Missouri businesses, protesters slam Biden’s vaccine mandate

By SUMMER BALLENTINE
Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers, business lobbyists and protesters are railing against President Joe Biden’s planned vaccine mandate for large businesses. Influential industry groups on Wednesday told lawmakers that the requirement could be catastrophic to businesses as protesters rallied against the mandate in the Capitol rotunda. Business lobbyists say the mandate likely won’t mean many more people get vaccinated in Missouri. They say the requirement will instead push workers to smaller businesses without vaccine mandates, straining the already strained labor force. House Republican leaders have sent a letter to Biden calling the plan “blatantly unconstitutional.”