Fearing a loss of highly skilled workers, groups representing large and small defense firms are pushing the Biden administration to allow employees to take periodic COVID tests instead of getting vaccinated. Currently, employees of companies that do work for the federal government must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 18.
“We need more flexibility. There needs to be a waiver. There needs to be one-size-does-not-fit-all,” said Arnold Punaro, chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association, which represents 1,600 defense companies.