The following statement can be attributed to NC Chamber President and CEO Gary J. Salamido:

The implications of President Biden’s announcement of federal COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates for large employers are far reaching and complex, and the NC Chamber is working hard to analyze the impacts on our members and on North Carolina’s entire business community. We begin our analysis with the knowledge that the vast majority of our state’s employers have already weighed the latest expert guidance and acted to protect the health and safety of their people. With that background in mind, numerous questions remain about the effectiveness of this new approach, its impact on the competition for talent, the legal risks inherent in it, and even how enforcement will work.

The NC Chamber is committed to supporting job creators and our statewide community in our fight against COVID-19 by promoting resources that increase vaccination rates across North Carolina workplaces, by supporting ample supplies of affordable testing, and by working with state leaders to ensure these new COVID-19 requirements are implemented in a way that enables our businesses to remain open and serving the needs of our citizens and communities. Our recently revamped COVID-19 Resource Guide features both vaccine- and testing-related resources, and we will continue to add resources in the coming days and weeks to help businesses navigate this new territory.

Throughout this pandemic, the business community has played a key role in driving North Carolina’s progress on all fronts, including encouraging vaccination and testing. As our team continues to analyze these new requirements, we will provide further updates as we develop a more complete picture of the impacts on job creators.