The United States Department of Veteran Affairs became the first federal agency in the country to put out a requirement of getting COVID-19 vaccines for its employees. The department aims to vaccinate about 115,000 of its frontline workers against the disease within the next two months.

US President Joe Biden, who has been pushing America’s inoculation drive and encouraging more people to get vaccinated, said in the White House Oval Office, “Veterans Affairs is going to, in fact, require that all doctors working in facilities are going to have to be vaccinated”, according to reports from CNN.

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The vaccine enforcement in the Department of Veteran Affairs will be applicable for those officials who are likely to be in close contact with people on a regular basis. These include dentists, nurses, physician assistants, doctors and other medical staff. 

The Secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs Denis McDonough said on Monday, “I am doing this because it’s the best way to keep our veterans safe, full stop, according to reports from New York Times.

McDonough added that these frontline workers will be given a total of two months to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19. A failure in compliance would include penalties and possible removal, the New York Times reported.

A week before the decision was announced, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reaffirmed the position of Biden’s administration on the matter and said that making vaccines mandatory was a call that had to be taken by private sector companies and local communities.

While America’s executive branches attempt to push vaccines, the country seems to be showing signs of an upcoming battle of COVID-19, which is likely to be fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant of coronavirus.

Reports from CNN suggest that Biden’s top health care advisors are considering a new mask mandate to tackle the surge of COVID-19 cases.