US News

Biden orders federal workers to get COVID vaccine or submit to testing

President Biden on Thursday said that federal employees must either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular testing amid a national resurgence of new cases.

Biden said vaccines are “highly effective” and breakthrough infections among vaccinated people are “rare” — meaning people who are already fully vaccinated don’t need booster shots.

“It’s time to impose requirements on key groups,” Biden said in a White House speech.

“Every federal government employee will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. Anyone who does not attest or is not vaccinated will be required to mask no matter where they work, test one or two times a week to see if they’ve acquired COVID, socially distance and generally will not be allowed to travel for work,” he said.

There are about 2.1 million civilian federal workers who will be impacted by the mandate — though nearly 600,000 postal workers are exempted, Reuters reports. Biden said the roughly 1.4 million active-duty military members may soon also be forced to get shots.

President Joe Biden says every federal employee who is not vaccinated “will be required to mask.”
President Joe Biden says every federal employee who is not vaccinated “will be required to mask.”REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

“Since many vaccinations are required for active-duty military today, I’m asking the Defense Department to look into how and when they will add COVID-19 to the list of vaccinations our armed forces must get,” Biden said.

A surge in infections linked to the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 this week triggered new indoor mask mandates at the urging of the CDC in areas with higher rates of coronavirus transmission.

“If people are vaccinated, the transmission rate drops to the floor. And that’s all we’re trying to do,” Biden said. “If tomorrow I can wave a wand and every American was vaccinated, then in fact we’d be out of the woods.”

Approximately 1.4 million active-duty military members will need to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Getty Images

According to CDC data, 69.4 percent of US adults have had at least one vaccine shot and 60.3 percent are fully vaccinated. But some regions of the country have significantly lower rates of vaccination, fueling local outbreaks.

The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday became the first agency to impose a vaccine mandate on workers.

Biden said that he’s not sure if he can legally force all US residents to get vaccinated, saying “it’s still a question whether the federal government can mandate the whole country. I don’t know that yet.”

Biden also announced that employers can now get reimbursed for allowing workers time to help family members get vaccinated. And he urged states and cities to offer $100 gifts for new vaccine-takers, using $350 billion in aid from his $1.9 trillion relief bill that passed in March.

Younger and lower-income people are less likely to be vaccinated, as are Republicans and African-Americans.

President Joe Biden announced a $100 incentive for Americans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. AFP via Getty Images

Biden said he understood public frustration with newly imposed mask rules and that he also understands how already-vaccinated people can view new incentives as unfair.

“Here’s the deal: if incentives help us beat this virus, I believe we should use them,” he said. “With incentives and mandates, we can make a huge difference and save a lot of lives.”

Biden said, “Americans are divided between the majority of eligible people who are vaccinated and those who are not. And I understand that many of you in the majority are frustrated with the consequences of the failure of the minority to get vaccinated.”

Biden said that it’s understandable for people to be “angry” about unvaccinated people.

The Department of Veterans Affairs was the first federal agency to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations. REUTERS

“With freedom comes responsibility. The decision to be unvaccinated impacts someone else. Unvaccinated people spread the virus, they get sick and fill up hospitals,” he said. “That means if someone else has a heart attack or breaks a hip, there may not be a hospital bed for them.

But Biden sought to reassure parents worried that an increase in cases will cause schools to close in the fall.

“Every school should be open, and we are giving them the tools to be able to do so safely,” he said.

He also said “breakthrough cases remain rare” for the fully vaccinated.

“I also know that many of you who are vaccinated are concerned about what’s called breakthrough cases. Yes, some fully vaccinated people will still test positive, and some will show some symptoms of COVID-19,” Biden said.

President Joe Biden claims “virtually all hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated,” in the United States. AP Photo/Susan Walsh

“That’s expected with almost every vaccine there is for other diseases. But breakthrough cases remain rare and almost all are mild cases. In fact, virtually all hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated.”

He said that there’s currently no need for fully vaccinated people to take a booster shot and that widespread vaccination means there’s unlikely to be new waves of death as happened last year.

“My medical advisors say the answer is no, no American needs a booster now. But if the science tells us there’s a need for boosters, then that’s something we’ll do. And we’ve purchased all the supply we need if that’s called for,” Biden said.

“Our experts tell me the cases will go up further before they start to come back down,” Biden also said. “[But] we’re not lucky to see, according to experts, a comparable rise in hospitalizations or deaths in most areas of the country… because 164 million Americans are fully vaccinated.”

Biden said “I know it’s frustrating, I know it’s exhausting to think we’re still in this fight” with renewed pandemic restrictions, but that vaccination can end the rules.

“Last month, a study showed that over 99 percent of COVID-19 deaths had been among the unvaccinated — 99 percent. This is an American tragedy. People are dying and will die who don’t have to die,” he said. “I you’re out there and unvaccinated, you don’t have to die.”