Anti-Vaccine Sling in Texas | Companies choose to comply with federal law

The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, announced Monday that he will ban all companies in his state, including private companies, from forcing the vaccine on their employees or consumers.

But “federal law dominates federal state law,” White House spokeswoman Jen Saki recalled Tuesday.

However, the American president said a month ago that after a long refusal to make binding decisions, vaccination against Kovid-19 was mandatory for companies with nearly 100 million workers, civil servants, employees of federal government contractors and more. 100 people.

Rules have not yet been set for all of these categories, but as contractors to the federal government, airlines are expected to vaccinate their employees from December 8.

Texas-based American Airlines and Southwest Airlines said Tuesday they would comply with federal law.

“We are in the process of reviewing the executive order issued by Governor Abbott, but we believe the federal vaccine mandate is more important than all state laws, and that will not change anything for Americans,” a spokesman said. To AFP.

Southwest, for its part, insisted that “compliance with the Presidential order” be in place to comply with the rules applicable to government contractors.

“We will continue to look closely at all instructions given and inform our employees of any potential changes to existing policies,” the company said in a message.

However, the Biden administration has not yet published the rules governing the practical application of this obligation in other relevant private companies.

“There is no real historical example of this [cette obligation vaccinale dans les entreprises] And we want to do better, “said a White House spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Jen Saki also felt that the Texas governor’s decision was “political” above all else.

“If you choose not to rely on the interests of the people as governor, against existing public health information and data, it could be for your own political interests,” she said.

Announcing the need for the vaccine caused a stir among Republicans, who felt it was a violation of personal liberty.

Greg Abbott, who strongly opposes wearing a mask, tested positive for COVID-19 in August after attending a public indoor event. The governor was fully vaccinated.