WASHINGTON —
The millions of federal workers will have to prove that they are vaccinated against COVID-19 or else they will face mandatory measures of wearing masks, weekly diagnostic tests and social distancing, among others, the US government announced.
The new guidelines are aimed at driving low vaccination rates among the 4 million Americans who receive federal salaries and to set an example for the nation’s large employers.
“There are a lot of people dying – or watching someone they love die – and saying, ‘If only I had been vaccinated,” President Joe Biden said in a speech at the White House. “People are dying who should not die.”
The government is encouraging companies to follow suit around incentivizing COVID-19 vaccination by imposing obligations on those who are not inoculated. Instead of making vaccination mandatory for federal workers, the plan will complicate the lives of those who are not vaccinated to encourage them to get the shot.
Biden also instructed the Department of Defense to review adding the COVID-19 vaccine to its list of required vaccines for members of the military. And he has directed his team to take steps to implement similar requirements for all federal contractors.
The president also asked state and local governments to use the funds provided by the coronavirus aid package to incentivize vaccination, and offer people $ 100 to inoculate. And he announced that small and medium-sized companies will receive reimbursements if they give employees days off to take their family members to get vaccinated.
Biden’s moves for the federal government, which is by far the nation’s largest employer, come after a surge in coronavirus cases, which has been fueled by reluctance to vaccinate and the spread of the virus. delta variant, which is more contagious.
Several major companies and some local governments are imposing new requirements on their own, but the government feels more needs to be done.
However, it is certain that there are going to be reactions. The new measures place Biden at the center of a tough political debate around the government’s ability to get Americans to follow public health guidelines.
They could work because, so far, evidence shows that workers would rather get vaccinated than face burdens they consider onerous, said Lawrence Gostin, professor of global health at Georgetown University School of Law.
“People would rather roll up their sleeves and get the injection than undergo weekly testing and universal use of the mask,” he said. “In many ways, this is not really an order, it is giving workers a choice.”
About 60% of American adults are fully vaccinated. Biden had set a goal of 70% of adults having at least one dose of the vaccine by July 4, and he has yet to do so. The most recent figure is 69.3%.
According to the Office of Personnel Management, the executive branch employed more than 2.7 million civilians in 2020, and some of the most significant numbers are in Republican-ruled southern states, such as Texas and Florida, where there are still a lot of reluctance to vaccinations.
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