Biden asked federal workers to be vaccinated or tested on Thursday-source Reuters

Authors: David Shepardson and Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters)-According to people familiar with the matter, US President Joe Biden is expected to announce on Thursday that approximately 2 million federal civilian workers will need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or undergo facial tests, social distancing, and masks. Requirements and travel restrictions. this matter.

Biden will speak at the White House on COVID-19 at 4 pm on Thursday (GMT 2000). He will not force federal employees to be vaccinated. Those who decide not to vaccinate will not be at risk of being fired. , The source said.

The source added that the plan is similar to plans announced by some states and New York City. For example, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that state employees will be required to receive weekly vaccinations or tests.

On Tuesday, Biden said that his government is considering requirements for federal employees.

An OMB email seen by Reuters showed that many U.S. agencies were required to wear masks in federal buildings in COVID-19 hot spots in accordance with instructions issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Wednesday.

The White House also stated that in areas where the infection rate has risen sharply, all employees and visitors in the Federal Building, whether vaccinated or not, must wear masks indoors.

On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that nearly 67% of counties in the United States had high or very high transmission rates, up from 63.4% on Tuesday.

The federal government is racing to contain the pandemic, hoping to avoid future shutdowns across the country, as the deadly delta variant of the coronavirus is raging in parts of the United States and immunization is lagging behind.

Some organized labor organizations, such as the United States Postal Workers Union (APWU), said it opposed mandatory vaccination for federal employees and expressed concern about Biden’s expected announcement.

The organization said in a statement: “Although APWU leadership continues to encourage postal workers to voluntarily vaccinate, it is not the responsibility of the federal government to require employees on our behalf to be vaccinated.”

AFL-CIO chairman Richard Trumka and others told C-SPAN that the union supports vaccine authorization.

“If you don’t get vaccinated when you come back, everyone in the workplace will be threatened,” Trumka said.