According to a source familiar with the plan, President Joe Biden will require all federal contractors and employees to be vaccinated. This is part of a renewed effort to end the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a person speaking on condition of anonymity, Biden will sign an executive ordering Thursday mandating the vaccinations. This is a significant shift in the administration’s position regarding vaccine mandates in light of the rise in the delta variant, which threatens to overwhelm some hospitals in the U.S.
In remarks on Thursday’s federal Covid response, scheduled for 5 p.m. at the White House, the president will highlight the need to increase vaccinations and keep schools open.
The speech will include “putting in place additional requirements” on vaccines, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told CNN on Thursday. “The overall goal is to speak directly to the American people about what’s next on Covid.”
Biden spent his first months in office focusing on the control of the pandemic. However, it has risen again with the spread of the delta variant, as well as as as vaccination campaigns that slowed down and restrictions lifted.
