President Biden is expected to announce plans Thursday to order all federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The move comes as the U.S. average for weekly COVID-19 cases was nearly 300% higher on Labor Day weekend compared to 2020 due to the highly infectious Delta variant.

Biden is scheduled to speak at 5 p.m. ET.

ABC News cited a source Thursday that said Biden would introduce an executive order to require all federal employees to receive the vaccination and that Biden may issue a second order to extend these requirements to federal government contractors.

Mandatory vaccinations within the federal government have already taken place, including in the armed forces. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memo on Aug. 25 that ordered defense and military officials to push ahead with vaccinations, but without a specific timeline offered. At the time of Austin’s order, the Washington Post reported that 68% of service members were fully vaccinated.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, Indian Health Service and the National Institutes of Health are expected to announce the completion of their requirements, according to CNN. This would account for 2.1 million employees.

It is not known if the executive order will continue to include a regular testing option for employees who remain unvaccinated, which had been permitted in a previous order from July.

CNN reported that Biden would likely deliver details about a six-pronged plan to combat the surge. The six points include: vaccinating the unvaccinated, booster shots, keeping schools open, increasing testing and requiring masks, protecting the economic recovery, and improving care for those who are infected.

Biden's move comes as he has seen a dip in a recent opinion poll. According to an ABC News-Washington Post poll from August, the number of Americans who approve of his handling of COVID-19 has fallen to 52% -- a 10-point drop from June.

An update on booster shots is a topic that Biden may address, but he is not expected to make any announcements that include when these shots will be made available or authorized for Americans.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, recently explained that a booster shot will offer full protection, but a plan to roll out booster shots for the vaccine has been beset by difficulties. Owing to inadequate data on its efficacy from vaccine provider Moderna and disagreements between the White House and federal bureaucracy, an initial implementation strategy set for Sept. 20 has been reportedly scaled back.

RELATED STORIES
Coronavirus