Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who took the role in March 2021, is the first Cabinet departure for the Biden administration.

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who took the role in March 2021, is the first Cabinet departure for the Biden administration. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Coronavirus Roundup: Labor Secretary Leaving His Post; Vaccine Access Updates

There's a lot to keep track of. Here’s a list of this week’s news updates and stories you may have missed.

It’s official: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh will be leaving the Biden administration in mid-March to become executive director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association. Walsh, who took the role in March 2021, has been at the forefront of the challenges and changes to the workforce as a result of the pandemic and the economic recovery.  

“We have been there for workers through a once-in-a-century pandemic and, in a historic recovery that brought deep shifts in labor dynamics, we encouraged and empowered workers to stand up for their rights and demand better opportunities,” he wrote in a letter to Labor employees on Thursday. 

Walsh is the first Cabinet departure for the Biden administration. Here are some of the other recent headlines you might have missed. 

The federal government has agreed to purchase up to 1.5 million more doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, the company announced on Monday. “This agreement will maintain the U.S. public's access to Novavax' vaccine and support the development of smaller dose vials, strain selection in line with U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommendations, and a smooth transition to the commercial market,” said the press release. 

Moderna is committed to “ensuring that people in the United States will have access to our COVID-19 vaccines regardless of ability to pay,” even as the federal government stops providing them at no cost in May, the company said in a statement this week. Moderna was reportedly considering charging $110 to $130 per dose, which was met with criticism, Stat News reported. 

On Monday, the Republican chairs of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic launched their first investigation into the COVID-19 origins and U.S. money “funneled to the Wuhan Lab.” They sent letters  to Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance; Avril Haines, director of national intelligence; Dr. Francis Collins, acting science adviser to the president; and Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, requesting documents and/or interviews and gave most a February 20 deadline. 

With the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, two top House Republicans are asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide an accounting of the more than $110 billion the agency used in response to pandemic emergency declarations. They said a deadline of February 27.

When the public health emergency ends, the U.S. Patent and Trade Office will be ending its COVID-19 prioritized examination pilot program, instituted in 2020 to boost the development of innovations to fight against the pandemic, according to notice in the Federal Register. 

One of the top challenges facing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is managing changes in the workforce, as it has had a retirement wave and needs to navigate “its post-pandemic hybrid work environment where 80% of FDIC employees are working remotely,” said its watchdog in a new report. 

The General Services Administration and Office of Personnel Management are hosting a webinar for acquisition officials to “build a future-ready workforce,” on Feb. 22 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

Help us understand the situation better. Are you a federal employee, contractor or military member with information, concerns, etc. about how your agency is handling the coronavirus? Email us at newstips@govexec.com.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.