Over the past few days there have been outlets reporting that Biden has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to withhold VA benefits from unvaccinated veterans.
Many social media users have shared a screenshot of what looks like a controversial news headline saying that Biden recently gave the order to the VA.
The reports have caused concern among some in the veteran community, but the news is not authentic.
The source for the headlines comes from DelawareOhioNews.com, a website that describes all of its stories as “parodies (satire, fiction, fake, not real).
If you look into the website, you’ll find they tell readers that “everything on this website is made up.”
The VA also responded to the unfounded worries, and confirmed that no such directive or executive order exists.
“The President has not and will not withhold benefits to Veterans who choose not to be vaccinated,” Veterans Affairs Press Secretary Terrence L. Hayes stated. “The spread of this misinformation is extremely detrimental to our Veterans and their families and should cease immediately.”
Back on September 9th Biden did issue an executive order for new vaccine mandates for as many as 100 million Americans. The administration also announced shortly before that all U.S. military members must be vaccinated, which has been a very controversial move (to say the least).
But the order did not specifically mention veterans, not did it extend to individual veterans’ government health care benefits.
Along with military members being forced to get the vaccine, the new order applies to healthcare workers, federal contractors, and private-sector employees. It mandates companies with more than 100 employees to require the vaccine or test for the virus weekly. It also mandates workers at healthcare facilities to be fully vaccinated if the facility receives federal Medicare of Medicaid funding.