Federal employees and on-site contractors without COVID-19 vaccinations will have to mask up at all locations on government property and get COVID-19 tests once a week or more, the Joe Biden administration announced this week amid a surge in 19 cases.
“Every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status,” the administration wrote Thursday in a statement. “Anyone who does not attest to being fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice weekly screening testing requirement, and be subject to restrictions on official travel.”
Biden himself punctuated the new mandates from a White House press conference Thursday evening.
“If in fact you are unvaccinated, you present a problem to yourself, to your family and those with whom you work,” Biden said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, 161 million people in the U.S. were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 between December 14, 2020 and July 19, 2021.
Also as of July 19, just under 6,000 of these fully vaccinated people got sick with COVID despite the inoculation and were either hospitalized or died as a result. These serious breakthrough cases, so called because the virus breaks through a vaccine’s protections, were expected to some degree, the CDC says. About 20% of the ones reported so far to the CDC were fatal.
Mix the unvaccinated back in to the picture and U.S. COVID-19 deaths in July alone, at more than 6,300, outstrip the number of reported serious breakthrough infections, CDC data show.
New oversight of the unvaccinated on federal job sites followed news Wednesday that everyone inside of federal buildings, including Department of Energy buildings, would have to wear masks in regions where COVID-19 transmission is substantial or high.
“[E]ffective immediately, face coverings must be worn by everyone in all DOE buildings and leased spaces that are in areas of substantial or high community transmission, regardless of vaccination status,” reads Wednesday’s email from DOE. “As of today, that includes the Washington, DC area. Employees will be notified by leadership regarding requirements based on current transmission rates and if transmission rates change requiring a modification mask guidance at DOE sites.”
DOE handed down the directive after the CDC recommended Tuesday that even people vaccinated against COVID-19 resume wearing face masks indoors, if they are in geographical regions where the disease is spreading rapidly.
With a few exceptions, anyone entering affected DOE buildings must wear a face mask that covers the nose and mouth, as recommended by the CDC and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, according to the email. People should wear masks in “garages, hallways, snack bars, cafeterias, elevators, and restrooms,” during “all face-to-face meetings” and at security checkpoints.
Those who are alone in an office with a door that closes can remove their masks, as can people who are eating or drinking, provided they are at least six feet away from anyone else, according to the email.
“Individuals who have a medical or religious reason why they cannot wear face coverings may request an accommodation, as appropriate,” DOE said in the email.
DOE nuclear sites in areas of substantial or high transmission at deadline, according to the CDC, included:
- The Hanford Site in Benton County, Washington state.
- The Kansas City National Security Complex in Kansas City, Mo.
- The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif.
- The Nevada National Security Site in Nye County, Nev., which has satellite offices in Las Vegas.
- The Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
- The Paducah Site in Paducah, Ky.
- The Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.
- The Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M.
- The Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C.
