DeepPurple Posted July 30, 2021 Posted July 30, 2021 https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20210730/biden-exige-vacunarse-trabajadores-del-gobierno-ante-auge-casos/2143360.shtml The president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this Thursday that he will force all the workers of his Government to demonstrate that they are vaccinated if they do not want to undergo regular tests, and he has not ruled out that he may impose a vaccination mandate on the future Nacional level. Biden's announcement, which has also asked the Pentagon to force all the country's military to be vaccinated, coincides with a worrying increase in COVID-19 cases linked to the advance of the delta variant in the United States, which is forcing a reversal to some reopening measures. "We are going to ask all federal government employees to prove their immunization status," Biden said during a speech at the White House. Those who do not provide that test will need to wear a mask to work and be tested for COVID-19 on a weekly or even twice a week basis; in addition to maintaining physical distances and being prohibited, in general, from participating in official trips, the president explained. The measure will apply to the more than four million federal workers in the United States and the rest of the world, and similar standards will be adopted for all Administration contractors, according to the White House. "If you want to do business with the federal government, vaccinate your workers," stressed Biden. The announcement is an attempt by Biden to take full advantage of his authority to push forward the vaccination campaign in the United States, which has slowed markedly in the last two months, with just 49% of the po[CENSORED]tion inoculated with the full guideline. As president, Biden can unilaterally impose a mandate on the workers of his government, but until now, the White House had ensured that it did not legally have the power to do the same to force all Americans to get vaccinated. national Biden himself contradicted his advisers on Thursday and has left the door open to the possibility of finding a way to impose that mandate at the national level. "The question is whether the federal government can order it to the whole country. I still don't know," said the president in response to a journalist's question. For now, the president has indicated that states, localities and businesses do have the power, according to the Justice Department, to impose vaccination mandates in their jurisdictions, saying he "would like" to see that happen more and more. Although the idea of compelling vaccination is highly controversial in a country like the United States, where individual freedom is highly valued, more and more companies are considering the idea. This week, companies like Google, Facebook or Lyft demanded that all workers who return to their offices be vaccinated, and the White House is confident that the mandate for federal employees announced by Biden will inspire more companies to follow that example. It's unclear how many U.S. government workers are already vaccinated, but Biden's announcement has drawn criticism from some sectors of the federal staff, including the postal service employees union and an association of law enforcement and security officers. "An American tragedy" Biden has insisted, however, on the need to take measures like this, given the expansion of the Delta variant, which already represents at least 83% of sequenced cases in the US and has generated a notable increase in infections and hospitalizations. in the last weeks. "This is an American tragedy. People are dying who should not have to die, and they will continue to die," the president lamented. The president has also asked the Pentagon to examine "how and when they will add the vaccine against COVID-19 to the list of those required" for members of the US Armed Forces, the White House explained in a statement. More than 70% of the US military are already fully vaccinated, according to Pentagon data, a much higher proportion than the 49% of the general US po[CENSORED]tion who have received the full guideline. $ 100 to get vaccinated In addition, Biden has proposed that states, territories and localities offer a reward of $ 100 to those who get vaccinated, taking advantage of the funds contained in the rescue package approved by the Government. An initiative that, for example, the city of New York already adopted this Wednesday, which will give the hundred dollars in cash to any resident who goes to a municipal center to get the first dose of the vaccine. "If the incentives help us to defeat this virus, I think we should use them," said the president, ensuring that the type of programs that states and companies have launched "are working."
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