Vaccine.Photo: Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty
California, New York City and the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) announcedCOVID-19vaccination requirements for their employees on Monday.
For California and New York City, employees who do not get vaccinated will have to wear a mask and undergo weekly testing. The VA, however, did not offer an alternate option for its medical employees.
In a statement, the VA — the first federal agency to invoke this mandate — revealed it was supporting the 56 medical organizations that signed a letter to require all healthcare providers to be vaccinated.
Vaccine.Getty
Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said inthe agency’s announcementthey are “mandating vaccines for Title 38 employees because it’s the best way to keep Veterans safe, especially as the Delta variant spreads across the country.”
Title 38 employees include physicians, dentists, podiatrists, optometrists, registered nurses, physician assistants, expanded-function dental auxiliaries and chiropractors.
McDonough added, “Whenever a Veteran or VA employee sets foot in a VA facility, they deserve to know that we have done everything in our power to protect them from COVID-19. With this mandate, we can once again make — and keep — that fundamental promise.”
Employees have eight weeks starting Monday to become fully vaccinated.
A person getting vaccinated.Getty
The vaccination mandate “also applies to high-risk congregate settings like adult and senior residential facilities, homeless shelters and jails.”
“NEW: CA will have the strongest state vaccine verification system in the US and will require state employees & healthcare workers to provide proof of vaccination—or get tested regularly. We’re experiencing a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Everyone that can get vaccinated—should,” Newsomwroteon Twitter.
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New York City adopted a similar policy requiring all healthcare workers and municipal workers including police, firefighters and teachers to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“This is what it takes to continue our recovery for all of us while fighting back the delta variant,” Mayor de Blasio said in astatement. “It’s going to take all of us to finally end the fight against COVID-19.”
DOHMH Commissioner Dr. Dave A. Chokshi added, “These new requirements reflect our commitment to each other and the people we serve. In the tug of war between vaccines and the variants, we should continue to bet on the vaccines. But now is the time for our whole City to pull together to defeat Delta.”
The NYC Mayor also called on private sectors to enact a vaccine or weekly COVID-19 test mandate.
The mandates come amid concerns involving thehighly-contagious Delta variant of the coronaviruswhich is rapidly spreading throughout the United States, especially among those who are not vaccinated.
According to new datafrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the highly contagious strain is now the most common form of theCOVID-19 viruscirculating in the U.S., accounting for 83% of cases nationwide.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
