Republicans insist they’re ‘pro-vaccine’ as they vote with Manchin to block Biden mandate

Mandates represent ‘the heavy hand of government’, says Indiana senator Mike Braun

Republican senators stressed their support for the Covid-19 vaccine even as they planned to roll back President Joe Biden’s mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees.

Sen Mike Braun of Indiana’s legislation would block the Biden administration’s rule that requires employees either receive the vaccine or be tested weekly. He said that it was fortunate that there was a vaccine against Covid-19.

“I’ve been on record that unless you have a good reason not to, you should get the vaccine,” he said. At the same time, he said that the mandate was “the heavy hand of government.”

“That is when my phone started ringing off the hook,” he said. “This is from not corporate America. This is where we need to be paying attention.”

Many Republicans were quick to assert their opposition to the mandate was not borne of opposition to vaccines but to government mandates.

“I was part of the Pfizer trial,” Sen Steve Daines of Montana said. “I’m pro-science, pro-vaccine. But I’m anti-mandate.”

Rather, Mr Daines and other Republican senators framed their legislation, which will receive a vote on Wednesday, as being a way to prevent people from losing their jobs.

Sen Roger Marshall of Kansas, a physician, predicted economic shutdowns because of the vaccine mandate.

“There’ll be brownouts, inflation’s gonna rise, supply chain disruptions and of course a threat to national security,” he said. At the same time, he used the press conference to express how important the vaccine is with the omicron variant spreading in the United States.

“Without the booster shot, you’re probably not going to be protected much at all,” he said. He also encouraged plenty of people who are risk for diabetes, have diabetes or who are overweight to look at getting the vaccine.

“But the mandate is going to backfire,” he said. “The people that have thus far not received the vaccine are not going to do it until this White House acknowledges natural immunity.”

Every Senate Republican and a large number of House Republicans have cosponsored legislation to block the vaccine mandate. Currently, the mandate from the administration is tied up in courts. Two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, have said they would join Republicans.

Mr Braun also said he was not opposed to mandates for other vaccinations because they do not come from the federal government.

“In my opinion, this is different because it’s coming from the highest level of authority, it’s a federal mandate,” he said. “Most other mandates, I think, were originated on the state level.”

Mr Braun also asked whether the marginal benefit of one additional person getting vaccinated was worth the disadvantage of someone losing their job.

“For regardless of whatever reason they get into that fork in the road, there’s no equivalency there,” he said.