DC Mandates COVID-19 Vaccinations Or Weekly Testing For All Government Workers

All people concerned have until September 19 to get fully vaccinated.

After imposing an indoor mask mandate a few weeks ago, on Tuesday, August 10, Mayor Bowser announced in a statement that “in furtherance of government efficiency and as a component of internal security protocols, all employees, contractors, interns, and grantees, of the Government of the District of Columbia must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”

All people affected by this have until September 19 to get fully vaccinated. If employees are unable to get vaccinated, whether exempt or can’t receive it for medical or religious reasons, they will be subject to a weekly COVID test. This also involves any new hires as of August 14.

Public school teachers and staff, who will be returning to the classrooms later this month, are affected by this too. Children are becoming more and more vulnerable to the virus, thus this mandate is put in place to protect them. Indeed, according to DC Health Director, Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, “we continue to see an increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 in our population.” Indeed, 1 in 10 new COVID cases are from children between 5 years old and 14 years old.

Last month President Biden imposed that all fully vaccinated federal workers sign a document promising that they truly have been fully vaccinated, if they aren’t they must wear a mask at all times, stay socially distanced, and take weekly COVID tests. This also applies to Virginia government workers. Furthermore, all American troops should get fully vaccinated by September 15.

Overall, the directive to be fully vaccinated by September 19 will involve over 36,000 government employees, but about 54% of the total workforce are already fully vaccinated.

[Featured image: Shutterstock]

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