University of Oklahoma Employees Must Be Fully Vaccinated by Dec. 8 to Adhere to Biden’s Executive Order

All employees of the University of Oklahoma will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 8, 2021, in order to comply with President Joe Biden’s executive order mandating vaccination for federal employees, the university has announced.

“After a careful legal assessment, it has been determined the order applies to Oklahoma research universities – including the University of Oklahoma – and their employees,” the university said in a statement.

OU pointed out that if it doesn’t comply with the order, it risks losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for university education, research, and services, Erudera.com reports.

In order to follow with the requirement, employees of the University of Oklahoma, including faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate student employees, temporary, part-time, PEAK employees, as well as graduate research and teaching assistants should be vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine approved by WHO by the deadline (December 8, 2021).

The requirement does not apply to students who are not employees at the university.

In order for the employees to meet the deadline and be fully vaccinated by December 8, the last day to have received the first Moderna vaccine dose is October 27, 2021, whereas the last day for the second vaccine dose is November 24, 2021.

Those who will get vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine must receive the first dose by November 3, 2021, while the last day to receive the second dose is November 24, 2021.

Meanwhile, for Johnson & Johnson vaccine, November 24, 2021, is the last day to receive the single dose vaccine.

“The executive order allows an exemption for medical or religious accommodations. Details regarding the medical and religious accommodation request criteria and process will be made available by Human Resources in the coming days,” the university notes.

Employees who don’t comply with the requirement and are not vaccinated by December 8 or have not managed to receive a university-approved accommodation will be subject to disciplinary based on the university’s policies.

The university has announced that all students, faculty, and staff are able to receive COVID-19 vaccines on all three OU campuses at no cost.

In addition to the University of Oklahoma, two other universities – Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa have also issued statements regarding the new vaccine requirement for employees.

Three Arizona universities must also comply with Joe Biden’s executive order on the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all federal employees.