Those who don't comply will face hefty fines of between 600 and 3,600 euros.

The inoculation push comes as President Joe Biden and other state and federal political leaders ratchet up pressure on unvaccinated Americans, some of whom object to mandates on religious or health grounds.

A deadline for inoculations for some 300,000 public servants will be announced in the coming weeks.

The policy will apply to around 25,000 Department of Health and Human Services employees who could come into contact with patients.

This is the first such state-wide mandate in the US, which is struggling with exploding infection rtes.

Many major companies are now pushing back their return-to-work dates as Covid-19 rates rise again.

Employees who are not vaccinated due to medical or religious reasons will be accommodated.

Civil servants, teachers and healthcare workers who refuse to be vaccinated will have to pay to be tested twice a week.

Faced with the spread of the Delta variant, the government wants to get as many people as possible vaccinated.

The rules require Covid-19 vaccination for the school's 90,000 students and 40,000 employees but allow for exemptions on religious or medical grounds.

The idea of vaccine mandates has sparked controversy in a nation that cherishes individual liberty, but these concerns need to be weighed against collective well-being, says one expert.

This is despite the Central Asian country being one of the few in the world which claims to have registered no Covid-19 cases.