The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday said that it will require all of its frontline health care workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to agency Secretary Xavier Becerra. HHS is now the third federal agency to require its employees to receive the vaccine, joining the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. “Staff at the Indian Health Service (IHS) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) who serve in federally-operated health care and clinical research facilities and interact with, or have the potential to come into contact with, patients will be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” Becerra said in a statement on Thursday. The policy will apply to more than 25,000 individuals who operate health and clinical research facilities, or who could come into contact with patients. “Our number one goal is the health and safety of the American public, including our federal …