JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Monday that the agency to require health care workers to get COVID-19 vaccines. This comes as Delta variant cases continue to surge in the United States.
The mandates are in response to an outbreak among unvaccinated employees and trainees at a VA Law Enforcement Training Center.
“Whenever a veteran or VA employee sets foot in a VA facility, they deserve to know that we have done everything in our power to protect them from COVID-19,” said Department of Veteran Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough.
According to the VA, they have lost four employees to COVID-19 in recent weeks. They said the employees were not vaccinated.
Laverne Scott is a former employee at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Jackson. She is now a patient.
“I ran across some of the employees, some of the nurses who said they weren’t going to take the shot which I thought was very strange,” she claimed.
VA leaders said each employee has eight weeks to be fully vaccinated.