• Biden plans to require all federal workers to get vaccinated or undergo repeated tests,
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will announce Thursday that all federal employees will be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or face repeated testing mandates, a White House official said, a dramatic escalation of the administration’s effort to combat the spread of the delta variant.
The new rules will closely align with policies recently put in place for government officials in California and New York City, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the plan. The White House is not planning on firing government employees who aren’t vaccinated but will impose a number of restrictions on them as a way to encourage them to receive one of the vaccines that have received emergencyuse authorization.
The plan is part of a change in tack by the White House in recent days as the delta variant has spread markedly through parts of the United States, particularly among unvaccinated Americans. Public health experts have long said that getting at least 70% of the public vaccinated is the single most important tool in controlling the pandemic, but some parts of the United States have fallen far short of that target. And some authorities are urging an even higher rate of vaccinations now, given the increased virulence of the variant.
On Monday, California and New York City said they would require government employees to either be vaccinated or face repeated testing requirements, and Mr. Biden was asked Tuesday whether the federal government would impose similar requirements.
“That’s under consideration right now,” Mr. Biden
said in response to a reporter’s question after an appearance at a government intelligence facility. “If you’re not vaccinated, you’re not nearly as smart as I thought you were.”
COVID-19 has begun yet another wave across the United States, with less than half of the country fully vaccinated. Some 163 million people are fully vaccinated. But after a surge in vaccinations in the first several months of 2021, rates have slowed in recent weeks. Mr. Biden has said he has no plans to reimpose school closures or other restrictions that went into place last year, but he has also said in recent days that changes need to be made to prevent the virus from picking up momentum yet again.
Many businesses, sporting events and entertainment venues have reopened across the country with few mask, vaccine or other requirements, a dynamic that has helped the virus’s latest surge.
Mr. Biden’s planned announcement about the federal workforce comes as other employers — albeit much smaller ones — are considering similar requirements.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which addresses workplace complaints about discrimination over race, religion, sex and other characteristics, issued guidance in May that said that employers could mandate vaccines for workers to work on-site, as long as they do it in ways that don’t run afoul of civil rights and disability statutes. And the Justice Department followed with a similar memo Monday that said that federal law does not prohibit public and private employers from requiring a vaccine, even if it has been approved only for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration.
Recent court rulings, in cases filed by groups opposed to mandates, have upheld these requirements,
too.
But many companies so far have shied away from vaccine mandates, opting instead for softer guidance urging or recommending the vaccine.
The tide may be turning, as the spike in cases from the delta variant begins to threaten hopes for a return to pre-pandemic normal.
There are more than 4 million federal employees according to recent estimates, making the government the country’s largest employer. When including the vast ranks of federal contractors and grant workers, that number is closer to 10 million.
“We fully endorse a vaccine mandate,” said Paul Shearon, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents some 25,000 federal workers. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic, over 600,000 people are dead, and we don’t want any more of our members dying.”