Coronavirus: US targets unvaccinated as world races to contain Delta variant
- Joe Biden pushes cash reward to get vaccinated, new rules for federal workers
- Israel the first country to offer third dose of Covid-19 vaccine to its citizens
The World Health Organization warned the highly transmissible strain of the virus, first detected in India, could unleash a “fourth wave” of cases in its Eastern Mediterranean zone – an area stretching from Morocco to Pakistan.
Those countries are especially at risk because vaccination rates are low – only 5.5 per cent of the region’s population has been fully vaccinated. So in nations where vaccines are more available, public officials are sounding the alarm.
“People are dying – and will die – who don’t have to die,” Biden said in a speech on his administration’s new initiatives aimed at curbing the spread. “If you’re out there and unvaccinated, you don’t have to die.”
He said all federal government workers would be asked to reveal their vaccination status – and those without the jab would have to mask in the workplace and submit to Covid-19 tests.
“If incentives help us beat this virus, I believe we should use them. We all benefit if we can get more people vaccinated,” Biden said.