Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has reacted to President Joe Biden’s
order of requiring the employees of private businesses to be vaccinated against
COVID-19, saying that it is not the right answer for boosting vaccination rates.

“I have been consistent in the freedom of businesses to
require their employees to be vaccinated, and I have opposed the government
from saying businesses cannot exercise that freedom,” Hutchinson, a Republican, said in a statement.

“The same
principle should protect the private sector from government overreach that
requires them to vaccinate all employees,” the chairperson of the National Governors Association added.

Some of Arkansas’ largest employers are already requiring
workers to get vaccinated, the Associated Press reported.

The federal vaccine requirement will impact millions of Americans as the Delta variant of the coronavirus plagues the United States and has been killing thousands every week, according to reports from Associated Press.

The new mandate will give a choice, to those who fall under the new requirement, of either getting fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or get tested every week.

Roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated, according to Associated Press reports.

In addition to the vaccination requirements, Biden is moving to double federal fines for airline passengers who refuse to wear masks on flights or to maintain face-covering requirements on federal property in accordance with United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

According to reports from Associated Press, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services, the Indian Health Service, and the National Institutes of Health have previously announced vaccine requirements for much of their staffs, and the Pentagon moved last month to require all service members to get vaccinated.