COVID vaccination required for federal employees? Biden admin to announce on Thursday
- The US federal government is the largest employer in the country
- The Biden admin is mulling making COVID vaccines mandatory for federal employees
- Biden would also announce steos to encourage more Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that the administration was still assessing whether or not to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for federal employees. On being asked by a reporter if such a requirement was in the pipeline, Biden said “That’s under consideration right now.”
Biden made the comments during a visit to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Virginia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday also advised Americans to wear masks indoors, irrespective of their vaccination status.
The specifics of the vaccination plan for federal employees is expected to be announced on Thursday, according to media reports. Even though Biden has the authority to do so, he will not impose the vaccination on US military, reports CNN.
Federal workers are expected to either submit status of their vaccination or undergo regular testing, says the report.
Also read: COVID-19 jabs or weekly tests for all public workers in New York
On Monday, the White House press secretary Jen Psaki had said that the administration was still trying to determine if requiring federal employees to get vaccinated would be legal and under the jurisdiction of Biden. The US federal government is the largest employer in the country.
In a separate statement, the White House said that Biden would unveil ‘next steps’ to encourage more Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine. After an initial surge, the rate of vaccination across the US has dropped drastically in the last few months.
The United States is currently battling a wave of the Delta variant of coronavirus. Amid the new variant and dropping vaccinations, the daily average of COVID-19 cases in the country has gone up to nearly 57,000. The Delta variant is the most infectious variant of COVID-19 yet. Vaccines have also been found to be less effective against the Delta variant.
The Biden administration has also roped in pop stars like Olivia Rodrigo to encourage young people to get vaccinated.
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