White House mandates COVID vaccination for federal employees and contractors

The POTUS
Joe Biden will be finalizing an executive order on Thursday which would make it
mandatory for government officers and executive branch employees to get vaccinated
against the coronavirus, as per the reports of the Associated Press.

This
decision comes in line with a recent mandate which required federal workers to
either receive vaccine doses or comply with strict testing and masking requirements.
The government hopes to boost vaccination number and curtail the spread of the delta
variant. It is unclear whether the order will make exceptions for religious or
medicals or not, as reported by the AP.

Also Read – PM Modi addresses 13th BRICS Summit, thanks all members for their cooperation

The
President is scheduled to give a speech on Thursday afternoon. It is expected
to provide an insight into the administration plan for fighting against the
coronavirus. With the surge in cases the government needs to increase COVID-19
testing and address the lagging vaccination rates.

The
Pentagon moved in August to make vaccination compulsory for all service members.
Vaccine requirements have been encouraged for schools, workplaces and
university campuses. Following the federal mandate, businesses are expected to
follow suit as reported by AP.

Also Read – T20 World Cup: BCCI receives ‘Conflict of Interest’ complaint against MS Dhoni

As per data
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on average about 1,000
American succumb to Covid everyday.
Majority of the deaths have occurred among the people who have not been completely
vaccinated. While the people who have received both doses also get infected
with the virus, their chances of survival are much better than those who haven’t.

The Pfizer
vaccine is expected to receive approval for a third dose mid-September. Meanwhile,
the regulators are still collecting data from Moderna which might have to wait
until October to receive its booster approval. People will be encouraged to
take a booster shots eight months after receiving the second dose of two-dose
vaccines.