President Biden will announce vaccination requirement across federal government on Thursday

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

CNN July 28th, 2021

Biden will announce vaccination requirement across federal government on Thursday

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President Joe Biden will announce on Thursday a requirement that all federal employees and contractors be vaccinated against Covid-19, or be required to submit to regular testing and mitigation requirements, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The announcement will come in remarks where Biden is also expected to lay out a series of new steps, including incentives, in an attempt to spur new vaccinations as the Delta variant spreads rapidly throughout the country. It will also follow the decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs to require its frontline health care workers to be vaccinated over the course of the next two months.

 

 

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

CNN:

Biden announces measures to incentivize Covid-19 vaccinations, including a requirement for federal employees
 

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President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a number of new steps his administration will take to try to get more Americans vaccinated and slow the spread of coronavirus, including requiring that all federal employees must attest to being vaccinated against Covid-19 or face strict protocols.

The new measures come amid a rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the US. The vast majority of those individuals with severe cases of Covid-19 are unvaccinated.

"This is an American tragedy. People are dying -- and will die -- who don't have to die. If you're out there unvaccinated, you don't have to die," Biden said during remarks at the White House. "Read the news. You'll see stories of unvaccinated patients in hospitals, as they're lying in bed dying from Covid-19, they're asking 'Doc, can I get the vaccine?' The doctors have to say, 'Sorry, it's too late.'"

Biden said every federal government employee and on-site contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status.

Employees who have not been vaccinated "will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice weekly screening testing requirement, and be subject to restrictions on official travel," the White House said ahead of Biden's speech.

The President also announced that he is ordering the Department of Defense "to look into how and when they will add Covid-19 vaccination to the list of required vaccinations for members of the military," according to the White House.

The administration debuted other efforts on Thursday to incentivize vaccinations, including expanding paid leave for employees who take time off to get themselves and their family members vaccinated. Biden said employers would be reimbured. The Treasury Department said Biden will also be calling on states, territories, and local governments to do more to incentivize vaccination, including offering $100 to Americans getting vaccinated, paid for with American Rescue Plan funding.

Finally, the President called on school districts nationwide to host at least one pop-up vaccination clinic over the coming weeks in an effort to get more kids 12 and older vaccinated.

The federal employee vaccination requirement is not a mandate, officials have insisted, and most federal employees who do not get vaccinated will not lose their jobs as a result, CNN previously reported.