Delta Air CEO calls vaccine mandates 'very blunt instrument'

Delta CE Ed Bastian on Wednesday waded into the debate on mandating coronavirus vaccines, saying government directives are not the only way to make people get the jab. “Mandate is only one way to get people vaccinated,” Bastian said. “It’s a very blunt instrument.” As part of efforts to control the pandemic, which has killed more than 700,000 Americans, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, last month signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to mandate COVID-19 shots for employees and get them vaccinated by Dec. 8. While supporters of vaccine mandates see them as necessary to pull the country out of the nearly two-year-old pandemic, critics are calling them unconstitutional and authoritarian. The White House on Wednesday said vaccine requirements have driven up COVID-19 vaccination rates by 20 percentage points. The measure has drawn a sharp reaction from some Republicans, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday barring COVID-19 vaccine mandates by any entity, including private employers.<br/>