The latest:
The U.S. government will require companies with at least 100 workers to provide paid time off for employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and paid sick leave to recover from effects of the shots, a Biden administration official said Monday.
Those requirements will be part of a pending federal rule that will spell out how large employers will meet a requirement that workers be vaccinated or tested regularly for the virus.
The White House budget office has completed its review of the rule being written by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is expected to be released this week.
The rule — issued under emergency standards to respond to the pandemic and set to be published in the Federal Register “in the coming days” — will cover firms with 100 or more employees, regardless of how many are located in any particular spot.
“Covered employers must develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, unless they adopt a policy requiring employees to choose either to get vaccinated or to undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work,” a U.S. Labour Department spokesperson said Monday. The rule “also requires employers to provide paid time to workers to get vaccinated and paid sick leave to recover from any side effects.”
Separately, the administration will give federal contractors broad authority on how to treat employees who refuse to be vaccinated, according to guidelines that the White House issued Monday.
Under an executive order that U.S. President Joe Biden issued in September, contractors have until Dec. 8 to ensure that employees are fully vaccinated. The order has met resistance from some workers at large employers with federal contracts, including American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The CEO of Southwest said his airline would not fire anybody for refusing to get the shots.
— From The Associated Press, last updated at 2 p.m. ET
What’s happening in Canada
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/367/398/mpx-wong-covid-trauma.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
COVID-19 can not only bring long-term physical effects, but can result in lingering psychological trauma after a patient is hospitalized. 2:02
What’s happening around the world
As of Monday afternoon, more than 246.8 million COVID-19 cases had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s online coronavirus database. The reported global death toll stood at more than five million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Cambodia on Monday began vaccinating five-year-old children against the coronavirus as its leader announced the start of the country’s reopening, including the phased re-entry of foreign tourists. Vaccinations for two million children age six to 11 began Sept. 17 and are nearly complete.
In the Middle East, Israel on Monday began welcoming individual tourists for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. It had planned to reopen to tourists last spring but delayed the move amid a spike in cases driven by the delta variant. Israel has since rolled out a booster campaign in which nearly half the population has received a third vaccine dose.
In Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the country may need the army’s help to build field hospitals for COVID-19 patients as it battles a surge in infections. “The situation in the country is very difficult,” Putin said in remarks to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and other top brass. “More than 40,000 cases [a day]. This has never happened.”
Putin last month ordered a week-long countrywide workplace shutdown from Oct. 30 that could be extended by regional authorities as they saw fit. The Novgorod region northwest of Moscow became the first on Monday to say it would prolong this for a second week.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv implemented tough new restrictions on Monday in an attempt to stem a surge in COVID-19 infections that is affecting many countries across eastern Europe amid a low take-up of vaccinations.
From Monday, residents of Kyiv will have to present vaccine certificates or evidence of a negative COVID-19 test to use restaurants, cafés, gyms, entertainment facilities and shopping malls. Staff working in those places must have been vaccinated. City authorities have said special teams will monitor compliance with the restrictions on public transport.
In Africa, protests erupted across cities in Morocco on Sunday against a coronavirus vaccine passport that is required to access indoor activities and travel. Proof of vaccination has been mandatory since Oct. 21 for all Moroccans to enter their place of work and restaurants and for domestic and international air travel.
In the Americas, Mexico’s Health Ministry said it had received nearly six million AstraZeneca vaccine doses against COVID-19 as pressure grows on the government to widen its vaccination rollout to include children.
— From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 1 p.m. ET
