All federal employees and government contractors might be required by the US President, Joe Biden to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
This comes weeks after Biden issued a mandate imploring federal workers to get vaccinated or face rigorous testing and masking protocols.
Biden is set to sign a new executive order that would require vaccination for all employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government.
On Thursday, the President’s speech outlined a six-pronged plan to address the latest consistent rise in Covid-19 cases and the stagnating pace and unresponsiveness of citizens to the COVID-19 vaccinations.
The President is also expected to outline plans and other measures to show that his administration is working to tackle the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases, which Biden has blamed for last month’s weaker-than-expected jobs report. He’s warned the surge could further imperil the nation’s economy as some pandemic safety net protections expire.
Biden announced new measures in schools, calling on governors to require vaccinations for all teachers and school staff. He mentioned that the administration will also give financial help to school districts that face penalties for defying state rules to enact mask mandates. He further encouraged COVID-19 vaccine requirements in other settings such as, workplaces, businesses and university campuses.
Los Angeles, however, has mandated vaccination against the coronavirus for students who are 12 years and older.
Several Federal departments previously announced vaccine requirements for much of their staff, as the Pentagon moved last month to require all service members to get vaccinated.
Over 208 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 53% of Americans are fully vaccinated, including almost two-thirds of the adult population, according to CDC data. The disease has killed more than 651,000 Americans as confirmed cases of the virus have shot up in recent weeks to an average of about 140,000 per day with on average about 1,000 Americans dying from the virus daily.
Federal officials, however, are making plans to begin administering booster shots of the mRNA vaccines eight months after the second dose of the two-dose vaccines to bolster protection against the more transmissible delta variant of the virus.
