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Michigan to require masks for unvaccinated state workers

A KN95 mask and a surgical mask.
WCMU Radio
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Photo illustration by Max Posner/NPR
A KN95 mask and a surgical mask.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer was pressed Thursday on whether she would mandate state workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Whitmer was asked about mandating the vaccine for state workers after news that President Joe Biden will ask unvaccinated federal workers to prove they were vaccinated, or wear masks and get tested regularly.

Whitmer says the state will continue to encourage employees to get inoculated.

“If they are not vaccinated, they are required to wear masks when they are in the work place," Whitmer said. "That is commensurate with a lot of work places across the state and I think that’s the right policy".

Whitmer says initial reporting suggests that state employees are vaccinated at a rate that mirrors the general public: 63-percent. Initially state health officials had set a goal of 70-percent vaccinated.

Laura Herberg