Biden To Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine For Federal Workers

As news cases continue to surge across the U.S., President Biden Joe Biden, on Thursday, is set to deliver remarks on a new “six-pronged strategy,” as the White House calls it, to contain the delta variant of the coronavirus.

As part of the strategy, federal workers and contractors alike will be required to take the CVID-19 vaccine. The new strategy also puts an end to the regular test for unvaccinated workers. An insider told NPR.

In addition, Biden plans to tackle the pandemic in six ways, including vaccinating the unvaccinated, increasing testing, and further protections for vaccinated folks.

Moreover, Biden is set to protecting the U.S. economy and address keeping schools safely open. He will also improve care for those who test positive for coronavirus. The source added.

The decision comes after the U.S. has seen a record of over forty million confirmed cases of the virus, and as result of some 650,000 American lives lost. This research was recently conducted by staffs at Johns Hopkins University.

Furthermore, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, on Wednesday, told reporters that the new strategy won’t override previously announced guidance and mandates.

“There will be new components … Some of that will be related to access to testing, some will be related to mandates, some will be related to how we ensure kids are protected in schools,” Psaki said, describing the nation as having been “at war” with the virus.

Jen Psaki

There has been a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths lately. And mainly due to the predominant strain of the virus, which experts say appears to be twice as transmissible as the highly contagious original strain.

According to the CDC, the unvaccinated are the victims of the majority of the deaths and hospitalizations. And almost a quarter of American adults have not been vaccinated.

Biden also, in a tweet on Wednesday, urged unvaccinated Americans to get vaccinated.

Despite Biden’s efforts to conquer the virus through jab and mask usage, anti-vaxxers — particularly among white Republicans — have hindered the nation in the fight to wipe out the virus.

Experts have warned, as children and teenagers resume school and the weather starts to cool off, that if more drastic steps are not taken, the country will likely continue to see virus surges.

On Thursday, Biden, in a tweet, instruct the Department of Labor to require all employers with 100+ employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated — or show a negative test at least once a week.