Airport Alert: President Biden Announces Vaccination Requirements for Federal Employees and Contractors
July 29, 2021
In a press conference this afternoon, President Biden announced several measures to increase vaccination rates among Americans and slow the spread of the coronavirus. Currently, 49.4 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated according to the latest CDC information.
The President will require all federal employees and on-site federal contractors to attest that they are vaccinated against COVID or face strict protocols. According to the White House, employees who have not been vaccinated or do not attest "will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice-weekly screening testing requirement, and be subject to restrictions on official travel".
Additionally, President Biden is directing his team to take steps to apply similar standards to all federal contractors and is encouraging employers across the private sector to follow suit.
Federal officials have previously stated that the vaccination requirement is not a mandate and most employees who do not get vaccinated will not lose their job as a result. But this announcement is a pivot away from encouragement to a requirement with exceptions.
The announcement today follows a Department of Justice determination on Monday that federal law does not prohibit public agencies and private businesses from requiring Covid-19 vaccines -- even if the vaccines have only emergency use authorization so far.
These new measures come as COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are increasing in the United States as a result of the highly contagious Delta variant. The vast majority of individuals with severe cases of COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
Several groups representing federal government workers are already raising concerns about the requirement, including groups representing federal law enforcement officers and members of the U.S. Border Patrol.
The President also stated that he is ordering the Department of Defense "to look into how and when they will add the COVID-19 vaccination to the list of required vaccinations for members of the military."
Finally, the President announced additional incentives for vaccinations and ways to make it easier for people, especially children, to be vaccinated.
For more information about these measures, the White House has issued a factsheet.
In a press conference this afternoon, President Biden announced several measures to increase vaccination rates among Americans and slow the spread of the coronavirus. Currently, 49.4 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated according to the latest CDC information.
The President will require all federal employees and on-site federal contractors to attest that they are vaccinated against COVID or face strict protocols. According to the White House, employees who have not been vaccinated or do not attest "will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice-weekly screening testing requirement, and be subject to restrictions on official travel".
Additionally, President Biden is directing his team to take steps to apply similar standards to all federal contractors and is encouraging employers across the private sector to follow suit.
Federal officials have previously stated that the vaccination requirement is not a mandate and most employees who do not get vaccinated will not lose their job as a result. But this announcement is a pivot away from encouragement to a requirement with exceptions.
The announcement today follows a Department of Justice determination on Monday that federal law does not prohibit public agencies and private businesses from requiring Covid-19 vaccines -- even if the vaccines have only emergency use authorization so far.
These new measures come as COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are increasing in the United States as a result of the highly contagious Delta variant. The vast majority of individuals with severe cases of COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
Several groups representing federal government workers are already raising concerns about the requirement, including groups representing federal law enforcement officers and members of the U.S. Border Patrol.
The President also stated that he is ordering the Department of Defense "to look into how and when they will add the COVID-19 vaccination to the list of required vaccinations for members of the military."
Finally, the President announced additional incentives for vaccinations and ways to make it easier for people, especially children, to be vaccinated.
For more information about these measures, the White House has issued a factsheet.
