Biden pushes $100 payment to Covid vaccine recipients as he orders federal workers MUST be jabbed or face regular tests
STATES could soon start offering $100 payments to people in order to get the vaccine under direct orders from President Joe Biden – who also told federal workers they must get vaccinated or face regular testing and mask-wearing.
Biden called on local governments to allocate funds from his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to offer $100 payments to people who have still not received the vaccine.
The cash would provide “an extra incentive to boost vaccination rates, protect communities, and save lives,” said the Treasury Department on Thursday.
“Treasury stands ready to give technical assistance to state and local governments so that they may use the funds effectively,” the department’s statement read.
This will be used “to support increased vaccination in their communities, and Treasury will partner with the Department of Health and Human Services throughout this effort.”
Biden, who has been receiving flack for ignoring questions regarding mandatory vaccines in the military, made the announcement on Thursday while discussing the coronavirus at the White House.
“I know that paying people to get vaccinated might sound unfair to folks that have gotten vaccinated already,” he started.
“But here’s the deal: if incentives help us beat this virus, I believe we should use them. We all benefit if we can get more people vaccinated.”
Biden and the American Rescue Plan
Nearly 70 percent of eligible adults in the US have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, but inoculation rates have dropped in recent weeks.
Simultaneously, areas with low vaccination rates, especially in the south and midwest, have had cases of the coronavirus as a result of the growing Delta variant skyrocket.
Biden signed the $1.9 trillion relief package in March, which included $350 billion in funding to help state and local governments recover from the coronavirus.
His announcement also follows guidelines from the Treasury Department that allow local governments to receive funds for such a vaccine incentive program.
Some states have also offered vaccine incentives through lotteries, free foods, and other goods.
It also comes days after New York City began offering the $100 voucher program – and as the Delta variant quickly becomes the most prominent of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Biden wants all federal employees to get vaccinated or mask up
Biden also announced that all federal employees and subcontractors are required to get the vaccine, following similar guidelines put in place in New York City and California.
The mandate will require such personnel to show proof of vaccination or regularly test negative for on-site PCR tests.
Employees who are not vaccinated “will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice-weekly screening testing requirement, and be subject to restrictions on official travel.”
About four million people who are employed by the federal government are required to show proof of vaccination, or wear masks and physically distance themselves from others in the workplace.
The same rules apply to federal contractors and subcontractors employed by the federal government.
Hours after his announcement, the Pentagon came out and said members of the military will be required to obey the same rules: get the jab or get masked up.
Although Biden said this announcement fell short of a mandate, he added the Department of Defense was working on creating one for all military members, which would affect some 1.5 million troops.
Biden announced the regulation as part of an overhaul to stop how the country is slowing down in inoculation rates.
“Right now, too many people are dying or watching someone they love die and say, ‘If I’d just got the vaccine,’” Biden said. “This is an American tragedy. People are dying who don’t have to die.”
“If in fact you are unvaccinated, you present a problem to yourself, to your family and those with whom you work,” he said.
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“It’s an American blessing that we have vaccines for each and every American. It’s such a shame to squander that blessing,” he added.
The latest CDC data shows about 49.4 percent of the country is fully vaccinated, with the rate of vaccinations at its lowest since when the vaccine was first made available months earlier.
About 389,963 people a day are getting the jab, far below the daily millions during the spring months.
