US anti-vax nightmare

Biden tells federal workers to get the jab or wear a mask and undergo tests

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden has stepped up actions to combat the spread of the surging Delta variant – and the insidious rise of anti-vaxxer lies – by asking every US federal worker to either declare they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or wear masks and be tested.

“We have the tools to prevent this new wave of Covid from shutting down our businesses, our schools, our society as we saw happen last year,” the veteran Democrat said in a speech on his administration’s new initiatives.

The White House said just ahead of the address that all 4 million federal employees and on-site contractors “will be asked to attest to their vaccination status”.

Those who do not declare they are fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job regardless of location, physically distance from coworkers, and “comply with a weekly or twice weekly screening testing requirement”.

The moves stop short of a vaccination mandate for federal workers, which was being considered as a way to protect federal workers and set an example for the private sector.

Mr Biden said the nation needed to remain vigilant. “We are not fully out of the woods,” he said, urging Americans not to politicise the issues of vaccination or wearing masks.

“This is not about red states and blue states. It’s literally about life and death,” he said.

The President will direct the Pentagon to consider adding Covid vaccinations to its list of required vaccinations for members of the US military.

He also called on state and local governments to offer $US100 ($135) as an incentive for holdouts to get vaccinated – a nod to what the White House described as successful cash-for-jab efforts already implemented in some states.

The White House said the rules regarding getting vaccinated or wearing masks and being tested should not just apply to federal workers, with Mr Biden set to urge private sector employers to follow suit.

“The federal government, we see ourselves as a model for other companies and other organisations, and that’s something that we don’t take lightly,” deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs has already announced it would require its more than 100,000 healthcare personnel to be vaccinated.

California and New York City said state workers would need to get vaccinated or take weekly tests, with California extending the requirement to private-sector health jobs.

Personnel such as physicians, dentists, podiatrists, optometrists, registered nurses and others now have eight weeks to be fully vaccinated.