Government employees in the east react after vaccination mandate from President Biden

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - President Biden issued a new executive order on Thursday, mandating vaccination against COVID-19 for all federal employees.

This comes after the president’s previous executive order requiring that all active-duty members of the military be fully vaccinated. Recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control say that the average amount of confirmed cases across the country has reached about 140,000 per day.

Albert Burgess, the head of the American Federation of Government Employee’s post in Jacksonville says he feels this is a necessary order by the president to further protect active service members.

“It’s very important that the federal workers are vaccinated or protected in some way. You work directly with service members. You have a direct impact on the public health of those service members,” said Burgess, who went on to speak to the frustration he has personally with those who continue to fight the president’s vaccination efforts.

“Nobody! Absolutely nobody has the right to expose somebody else to harm[...] We can’t afford to have service members in the hospital when we need them protecting our country,” Burgess continued.

The president’s speech outlined a multi-faceted plan designed to address the latest increase in Coronavirus cases. President Biden also plans for large companies to require vaccinations or weekly testing for employees through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

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