University of Alabama System & Auburn University Must Ensure Employees Are Fully Vaccinated by Dec. 8

All employees at the University of Alabama System and Auburn University must be vaccinated by December 8, 2021, in order to comply with the federal government requirements, universities have announced.

US President Joe Biden issued an executive order on September 9, 2021, requiring vaccination against COVID-19 of all federal contractors, Erudera.com reports.

According to a statement issued by the University of Alabama System, the following campuses must adhere to the executive order unless it is modified or withdrawn:

• the University of Alabama
• the University of Alabama at Birmingham
• the University of Alabama in Huntsville

The university further states that employees should be fully vaccinated by the deadline unless they are exempted from the requirement for disability, medical or religious reasons.

“Failure to comply will place our universities in jeopardy of losing hundreds of millions of dollars received through federal contracts and awards, as well as thousands of jobs funded by those dollars. This outcome would severely impact our institutions’ teaching, research and service capabilities and could hamper economic development activity,” the university pointed out.

Auburn University, on the other hand, has modified its vaccine policy to ensure that the university can certify compliance with current or future federal contracts. According to the modified policy, all Auburn University employees should be vaccinated no later than December 8. The requirement does not apply to those who have a medical or religious exemption approved.

“An individual is fully vaccinated two weeks after they have received the second dose in a two-dose series, or two weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine. Employees hired after December 8, 2021, must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by their first day of work,” Auburn University noted.

It added that the policy applies to all Auburn University employees, including full-time and part-time employees, those working from home, undergraduate and graduate student employees, TES employees, as well as other employees working at the following:

• Auburn University at Montgomery
• the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
• the Alabama Cooperative Extension System

According to the university, in order to be fully vaccinated by December 8, all employees who haven’t received a COVID-19 vaccine yet must start getting vaccinated on the following dates:

• Moderna – first dose should be taken by October 27, while the second dose by November 24, 2021.
• Pfizer – the first dose by November 3, and the second by November 24, 2021.
• Johnson & Johnson – dose should be taken by November 24, 2021.

The university also noted that all those who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by the deadline (December 8) will be subject to termination, based on the university policies.