Overnight Health Care: Biden expected to announce vaccine requirement for federal workers | Republican governors revolt against CDC guidance | Pfizer: Third vaccine shot 'strongly' boosts immune response against delta | TheHill - The Hill

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellHouse to resume mask mandate after new CDC guidance Five takeaways from a bracing day of Jan.

Today: President BidenJoe BidenRealClearPolitics reporter says Freedom Caucus shows how much GOP changed under Trump Iowa governor suggests immigrants partially to blame for rising COVID-19 cases Biden officials pledge to confront cybersecurity challenges head-on MORE is expected to unveil a mandate for federal government employees and contractors to get vaccinated or get regular COVID-19 tests.

Republican governors speak out against the CDC’s updated mask guidance, and Pfizer released data showing a third dose of its vaccine “strongly” improves immune response to the delta strain.

President Biden is expected to announce Thursday that federal government employees and contractors must get a COVID-19 vaccine or they will be subject to frequent testing for the virus, a source familiar with the plans confirmed to The Hill.

Biden will outline the new protocols for federal workers during a speech Thursday in which he plans to detail efforts to get more Americans vaccinated as cases around the country are on the rise.

The president on Tuesday acknowledged his administration is considering making it mandatory for federal workers to get the coronavirus vaccine.

Follows: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Monday announced it would require its front-line health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, making it the first federal agency to institute a mandate for coronavirus vaccinations.

In Nebraska: “The CDC’s new guidance suggesting that vaccinated people wear masks indoors flies in the face of the public health goals that should guide the agency’s decision making,” Gov.

“I’m concerned that this guidance will be used as a vehicle to mandate masks in states and schools across the country, something I do not support,” she said.

The CDC’s update for many fully vaccinated Americans to wear masks indoors came amid an alarming rise on COVID-19 cases across the country that suggests the highly contagious delta variant is surging.

The guidance itself advised fully vaccinated people in counties with “substantial” and “high” COVID-19 transmission to wear masks in public indoor settings.

The Ford Motor Company said it will again require all employees and visitors to wear masks at its facilities in Missouri and Florida, two states where new coronavirus cases are spiking. 

The Michigan-based automaker will also require employees be vaccinated against the coronavirus before traveling internationally "due to the potential of increased exposure to COVID-19," spokesperson Kelli Felker told The Detroit News.  

Ford's announcement comes as federal health officials warn of the dangers of the quickly spreading delta variant of the coronavirus that sparked the CDC to recommend fully vaccinated Americans in some areas of the country to mask up in indoor public settings

Pfizer said Wednesday that a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine "strongly" boosts the immune response against the delta variant