Biden ramps up vaccine push with new rules for federal workers and call for $100 payments

Washington — President Biden called on state and local governments to use COVID-19 relief funds to give $100 to residents who get vaccinated and said federal workers will have to show proof of vaccination or face new restrictions in the workplace, including complying with weekly testing. 

"We are not fully out of the woods yet. Because what is happening in America right now is a pandemic, a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Mr. Biden said in a speech at the White House on Thursday. "Let me say that again. It's a pandemic of the unvaccinated."  The new rules for the federal workers and the call for cash payments are part of a broader push by the administration to get more Americans vaccinated as the Delta variant of the coronavirus fuels an increase in new infections nationwide. The vast majority of COVID-19 cases are still among the unvaccinated, and the Biden administration says 97% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients haven't gotten their shots.