Infectious Disease

Biden calls for vaccinations or regular tests for federal employees

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Press conference.

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Biden and Walensky do not report any relevant financial information.

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president Joe Biden announced a plan on Thursday requiring federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or to face regular tests and other measures.

Under the mandate, all federal employees on federal property who are or are not vaccinated must wear a mask, undergo tests several times a week, practice social distancing, and be subject to travel restrictions. The requirement also applies to federal entrepreneurs.

COVID vaccine stock image

Source: Adobe Stock.

“If you want to do business with the federal government, get your workers vaccinated,” Biden said.

In addition, the government said it is expanding federal tax credits for small and medium-sized businesses to give employees paid time to vaccinate, and is asking state and local governments to provide federal funds – including funds raised through the American Rescue Plan were obtained – to use to offer $ 100 to people to get vaccinated.

“If incentives help us fight this virus, I think we should use them,” said Biden.

Finally, Biden said he was working with the Department of Defense to figure out how and when to add COVID-19 to the list of vaccines required for active military service.

“Our men and women in uniform, who protect this country from serious threats, should be protected as much as possible from infection with COVID-19,” he said.

Earlier this week, Pfizer released data showing a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine increases protection, including against the Delta variant. However, Biden said his medical advisors had told him that a refresher was not needed yet.

“No American needs a booster now,” said Biden. “But if science tells us boosters are needed, then we will, and we’ve bought all of the supplies we need to be ready if we need to.”

His remarks come 2 days after the CDC revised its mask guidelines to say that all individuals, vaccinated or not, should wear a mask indoors in areas of significant or high transmission.

The new CDC guidelines were based on evidence that vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant could potentially spread the virus, CDC director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPHsaid. According to Walensky, Delta accounts for 80% of new cases in the United States

COVID-19 vaccine mandates had already hit the federal level amid a surge in cases and delayed vaccination rates. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday that vaccination is required for medical workers working in Veterans Health Administration facilities.

In May, Biden announced a goal of having 70% of US adults at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19 by July 4, which the country failed to achieve.

“We’re not quite out of the woods yet because what’s happening in America right now is … an unvaccinated pandemic,” said Biden. “There are about 90 million Americans who are eligible for the injection but haven’t had it yet.”

References:

CDC. COVID-19 vaccinations in the US. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations. Accessed July 29, 2021.

Scissors MD. Biden requires federal employees to get vaccinated or have regular tests. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/us/politics/biden-federal-workers-vaccination.html. Accessed July 29, 2021.

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