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A CNN report from the USA says US President Joe Biden will announce a requirement that all federal employees and contractors be vaccinated against Covid-19 on Thursday, or be required to submit to regular testing and mitigation requirements, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter with Veteran Affairs, New York City, and California having already all mandating vaccinations for government employees and health care workers,

The report says that the announcement will come in remarks where Biden is also expected to lay out a series of new steps, including incentives, in an attempt to spur new vaccinations as the Delta variant spreads rapidly throughout the country.

It will also follow the decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs to require its frontline health care workers to be vaccinated over the course of the next two months and that Biden alluded to the looming announcement on Tuesday, saying, “That’s under consideration right now,” when asked if he would impose a vaccination mandate on federal workers.

While the specifics are still being finalized, the source said, federal workers would be required to attest to their vaccination status or submit to regular testing, with the source saying the proposal will be roughly similar to what is being implemented in New York City, with additional requirements for the unvaccinated could be added as agencies push to vaccinate their employees.

Biden will not impose the requirement on the US military, despite his authority to do so, for the time being, but he is, however, likely to outline how the Department of Defense may seek to approach the issue going forward, the source said.

A report from CNN by John Alwyn-Jones, Special Correspondent Travel and Tourism, Global Travel Media.