To all faculty, staff, and student employees,
In a message to you last week, I promised that the university would monitor and adapt to changes to the federal government’s COVID vaccination mandate for federal contractors. At that time, based on new federal guidance, I announced that the university would not place employees on leave if they were not fully vaccinated by Dec. 8, and we notified employees that they had until Jan. 3, 2022, to receive at least one shot of the vaccine of their choice.
At the end of last week, the federal government changed its guidance once again that prompted us to make another slight adjustment to our plan. Under guidance released last Thursday, employees are required to receive both shots of a two-dose vaccine, or one shot of a one-dose vaccine, by Jan. 4. We will continue to work with employees who have shown a good faith effort to become fully vaccinated by Jan. 4.
This new guidance for federal contractors should not be confused with the new COVID vaccination mandate for private employers that was also issued last week. While the vaccination mandate for private employers was temporarily halted this weekend by a court order, it does not impact the federal contractor mandate that applies to the university. We will inform you if the federal contractor mandate is halted by a court.
Employees can visit the federal mandate information page of the university’s COVID website to see details about how to upload vaccination cards or how to apply for an accommodation. We have started reviewing submitted requests for religious and medical accommodations.
Please remember that we are operating vaccine clinics on campus. Visit the university’s COVID website to see the schedule for upcoming clinics. I appreciate your patience as we continue to adjust our plan based on the evolving federal guidance.
Sincerely,
