was not the role of the federal government to mandate COVID-19 vaccine, the Biden administration is now forcing hardworking Georgians to choose between their livelihoods and a vaccine.”
Kemp said if the mandates go into effect, university research projects could be put on hold or banned, locally owned construction companies that help serve military installations around the state could be forced to stop mid-project and it could have a detrimental effect on already strained food service industries.
“These examples literally only scratched the surface, and we will not stand for this outrageous big government power grab,” Kemp said. “This Joe Biden mandate is a recipe for financial disaster.”
In addition to a vaccine mandate for federal contractors, which is set to go into effect in December, Biden has also announced that private employers with 100 or more workers will have to require them to be vaccinated or tested weekly.
The roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated. Additional details on the policies are expected to be released soon.
Biden has argued that the sweeping mandates will help end a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 745,000 Americans.
