Major U.S. Department Still Insists on COVID Vax Mandate
Despite the purported end-of-an-era for vaccine mandates, the COVID-19 shot requirement is still enforced at the Veterans Health Administration.
On May 9, 2023, former president Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14099 – “Moving Beyond COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for Federal Workers.” His order revoked a previous executive order dated Sept. 9, 2021, which once required COVID-19 injections for federal employees.
However, months before Biden’s 2021 federal worker mandate, the Department of Veterans Affairs had already instituted its own COVID-19 vaccine requirement for frontline healthcare workers. On July 26, 2021, VA Secretary Denis McDonough announced that all Veterans Health Administration employees providing direct patient care – such as physicians, nurses and dentists – would be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This was formalized in VHA Directive 1193 on Aug. 13, 2021, and made the VA the first federal agency to mandate COVID-19 vaccination. This mandate for healthcare workers operated independently from Biden’s later federal employee order.
Following the federal mandate, on Oct. 4, 2021, the Department of Veterans Affairs issued VA Notice 22-01 “to inform employees of the recent requirement to certify COVID-19 vaccination status and provide proof of vaccination or request an exception within the established timeframes or face disciplinary action, up to and including removal from the Department.”
Despite Biden’s 2023 rescission of the requirement, VA Notice 24-11 reveals the COVID-19 shot requirement “remains in effect” for the Veterans Health Administration, or VHA. (Read more from “Major U.S. Department Still Insists on COVID Vax Mandate” HERE)
