Biden mulls vaccine mandate for federal workers

Biden mulls vaccine mandate for federal workers

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday his administration is considering whether to require U.S. federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Gavino Garay has more.

REPORTER: “Will you require all federal employees to get vaccinated?” BIDEN: “That’s under consideration right now.” U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday said his administration is considering a COVID vaccine requirement for all federal workers.

Such a move would be a major new step, as the White House intensifies efforts to vaccinate the tens of millions of Americans who still haven't had their shots.

BIDEN: “There’s one thing we know for sure, if those other 100 million people got vaccinated, we’d be in a very different world.

So get vaccinated.

If you haven’t, you’re not nearly as smart as I said you were.” The U.S. federal government is the country's largest employer.

Biden’s remarks at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence came as his administration's health experts advised fully vaccinated Americans to start wearing masks again in some circumstances due to the virus' fast-spreading Delta variant… and could signal a new- more aggressive - phase in the campaign to vaccinate more Americans.

On Monday – the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs mandated that its doctors and other medical staff get COVID-19 vaccines – making it the first federal agency to do so.

And in New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he will require the city’s more than 300,000 employees to get vaccinated by September 13th or get tested weekly.

"This means everybody… This means obviously everyone who works in our schools, our educators and staffs, it means the NYPD, the FDNY, it means all city agencies." That model was also adopted by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who said all state employees – nearly 250,000 of them -- would be ordered to get vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.

More will be coming this week from the White House… which said in a statement the president will offer his plan for ‘next steps” on Thursday.