乔·拜登总统是加紧努力让人们有机会接种疫苗，包括呼吁各州、地区和地方政府采取更多措施激励疫苗接种，向接种疫苗的人提供100美元，并报销中小企业为员工提供带薪休假让家人接种疫苗的费用。
“我知道付钱给人们接种疫苗对已经接种疫苗的人来说可能不公平。但事情是这样的，如果激励措施有助于我们战胜这种病毒，我相信我们应该利用它们，”拜登周四表示。“如果我们能让更多的人接种疫苗，我们都会受益。”
他还宣布每个联邦政府雇员现场承包商将被要求“证明他们的疫苗接种状态”，并将要求任何没有完全接种疫苗的人在工作时佩戴口罩，无论他们住在哪里，社交距离如何，并每周接受一次或两次检测。员工也可能面临公务旅行的限制。
“这简直关乎生死。关乎生死。这就是它的意义所在，”拜登说，“我知道人们谈论自由。但我学会了成长，学校和父母，伴随着自由而来的是责任。你决定不接种疫苗会影响到其他人。未接种疫苗的人传播病毒。他们生病了，填满了我们的医院。这意味着，如果其他人心脏病发作或髋部骨折，他们可能没有病床。”
拜登(姓氏)也是导演根据向记者发布的一份情况介绍，美国国防部将调查他们将如何以及何时将新冠肺炎疫苗接种纳入军队成员所需接种疫苗的名单。
拜登说:“我们保护这个国家免受严重威胁的男女军人应该受到尽可能多的保护，以免他们得到新冠肺炎。”。“我认为这一点特别重要，因为我们的部队在世界各地服役，许多地方疫苗接种率低，疾病流行。”
他还在退伍军人事务部本周早些时候宣布将为其医生和护士强制接种疫苗时发表了讲话，并将这一决定与几个主要的医院系统进行了比较。退伍军人事务部的决定是在最近几周该部门四名未接种疫苗的员工死亡后做出的。
“我们必须尽一切可能保护我们的退伍军人，当他们来接受医疗保健时，他们可以得到covid，他们为国家服务，赚得盆满钵满。我们欠他们的，”他说。
在总统宣布之前，一些代表大量联邦工作人员的团体--包括执法人员和邮政工作人员--提出了一些早期的反对意见。
联邦执法官员协会主席拉里·科姆在一份声明中说:“作为一个代表那些负责保护所有美国人宪法权利的人的协会，包括隐私权和选择权，我们对任何要求联邦雇员接种新冠肺炎疫苗的举动感到担忧。”。
声明还要求政府与该协会和其他联邦雇员团体合作，激励工人接种疫苗。
美国国税局管理人员于1981年成立的职业经理人协会的执行董事查德·胡珀(Chad Hooper)恳求该协会的所有成员、工作人员和符合条件的美国人尽快接种疫苗，但他强调，任何强加给全体员工的规定都将是第一次。
胡珀在一份声明中说:“与麻疹或流感等其他疾病的疫苗一致，PMA认为，机构领导层应该有权决定是否必须为他们的任何、部分或所有员工接种新冠肺炎疫苗。”。
“目前，没有一种新冠肺炎疫苗获得美国食品和药物管理局的完全批准，这可能会导致我国各地的疫苗犹豫不决。我们必须要求政府在制定任何此类授权时，要仔细考虑我们成员的个人禁忌症以及他们的个人和宗教信仰，”声明继续说道。
辉瑞、Moderna和强生疫苗获得了紧急使用授权(EUA)，但美国食品和药物管理局面临着对疫苗进行全面授权的压力，这可能会为学校和军队的授权打开大门。
美国食品和药物管理局发言人艾莉森·亨特在一份声明中说:“美国食品和药物管理局认识到疫苗是结束新冠肺炎大流行的关键，并正在尽快审查申请以获得完全批准。”。
Biden encourages vaccine incentives, announces requirements for federal workers
President Joe Biden isstepping up effortsto get shots in people's arms, including calling on states, territories and local governments to do more to incentivize vaccination by offering $100 to those who get vaccinated and reimbursing small- and medium-sized businesses for offering their employees paid leave to get their family members vaccinated.
"I know that paying people to get vaccinated might sound unfair to folks who have gotten vaccinated already. But here's the deal, if incentives help us beat this virus, I believe we should use them," Biden said Thursday. "We all benefit if we can get more people vaccinated."
He also announced thatevery federal government employeeand onsite contractor will be asked to "attest to their vaccination status," and will require anyone not fully vaccinated to wear a mask at work regardless of where they live, social distance and get tested once or twice a week. Employees can also face restrictions on official travel.
"It's literally about life and death. It's about life and death. That's what it’s about," Biden said "I know people talk about freedom. But I learned growing up, school and my parents, with freedom comes responsibility. Your decision to be unvaccinated impacts someone else. Unvaccinated people spread the virus. They get sick and fill up our hospitals. And that means if someone else has a heart attack or breaks a hip, there may not be a hospital bed for them."
Bidenwas also directingthe Department of Defense to look into how and when they will add COVID-19 vaccination to the list of required vaccinations for members of the military, according to a fact sheet that was released to reporters.
"Our men and women in uniform who protect this country from grave threats should be protected as much as possible from getting COVID-19," Biden said. "I think this is particularly important because our troops serve in places throughout the world, many where vaccination rates are low and disease is prevalent."
He also addressed the Department of Veteran Affairs announcement earlier this week that it would mandate the vaccine for its doctors and nurses, comparing the decision to several major hospital systems. The VA's decision came after four unvaccinated employees of the department died in recent weeks.
"We must do everything possible to protect our veterans from getting covid when they come to get medical care they so richly earned serving their country. We owe them," he said.
Ahead of the president's announcement, some groups representing large numbers of federal workers -- including law enforcement and postal workers -- raised some early objections.
"As an association representing those men and women charged with protecting the Constitutional rights of all Americans, including the right to privacy and choice, we are concerned by any move that would mandate the COVID-19 vaccine among federal employees," Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said in a statement.
The statement also asked that the administration work collaboratively with the association and other federal employee groups to incentivize workers to be vaccinated.
Chad Hooper, the executive director of the Professional Managers Association -- formed in 1981 by IRS managers -- implored all of its members, their staff and eligible Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible, but highlighted that any mandate imposed on the entire workforce would be the first of its kind.
"Consistent with vaccines for other illnesses, such as measles or influenza, PMA believes that agency leadership should have the discretion to determine whether any, some, or all of their staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19," Hooper said in a statement.
"At this time, no COVID-19 vaccine has received full approval from the FDA, and this may be contributing to vaccine hesitancy across our country. We must ask the administration to craft any such mandate with care and consideration of our members' individual contraindications as well as their closely held personal and religious beliefs," the statement continued.
Pfizer, Moderna and the Johnson and Johnson vaccines were granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), but the FDA is facing pressure to issue full authorization of the vaccines, which could open the door to mandates in schools, and the military.
"The FDA recognizes that vaccines are key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and is working as quickly as possible to review applications for full approval," FDA spokesperson Alison Hunt said in a statement.
