Biden: Unvaccinated Federal Workers to Face Testing, Masking

WHITE HOUSE - With the delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 rapidly spreading across the country, U.S. President Joe Biden has announced civilian federal government employees must be vaccinated or submit to regular testing and wear masks.

“Every federal government employee will be asked to attest to their vaccination status,” the president said Thursday in a speech from the White House East Room. “Anyone who does not attest or is not vaccinated will be required to mask, no matter where they work, test one or two times a week to see if they’ve acquired COVID, socially distance, and generally will not be allowed to travel for work.” The federal government employs more than 4 million Americans, including over 2 million in the federal civilian workforce, a White House statement said. The same standards will apply to federal contractors, Biden added.