Certain companies are exploring the option of making vaccination mandatory for its employees while other businesses are offering extra cash to get vaccinated. Grady Trimble reports from Chicago, Illinois.<\/p>\n
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said one of the key considerable downside risks to the U.S. economy posed by the ongoing pandemic is the slow pace of the coronavirus vaccine rollout.<\/p>\n
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“There’s nothing more important to the economy now than people getting vaccinated,” Powell said during a press conference capping off a two-day FOMC meeting. “If you think about the places where the economy is weak – I mentioned bars and restaurants … that’s all because of the spread of the pandemic.”<\/p>\n
FED HOLDS RATES NEAR ZERO AMID FRESH SIGNS US ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS SLOWING<\/strong><\/p>\n Powell said that given the current pace of vaccinations – at about 1 million per day – it will take “quite a while” to reach the level experts have identified as the threshold for herd immunity.<\/p>\n “It’s going to be a struggle,” he said.<\/p>\n Powell noted that weakness in the economy is concentrated in sectors that have taken the largest hit from the pandemic because of consumers’ hesitancy to re-engage over safety and health concerns.<\/p>\n “We’re just not going to be able to get that last group of people back to work – and it’s a big group of people – until we get the pandemic behind us,” Powell explained.<\/p>\n Powell has received his first dose of the vaccine, he said on Wednesday, and expects to receive his second “sometime soon.”<\/p>\n