LSU announced on Wednesday that President William F. Tate IV has been invited to the White House to brief President Joe Biden and his COVID Response Team on LSU’s COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
UPDATE: Here are the President's remarks to the press following the meeting:
THE PRESIDENT: Folks, last week, I laid out a six-point plan for the fall to beat this pandemic, and it’s based on what science tells us. And vaccination is key to getting the pandemic under control and keeping -- and keeping the economy strong.
And the first part of the plan is to vaccinate the unvaccinated. This is a -- this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated -- not anything else right now.
The Labor Department is working on an emergency rule that will require all employers with 100 or more workers to ensure their workers are fully vaccinated and regularly tested. And it's going to take a little bit for them to put those requirements in place under the law.
We’re also going to require nearly all health workers -- healthcare workers to get vaccinated. In addition to that, if we seek -- if you seek care at a health facility, it seems to me you should be certain the people who are treating you are vaccinated. And that's what we're doing. Period.
And, in total, these vaccination requirements will cover over a hundred million workers -- two-thirds of all workers -- and it builds on previous requirements that -- that we've installed so far.
And the vaccine requirements work, and more companies are instituting them. Even Fox News is requiring them. And I'm not being facetious when I say that. I'm -- but it's interesting that they've stepped forward and done that as well.
And the -- and the group I’m meeting with here today is leading the way. We’ll hear from the CEOs and presidents of Disney; Microsoft; Walgreens; Columbia Sportswear; Kaiser Permanente; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia -- "CHOP" -- which I've spent a lot of time; and Molly Moon’s Ice Cream.
And we’re joined by Josh Bolten, who -- who is the -- represents the Business Roundtable -- which was a brainchild, I think, from years and years and years ago out of Wilmington, Delaware and the DuPont Company.
And -- but it represents over 200 major businesses who champion vaccine mandates that will keep -- and to make sure that we keep businesses open and workers safe.
And also, we have Bill Tate. Since instituting the requirement, the Louisiana State University went from -- a requirement that there be vaccinations -- the vaccination rate at Louisiana State University went from 63 to 81 percent of the students vaccinated in weeks.
And it's about beating this virus, and it's about saving lives. That's what this is all about.
And here's what Wall Street has had to say recently:
Goldman Sachs: Vaccinations will have a positive impact on employment. It means less spread of COVID, which will help people return to work.
And Moody’s: Vaccinations means fewer infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. And in turn, it means a stronger economy.
And I think everyone -- thank everyone for joining me today, and I look forward to working together to beat this pandemic and keep our economy growing and going strong.
So, thank you all for being here. And thank you.
Tate joined representatives from Disney, Microsoft, Columbia Sportswear, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Kaiser Permanente, Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream and Business Roundtable.
LSU says that Tate is the only higher education representative invited to the event.
In a release sent this morning, Tate is quote as saying:
“It is an honor to present our successful COVID mitigation strategies to President Biden and the COVID Response Team, and we are proud that our multi-tiered approach to protecting our students, faculty and staff has been recognized at such an incredibly high level,” Tate said. “Our strategies have worked, with more than 82 percent of our student body currently vaccinated, a monthly testing protocol that monitors the presence of the virus on our campus, wastewater testing that allows us to intervene before an outbreak occurs, and a vaccine/testing mandate at Tiger Stadium to keep our fans safe, too. We are grateful for the privilege of celebrating how far we have come and sharing the game plan with others who might be able to benefit from the knowledge.”
For more information on LSU’s COVID protocols, visit https://lsu.edu/roadmap.
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