Murthy: Private sector has to do everything they can to tackle the virus

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said on Sunday that the private sector has to do its part in order to tackle the current surge of the COVID-19 virus in the wake of President Biden directing private business owners to require vaccinations or weekly testing if they have 100 or more employees.

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Murthy told host Dana Bush that businesses should step up and do everything they can to tackle the current wave of virus. 

President Biden announced on Thursday that all private employers with 100 or more employees will be required to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations or face daily testing. He also required all federal employees be vaccinated. 

“What the president and what all of us have said as public health leaders from the earliest part of this pandemic is that we have to use every level of government, and we all in the private sector have to do everything we can to tackle this virus,” Murthy told Bush. “The requirements the president announced are an example of that.” 

When asked if the Biden administration should’ve been more aggressive on their vaccine mandate earlier on, Murthy said that the administration has been working “extremely hard” to vaccinate Americans adding that the surging delta variant is causing new problems. 

“We have been working extraordinarily hard to vaccinate people. And not only that, but we have made progress; 200 million people, Dana, have gotten at least one shot of the vaccine. And that’s one of the reasons why we have actually saved many lives and many hospitalizations. Now, with Delta, which was a new twist — a twist, if you will, a new curveball, it has required us to take another set of actions,” Murthy told Bush.

Murthy also addressed the issue of Republicans sharing their disdain over Biden’s new COVID mandate.

“The reason that we’re pursuing some of these requirements is, again, we know a lot of businesses have welcomed it. We know that many — that it will help keep workplaces safe.”