Ford evaluates Biden's vaccine mandate

Ford says it's evaluating President Biden's sweeping new federal vaccine requirements in order to "determine what adjustments need to be made" to the company's current policy. 

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Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
F	FORD MOTOR CO.	12.03	-0.06	-0.50%

On Thursday, Biden unveiled a plan to confront the surge in coronavirus cases that’s being driven by the spread of the delta variant. The plan is slated to impact as many as 100 million Americans — private-sector employees as well as health care workers and federal contractors.  

MANUFACTURERS, RETAILERS WARY OF BIDEN PRIVATE SECTOR VACCINE MANDATE

"We believe the vaccine plays a critical role in combating the virus and have already designated some roles where we require the vaccine," a Ford spokesperson told FOX Business.  

The company plans to assess "the new executive actions to determine what adjustments need to be made to our current vaccination policy as we continue to prioritize the safety of our employees," the spokesperson continued. 

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Ford strongly encourages its employees to get vaccinated but does not require it. Currently, the company only requires U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 prior to any international business travel. 

Despite more than 208 million Americans having at least one dose of the vaccines, the U.S. is seeing about 300% more new COVID-19 infections a day, about two and a half times more hospitalizations, and nearly twice the number of deaths compared to the same time last year. 

Some 80 million people remain unvaccinated.

"We are in the tough stretch and it could last for a while," Biden said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.