US to End Last Remaining COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements
2023-05-09
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1The administration of President Joe Biden says it will end most remaining federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements on May 11.
2That date was chosen in February by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to end the country's Public Health Emergency for COVID-19.
3Vaccine requirements for federal workers and federal contractors will end on May 11.
4In addition, foreign air travelers to the United States will no longer be subject to existing vaccination rules, or mandates.
5The government has also begun the process of lifting vaccination requirements for some educators, healthcare workers, and noncitizens at U.S. land borders.
6The Biden administration's COVID-19 coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, recently spoke to the Associated Press (AP).
7He said: "While I believe that these vaccine mandates had a tremendous beneficial impact, we are now at a point where we think that it makes a lot of sense to pull these requirements down."
8Biden used presidential powers to require vaccinations starting in the fall of 2021 as the nation's vaccination rate leveled off.
9At that time, different virus versions, called variants, began to be reported.
10Some of the variants spread easily.
11Politicians debated the vaccine requirements and legal action was brought against them in courts around the country.
12At one time, more than 100 million people were covered by the U.S. vaccine mandates.
13Biden had ruled out such requirements before taking office in January 2021.
14But he became more open to the idea when much of the public refused to get vaccinated.
15His administration argued that people who did not get vaccinated were endangering the lives of others and harming the nation's economic recovery.
16Federal courts and the U.S. Congress have already withdrawn Biden's vaccine requirements for large employers and military service members.
17More than 1.13 million people in the U.S. have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began more than three years ago.
18This number included 1,052 people during the week ending April 26, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
19That was the lowest weekly death number from the virus since March 2020.
20"COVID continues to be a problem," Jha said.
21"But our healthcare system or public health resources are far more able" to answer the threat that COVID presents.
22He added, "Some of these emergency powers are just not necessary in the same way anymore."
23The CDC says more than 270 million people in the U.S., or just over 81 percent of the population, have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.
24For more than a year, U.S. health officials have been considering how to create a long-term plan of action to fight COVID-19.
25The plan is expected to be similar to how officials currently deal with the flu.
26This would include releasing new vaccines yearly based on the latest versions of the virus.
27Currently, U.S. officials say fewer than 56 million people in the U.S., or about 17 percent of the population, have received one shot of the latest COVID-19 vaccine to be developed.
28Jha dismissed concerns that ending the international travel vaccination requirement would increase the risk of a new variant from overseas entering the U.S.
29Biden has already reduced virus testing requirements for both American citizens and foreign travelers to the U.S.
30"We think that we are much more able to identify if a new variant shows up in the United States and respond effectively," Jha said.
31I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The administration of President Joe Biden says it will end most remaining federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements on May 11. 2That date was chosen in February by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to end the country's Public Health Emergency for COVID-19. 3Vaccine requirements for federal workers and federal contractors will end on May 11. In addition, foreign air travelers to the United States will no longer be subject to existing vaccination rules, or mandates. 4The government has also begun the process of lifting vaccination requirements for some educators, healthcare workers, and noncitizens at U.S. land borders. 5The Biden administration's COVID-19 coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, recently spoke to the Associated Press (AP). He said: "While I believe that these vaccine mandates had a tremendous beneficial impact, we are now at a point where we think that it makes a lot of sense to pull these requirements down." 6Biden used presidential powers to require vaccinations starting in the fall of 2021 as the nation's vaccination rate leveled off. At that time, different virus versions, called variants, began to be reported. Some of the variants spread easily. 7Politicians debated the vaccine requirements and legal action was brought against them in courts around the country. 8At one time, more than 100 million people were covered by the U.S. vaccine mandates. Biden had ruled out such requirements before taking office in January 2021. But he became more open to the idea when much of the public refused to get vaccinated. His administration argued that people who did not get vaccinated were endangering the lives of others and harming the nation's economic recovery. 9Federal courts and the U.S. Congress have already withdrawn Biden's vaccine requirements for large employers and military service members. 10More than 1.13 million people in the U.S. have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began more than three years ago. This number included 1,052 people during the week ending April 26, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. That was the lowest weekly death number from the virus since March 2020. 11"COVID continues to be a problem," Jha said. "But our healthcare system or public health resources are far more able" to answer the threat that COVID presents. He added, "Some of these emergency powers are just not necessary in the same way anymore." 12The CDC says more than 270 million people in the U.S., or just over 81 percent of the population, have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. 13For more than a year, U.S. health officials have been considering how to create a long-term plan of action to fight COVID-19. The plan is expected to be similar to how officials currently deal with the flu. This would include releasing new vaccines yearly based on the latest versions of the virus. 14Currently, U.S. officials say fewer than 56 million people in the U.S., or about 17 percent of the population, have received one shot of the latest COVID-19 vaccine to be developed. 15Jha dismissed concerns that ending the international travel vaccination requirement would increase the risk of a new variant from overseas entering the U.S. Biden has already reduced virus testing requirements for both American citizens and foreign travelers to the U.S. 16"We think that we are much more able to identify if a new variant shows up in the United States and respond effectively," Jha said. 17I'm Bryan Lynn. 18The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 19_____________________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21mandate -n. an official order to do something 22beneficial - adj. helpful or useful 23impact - n. the effect that a person, event or situation has on someone or something 24influenza - n. short form of the term influenza: a sickness that is similar to a bad cold, often causing a high temperature, tiredness and other symptoms 25_________________________________________________________________ 26What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 27Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.