US MANDATES COVID-19 SHOTS FOR FEDERAL HEALTH CARE WORKERS

Thu 12 August 2021:

The US Department announced on Thursday that all public-facing health-care personnel will be required to get vaccinated against Covid-19, following an increase in hospitalizations caused by the Delta version of the new coronavirus.

The policy will apply to around 25,000 Department of Health and Human Services employees who could come into contact with patients — just under a third of its total workforce.

“Our number one goal is the health and safety of the American public, including our Federal workforce. And vaccines are the best tool we have to protect people from Covid-19, prevent the spread of the Delta variant, and save lives,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Following similar directives from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Pentagon in recent weeks, the HHS is the third government department to issue a vaccine mandate.

Health-care and research workers at the Indian Health Service and the National Institutes of Health who come into touch with patients, as well as contractors and volunteers, are all covered by the recent notification.

Coronavirus infections of the highly contagious Delta form have risen to a daily average of more than 100,000, a number not seen since the winter surge.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average daily hospital admissions in the week ending August 3 were 7,707, a 40 percent increase in only one week.

File Photo: HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra

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