V.A. Will Mandate Vaccines for Most Medical Center Workers

U.S.|Department of Veterans Affairs will mandate vaccines for most workers in its medical centers.

• Aug. 12, 2021, 9:00 a.m. ET

The Department of Veterans Affairs will require nearly every worker, volunteer and contractor within its vast health care system to be vaccinated against the coronavirus over the next eight weeks, in stark contrast to the Pentagon which has resisted immediate mandates for the country’s 1.3 million active-duty troops.

Last month, the department began requiring shots for 115,000 of its frontline health care workers, making it the first federal agency to mandate that employees, including doctors, dentists, registered nurses, be inoculated. Those who refuse face penalties including possible removal.

The expansion, which will impact approximately 245,000 new workers, was announced on Thursday by Denis McDonough, the secretary of veterans affairs, as the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus continues to rapidly spread throughout the nation, threatening hundreds of thousands of veterans seeking care. Both mandates together will cover 360,000 workers and contractors.

“This pandemic is not over and V.A. must do everything in our power to protect Veterans from Covid-19,” Mr. McDonough said in a statement. “With this expanded mandate, we can once again make and keep that fundamental promise.”

Under the expanded mandate, a vast array of workers, including psychologists, pharmacists, social workers, nursing assistants, physical therapists, engineers, housekeepers and most others who come into contact with patients will need to be vaccinated. Officials are also considering expanding such a requirement to visitors.

The mandate would not expand to workers outside the medical system, such as administrative workers in Washington and beyond, though Mr. McDonough recently said he would consider making them compulsory for the highest ranking officials to set an example.

As of last week, roughly 63 percent of the 351,000 Veterans Health Administration employees were fully vaccinated. The administration is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, with 1,293 health care facilities.

The Pentagon announced earlier this week that it would make vaccinations mandatory for troops “no later” than the middle of next month rather than require them immediately, bowing to concerns expressed by White House officials about putting a mandate in place for troops before the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval for the vaccine, expected in the next few weeks. President Biden under federal law can order troops to take vaccines not yet approved by the F.D.A.

Scores of hospitals and health care systems have compelled their employees to get vaccines, and recent court decisions have upheld employers’ rights to require vaccinations.