Many of the workers at one of Fayetteville’s largest employers will be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus after Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough announced that the vaccine will be mandatory for anyone who provides direct patient care.

An agency news release issued Monday afternoon said the mandate affects Title 38 VA health care personnel — including physicians, dentists, podiatrists, optometrists, registered nurses, physician assistants, expanded-function dental auxiliaries and chiropractors — who work in VA health facilities, visit VHA facilities or provide direct care to those the VA serves.

Employees will have eight weeks to get inoculated against the coronavirus or face penalties including possible removal, the news release said.

The VA has more than 1,500 workers in Fayetteville, making it the area’s ninth-largest employer. Currently, 70 percent of all VA employees have been vaccinated.

“It’s the best way to keep Veterans safe, especially as the Delta variant spreads across the country,” McDonough said in a statement. “Whenever a Veteran or VA employee sets foot in a VA facility, they deserve to know that we have done everything in our power to protect them from COVID-19. With this mandate, we can once again make — and keep — that fundamental promise.”

The VA’s decision makes it the first federal agency to mandate employee vaccinations. The Army Times reported recently that Army leaders have ordered commanders to be prepared to enact mandatory vaccinations, possibly at the beginning of September. Pentagon officials said such a policy would not take effect until the vaccines have received final authorization from the FDA.

The vaccines currently in use are being administered under emergency authorization as allowed during a public-health emergency, according to the FDA.

The VA said that in recent weeks it has lost four employees to COVID-19 — all of whom were unvaccinated.

“At least three of those employees died because of the increasingly prevalent Delta variant,” the VA statement said. “There has also been an outbreak among unvaccinated employees and trainees at a VA Law Enforcement Training Center, the third such outbreak during the pandemic.”

All VA employees are eligible to be vaccinated at no personal expense at any of our facilities. Employees will also receive four hours of paid administrative leave after demonstrating they have been vaccinated.

Last week some of the state’s largest health-care systems — including Atrium, Novant, UNC and Duke — announced that vaccines would be mandatory for employees. COVID vaccines remain voluntary at Cape Fear Valley Health and First Health, the Fayetteville area’s two largest health-care providers.