Biden eyes vaccine mandate for all federal workers
President Joe Biden said his administration is considering requiring all federal workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine amid a surge in cases caused by the highly infectious delta variant.
“That’s under consideration right now,” Biden told reporters. “But if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not nearly as smart as I thought you were.”
On Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs said it would require its health care professionals to be vaccinated within the next two months. VA Secretary Denis McDonough said mandating vaccines is “the best way to keep veterans safe, especially as the delta variant spreads across the country.”
At a White House briefing Tuesday, press secretary Jen Psaki suggested other agencies could follow the VA’s mandate, which she said “is really about public health and about protecting the patients, the men and women who have served our country.”
Asked if other federal agencies would mandate shots, Psaki said, “I think a range of agencies and leaders will look at what steps they should take to protect our workforce and save lives.”
The U.S. is again reporting more than 50,000 new cases daily. The nation has had more than 34.5 million confirmed cases and 611,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. More than 163.1 million Americans – 49.1% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Study: Evictions likely led to more deaths
The termination of eviction moratoriums in states and municipalities likely led to hundreds of thousands of additional COVID-19 cases and deaths, according to a study published this week.
The study by UCLA researchers compared cases across 43 states – some of which kept eviction moratoriums and others that did away with them in spring or summer of 2020. States that removed moratoriums saw an average of twice as many COVID-19 cases and five times as many deaths, and ending eviction protections led to 433,000 cases and 10,000 additional deaths by September, the study concluded.
The federal eviction moratorium, preventing tenants who are behind on rent from being removed from housing on public health grounds amid the pandemic, will end this Saturday.
RPfizer, Moderna trials for kids
Pfizer and Moderna are expanding their vaccine trials for children ages 5 to 11, according to a new report.
The New York Times reported that the decision came from the Food and Drug Administration’s push to investigate rare side effects, including heart inflammation, that have come up in vaccinated people younger than age 30. The FDA asked the two companies to incorporate 3,000 additional children between 5 and 11 into the group, the Times reported.
Regulators will have to balance the potential side effects of the vaccines against the risk of COVID-19. Members of a CDC advisory committee believe the protection the vaccine offers for people older than 12 outweighs the risks of side effects.