FACT CHECK: Yes, White House staff must get vaccinated against COVID-19

(KWQC) - UPDATE: TV6 is clarifying who is covered under the federal mask mandate. According to USA Today and the New York Times, the mandate only covers employees under the Executive Branch of the government. According to USA Today, because the mandate was issued in the form of an executive order, it can only apply to people working in that branch.

That means members of Congress, including staff, and federal court employees are not mandated by the President to be fully vaccinated.

UPDATE: TV6 received questions and concerns from our viewers about this fact check. Many people citing a video from a White House Press Briefing with Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying the White House had not mandated the vaccine for staff.

Psaki did answer a question from a reporter on a mandate, saying there was no mandate in effect. That was on July 23, 2021. Six days later, on July 29, President Joe Biden announced the vaccine mandate for federal employees which includes White House staff. Unvaccinated workers must wear masks, social distance, and take weekly tests to confirm they are COVID-negative.

ORIGINAL: An image has gone viral claiming staff at the White House are not required to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

It’s false.

In fact, the vaccine is mandated for all staff at the White House, CDC, and FDA, plus all three manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine being used in the United States.

According to a PolitiFact article, on August 19, an image went viral claiming several federal organizations were not mandating the vaccine for employees. It quickly picked up steam and circulated the web. TV6 has received questions from viewers on whether this was true.

The only accurate part of the image is that the World Health Organization is not mandating vaccines, stating ethical concerns.

On July 29, President Joe Biden issued the vaccine mandate for all federal employees. Unvaccinated workers must wear masks, social distance, and take weekly tests to confirm they are COVID-negative.

On August 20, Moderna mandated vaccines for employees by October 1. Pfizer/BioNTech mandated the vaccine on August 4. Johnson & Johnson announced all employees must be vaccinated by October 4.

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