The Biden administration will require all federal employees and on-site contractors to prove their vaccination status or submit to regular COVID-19 testing and a mask mandate. President Biden recommends the private sector follow suit.
- Janice Lachance, former Office of Personnel Management director and now executive vice president at the American Geophysical Union, said the requirements are an opportunity for the federal workforce to lead and set an example for others in their communities.
- Jeff Pon, also former Office of Personnel Management director and now national co-chair of the Training and Development Optimization Council, said right now the vaccine is the best tool to battle the Delta variant, and distancing, masks and sanitization are still important for protecting federal workers.
- Lachance advised leaders to overcommunicate about the new policies by explaining the purpose, providing facts and laying out how the agency will respond to side effects employees could have from the shots.
