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As the COVID-19 Delta variant continues to spread; many places have begun to mandate vaccine requirements. On July 26, 2021, The Department of Veterans Affairs and some healthcare facilities announced they will require their frontline health care workers to be vaccinated. The Department of Veterans Affairs is expecting 115,000 of its frontline workers to receive their vaccine over the next two months.
Less than 50 percent of the United States citizens have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Nationwide; some hospital systems have stated their employees will face termination if they do not inoculate themselves. In San Francisco, a policy was issued ordering its city employees to get vaccinated.
That same day New York Mayor Bill de Blasio implemented a similar policy for his municipal workers. The city’s new policy states that employees will either need to receive the vaccine or be submitted to weekly COVID-19 testing.
To protect the health and safety of all City employees and the public, the City has implemented a new Vaccination Policy
According to several media outlets, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are expected to change its face mask requirements on Tuesday, July 27th. These changes will include changing its policy for those who have had their vaccine; they should now wear their masks in public settings.
The CDC is expected to have a press conference later on that Tuesday afternoon, according to the New York Times. In May, the agency’s stated that anyone who received the vaccine fully would no longer need to wear a mask or practice social distancing.
They are changing their stance due to the rising cases of COVID-19.
On July 27th, Illinois reported 1,669 new cases with five new deaths. This is the sixth day in a row where the state has had 1,000 or more new cases each day. According to ABC-7 Chicago, Illinois reported:
- Hospitals had 801 patients with COVID-19.
- At last count, there were 169 patients with COVID-19 in ICU.
- Of those patients, 62 were on ventilators.
As of Sunday, July 25th, Illinois had administered a total of 13,112,424 vaccines. Their seven-day average for administering the vaccine — daily — is 17,776.
These new mandates have received mixed feelings on social media. Some people believe that “vaccine mandates in any form will result in mass protests.” Others think they go “against everything our country was founded on.” Panzerbjorne39 commented on Twitter, “Just quit and leave if any employee gives a vaccine mandate.”
Other people state that “It’s about time.”
Written by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
Yahoo!: As Delta variant spreads, so do vaccine mandates; David Knowles
Market Watch: CDC expected to reverse policy on face masks later Tuesday, amid reports of breakthrough infections with delta variant of COVID-19; Ciara Linnane
ABC-7 Chicago: Illinois COVID Update: IL reports 1,669 cases, 5 deaths
Inline Image Courtesy of Maryland GovPics’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Official U.S. Navy Page’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License