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Joe Biden (July 13th)
Photo: Yuri Gripas / POOL / EPA
The more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is also spreading rapidly in the USA.
At the same time, the vaccination campaign is stalling.
To counter these worrying trends, the US government is pushing millions of employees to vaccinate with new rules.
Employees who cannot provide proof of vaccination will in future always have to wear a mask and be tested for possible infection once or twice a week, as US President Joe Biden said on Thursday (local time).
The regulation for the more than two million civilian employees of the government therefore also applies to employees of contractual partners who work in government institutions.
Unvaccinated employees are also said to be subject to severe restrictions with regard to business travel.
With the strict rules, the White House apparently wants to make vaccinations the only convenient solution - but without explicitly relying on a politically controversial vaccination requirement.
Biden emphasized, however, that the government supports companies that want to impose compulsory vaccination for their employees.
"We all want our lives to get back to normal and fully vaccinated workplaces will quickly take care of that." For example, Google and Facebook announced compulsory vaccination on Wednesday.
Biden now also instructed the Ministry of Defense to check when the armed forces could impose a compulsory vaccination. The Pentagon immediately stated that the same strict rules would apply to all employees and soldiers as to federal employees. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will also initiate consultations on when and how vaccination can be made compulsory, it said. The ministry employs around three million people, including around two million soldiers.
Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated quickly.
It is now a "pandemic of the unvaccinated" in the USA, emphasized Biden.
Around 99 percent of all corona deaths were not vaccinated.
“This is an American tragedy.
People who don't have to die die and will die, 'said Biden.
Around half of the US population is fully vaccinated
The number of daily new corona infections in the USA will continue to rise before an improvement can occur, the president warned, citing experts.
Because of the delta variant, the number of new infections per day rose again to around 65,000 on average.
A month ago the average was around 13,000.
More than 300 people die every day after an infection.
Biden said the government had more than enough vaccine for all Americans.
"It's a shame.
It is such a shame to waste this blessing. "
The Democrat has spoken out against compulsory vaccination across the country, but is now putting more and more pressure on.
"If you are indeed unvaccinated, then you are posing a problem - for yourself, for your family, and for those you work with," warned Biden.
In the USA, a good 49 percent of the population of around 330 million people have so far been fully vaccinated, and around 57 percent have received at least the first injection.
More than 50 million doses shipped by the government to the states have not yet been used, data from the CDC health agency shows.
Experts warn that many doses may expire soon if the FDA does not extend the expiration date.
Money is supposed to attract people to vaccination
The president has now called on states, counties, and municipalities to offer a $ 100 reward for newly vaccinated people. You should use the remaining funds from the stimulus package from March. This should be "an extra incentive" to increase the vaccination rate "and save lives," said the Ministry of Finance. Biden added, "If incentives help us defeat this virus, then I think we should use them." If more people are vaccinated, the whole country will benefit.
The stimulus package included US $ 350 billion in aid for states, counties and municipalities, which are often not yet fully called up or planned.
However, many states and municipalities have already offered numerous incentives to increase the vaccination rate - including millions in profits, bonds or a reward for all vaccinated.
The city of New York, for example, is offering vaccinations as an incentive as early as Friday 100 US dollars.
jok / dpa
