Veterans Affairs, New York City, California order workers to get shots.

Efforts to get Americans vaccinated for COVID-19 took a forceful turn Monday, with the Department of Veterans Affairs telling its doctors and nurses to get immunized within eight weeks.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also upped the ante by ordering teachers, police officers and firefighters to get their shots by Sept.

He announced a plan that will require state workers and all health care workers to get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing.

The plan, which should apply to about 238,000 state employees and more than 2 million health care workers in the public and private sectors, will be phased in within the next few weeks.

Major medical groups, meanwhile, said the time has come to mandate the vaccine for every health care worker in the country, declaring that “the nation depends on it.”.

He said four unvaccinated VA employees recently died from COVID-19, including three infected with the delta variant.

The American Medical Association and other groups said health care workers across the country should be required to roll up their sleeves.

They said it is unacceptable for unprotected workers to interact with patients who might have compromised immune systems or be too young to qualify for the vaccines.

“This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and well-being,” said the letter, signed by the American Nursing Association, the American Psychiatric Association and others.

Health care workers were among the first Americans to become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines, yet many continue to refuse the shots.

Roughly 1 in 4 hospital workers in New York state are not vaccinated, and federal data says only 58.7% of nursing home staff in the U.S.

The medical groups said many health care facilities require immunization for influenza, hepatitis B and pertussis to protect the vulnerable, so it makes sense to add COVID-19 as the delta variant quickly spreads in poorly vaccinated areas.

“Unfortunately, many health care and long-term care personnel remain unvaccinated.

As we move towards full [Food and Drug Administration] approval of the currently available vaccines, all health care workers should get vaccinated for their own health, and to protect their colleagues, families, residents of long-term care facilities and patients.”.

New York City is a union town and that cannot be ignored,” the union said.

“The delta variant, the most infectious and dangerous strain of COVID-19, took hold in Springfield, Missouri, before spreading like wildfire around our state and now is on our doorstep,” St.

Roughly 54% of New York City residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19

Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said he planned to start an outreach campaign that targets ZIP codes with poor vaccination rates so New York does not succumb to another nightmarish year

More than 53,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the Empire State — the most of any state in the country except for California, where over 64,000 have died