Washington, Nov 13 (IANS): A majority of US federal employees have disagreed with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate announced by President Joe Biden in September, according to a survey conducted by a media outlet.

A total of 53 per cent of respondents strongly or somewhat disagreed with the vaccine mandate, while 44 per cent strongly or somewhat agreed with it in the survey conducted by the Government Business Council (GBC), the research arm of media outlet Government Executive.

The GBC sent the survey to the readers of Government Executive and Defense One, a property of Atlantic Media, between October 27 and November 2, and received 3,186 replies, Xinhua news agency reported.

The President's mandate requires all federal employees to get vaccinated before November 22.

People who refuse to be vaccinated and whose agencies deny their exemption requests will "face progressive discipline, up to removal from the federal service", reported the Washington, D.C.-based government's business news daily.

Biden on September 9 announced that the Department of Labour is developing an emergency rule to require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workers are either vaccinated or tested once a week.

The mandate was formally known as an emergency temporary standard and was developed by the Labour Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

According to the requirements, employees of companies with a workforce of 100 or more must be fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022.

Unvaccinated employees must submit weekly negative Covid-19 tests to enter the workplace after the deadline.

Unvaccinated workers must start wearing masks indoors at their workplaces starting December 5.

Federal law gives OSHA the authority to issue an emergency temporary standard if it determines workers are exposed to a "grave danger" that makes the rule necessary.