The more than 25,000 healthcare workers employed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19, adding it to a list of requirements that include influenza and other routine vaccinations.
“Our number one goal is the health and safety of the American public, including our federal workforce. And vaccines are the best tool we have to protect people from COVID-19, prevent the spread of the Delta variant, and save lives,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said. “As President Biden has said, we have to do all we can to increase vaccinations to keep more people safe. Instructing our HHS health care workforce to get vaccinated will protect our federal workers and the patients and people they serve.”
The decision promises a cascading effect since it will affect not only direct employees of the department, but also contractors, trainees, and volunteers whose roles put them in potential contact with patients at HHS medical or clinical research facilities. The order will apply to staff at both the Indian Health Service and the National Institutes of Health.
A separate order from Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy will require members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps to vaccinate for COVID-19 immediately, to get ahead of any potential emergency deployment needs.
Workers from all three entities are already required to get a variety of other vaccinations routinely for their work. Medical and religious exemptions do exist, however, and the COVID-19 vaccination requirement is expected to follow the same processes.
With this new requirement, HHS joined a group including the Departments of Veteran Affairs and Defense, both of which recently added COVID-19 vaccines to their list of required vaccinations.