Murthy calls Biden's new COVID-19 actions an 'appropriate response' to tackle pandemic

U.S. Surgeon Gen. Vivek Murthy defended President Joe Biden's new vaccine mandates on private businesses, saying it's not an "unusual phenomenon" to require vaccinations.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy defended President Joe Biden's new actions to combat COVID-19, calling it an "ambitious" and "thoughtful" plan to increase vaccinations as the country has faced more than 100,000 cases a day for the past four weeks and roughly a quarter million new cases being reported among children. "The requirements that he announced are not sweeping requirements for the entire nation," Murthy told ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos. "These are focused on areas where the federal government has legal authority to act." Reaching a milestone this week, 75% of American adults have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but Murthy warned that the delta variant is a "tough foe" that has "thrown curve balls" at any progress made and said Biden's actions "have to be taken" to help get through the pandemic. Biden on Thursday announced his furthest measures yet to combat the delta variant -- unveiling a six-part strategy that includes a new Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule for private businesses with over 100 employees to either require workers to be fully vaccinated or face weekly testing, covering roughly 80 million workers.