A lot of questions remain for businesses and employees the day after President Joe Biden issued a mandate for businesses that employ 100 or more workers to require proof of the COVID-19 vaccination or have employees undergo routine testing.

New Hampshire Business & Industry Association David Juvet told Seacoast Current he has not seen any further information on how the mandate should be implemented.

"We haven't seen any details relating to it so I don't know when it become effective. We don't know how they're planning on enforcing this, I don't know what kind of reporting will be required for companies to comply.  I know next to nothing about it other than the broad directive," Juvet said.

Juvet said the BIA has received inquires from members before Biden's announcement about whether or not they could implement a vaccination mandate. He's not sure how many members followed through with their own mandate.

Biden's mandate takes the onus off a company that had been considering a mandate, Juvet said.

"BIA believes that anyone who is able to receive a vaccine should receive a vaccine. We're very strongly, proactively in favor of people getting vaccinated," Juvet said. "We resist government telling private sector businesses how to run their businesses  or how to best run their businesses."

In that same vein the BIA opposed legislation that would have prohibited a business from implementing a vaccine mandate.

"We think vaccines are good and we encourage people to get them but I don't know that we support governments mandating that employers have vaccine mandates," Juvet said.

Gov. Chris Sununu weighed in on Biden's mandate and and said while he encourages people to take the COVID-19 forcing people to choose between their jobs and livelihood or the vaccine is not an appropriate way to increase vaccine uptake.

"Yesterday's actions by the Biden Administration are another example of saying one thing, then doing another and creating instability and mistrust at a time when the American people need serious leadership," Sununu said. "New Hampshire's workforce, most especially in health care, is at a critical level and unilateral mandates by the federal government could lead to shortages in multiple areas that are already at grave risk.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH

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