The American Medical Association (AMA) on Tuesday urged the public and private sectors to demand vaccines against COVID-19, saying the measure is key to controlling pandemic control.
The call comes a day after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully approved the Pfizer vaccine, a step that is expected to lead more companies to trigger the vaccination obligation for their employees.
The AMA, the main group of doctors in the country, seeks to speed up this process.
“The fact is that unless a significant percentage of our population is vaccinated against COVID-19, we could be trapped against this virus for many months or even years,” said WADA President Gerald Harmon, in a statement. the time has come for the public and private sectors to come together, listen to science and order vaccination. “
The statement joins intensified calls from President Biden
Joe BidenHouse Democrats vote on budget over Tuesday Biden envoy calls on North Korea to restart nuclear talks., who spoke Monday after FDA approval and asked employers to also order vaccines for their workers.
“Today I call on more private sector companies to increase vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people,” Biden said. “If you’re a business leader, a nonprofit leader, a state or local leader, who’s been waiting for full FDA approval to require vaccines, now I’m asking you to do it.”
The AMA argued that other steps to simply encourage vaccination, rather than obligations, have not resulted in the high vaccination rates needed to domesticate the highly transmissible delta variant.
“These incentives haven’t taken us where we need to be,” Harmon said. “With the highly transmissible and more virulent delta variant wreaking havoc and emergency departments once again, doctors and all health care workers need help.”
He added that health workers “continue to risk our own safety and well-being today, putting our families at risk, to treat mainly unvaccinated people suffering from COVID-19.”
“Help us win this fight, follow science and end this pandemic by demanding vaccination,” he said.