Ultimatum for federal workforce

President Biden on Thursday said federal employees must either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular testing amid a 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. And Biden said the roughly 1.4 million active-duty military members may soon also be forced to get shots.

“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 Delta variant of COVID-19 this week triggered new indoormask mandates at the urging of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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.” Steven Nelson