Missouri lawmakers, business lobbyists and protesters on Wednesday railed against President Joe Biden’s planned vaccine mandate for large companies.

Business groups warned a panel of House legislators that Biden’s plan would be catastrophic to small companies as protesters held handmade signs and rallied in the Capitol rotunda.

Biden announced last week that the Labor Department is working to require businesses with 100 or more employees to order those workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or show a negative test result at least weekly.

Biden announced the new mandate and several other steps last Thursday as part of a tougher effort by the administration to curb the surging delta variant of the coronavirus, which is responsible for sharp increase in U.S. infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

But the move sparked widespread outrage among Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature.

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