President Joe Biden on Thursday urged local governments to pay people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and he set new rules requiring federal workers to provide proof of vaccination or face regular testing, mask mandates and travel restrictions.

The measures are Biden's latest attempt to spur reluctant Americans to get vaccinated as the Delta variant of the coronavirus surges nationwide, infecting unvaccinated people in particular.

The United States lags other developed countries in vaccination rates, despite having plenty of free vaccines on hand. White House efforts to urge the hesitant to get vaccinated have hit a wall of anti-vaccine sentiment, misinformation and political division...