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As COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise with the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, which accounts for about 83% of recent COVID cases, some government bodies — including the state of California, New York City and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs — have responded by issuing vaccine mandates for their employees, or requiring employees to get tested for COVID regularly.

The VA, a federal government agency that provides health care and other services to military veterans, will require all health care workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a news release Monday, making it the first federal agency to do so.

Employees included in the mandate are health care workers that are the most “patient-facing,” such as doctors, nurses and some specialists, VA Secretary Denis McDonough told the New York Times. Employees will have eight weeks from Wednesday to get fully vaccinated or face penalties, including possible removal, he told the Times.

In recent weeks, four VA employees, all unvaccinated, died from the coronavirus, according to the agency’s news release.

The state of California and New York City also announced vaccine rules on Monday. California will require all state employees and health care workers in the state to provide proof of vaccination or get tested for COVID-19 at least once a week, according to an announcement by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. The policy for state workers will go into effect on Aug. 2, while the policy for health care workers and facilities will go into effect later in the month.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that municipal workers in the city’s five boroughs will either have to get vaccinated or be tested weekly for COVID, starting Sept. 13, the first day of school for New York City public schools.

The new mandate is the same one de Blasio announced last week for New York City’s public health care workers, which goes into effect Aug. 2. Workers that decline to either get vaccinated or get weekly COVID testing will be suspended without pay.

Following the VA’s decision requiring health care employees to be vaccinated, the Biden administration told reporters Tuesday that his administration is considering a vaccine mandate for all federal employees, going against his previous guidance that federal agencies shouldn’t require employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

If the employees don’t want to be vaccinated, they may face regular testing, mask mandates and other requirements, the New York Times reported.

There are about 4 million people employed by the federal government, the Washington Post reported, making the government the largest employer in the country.

Throughout the pandemic, mask mandates, vaccine rollout plans and other public health measures to combat the coronavirus were mainly conducted by city, county and state governments. In an opinion by the US Department of Justice written on July 6 and posted Monday by CNN, the DOJ determined that Federal law doesn’t prohibit public or private agencies from issuing vaccine requirements, even if the vaccines have Emergency Use Authorization rather than full FDA approval. That means we might see more government agencies enacting vaccine mandates for their employees.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.