A significant rise in COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant has impacted the decision to impose vaccine and testing mandates for the Department of Veteran Affairs and public employees of California and New York City.
According to secretary Denis McDonough of the Department of Veteran Affairs, “healthcare personnel who work in or visit Veterans Health Administration facilities or provide direct care to people the VA serves would have eight weeks to get vaccinated.”
As for California and New York City, officials announced that public employees either have to be vaccinated or be subject to weekly testing for the virus. California’s mandate also will be enforced on healthcare workers and will go into effect in August. New York City’s mandate will go into effect after Labor Day.
“Too many people have chosen to live with this virus,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom reportedly said at a press conference Monday. “We’re at a point in this pandemic where individuals’ choice not to get vaccinated is now impacting the rest of us, and in a profound and devastating and deadly way.”
California Governor Newsom and NYC Mayor de Blasio are insisting on private employees to enforce the order. A week ago, de Blasio said the test-or-vaccine mandate would be enforced on healthcare workers starting Aug. 2.
“This is about our recovery. This is about what we need to do to bring back New York City. This is about keeping people safe,” Mayor de Blasio said at a press conference.
The New York City order will be enforced on 350,000 public workers, including teachers, police officers, and office-based employees.
