Auburn University announced via email on Friday that in order to comply with Executive Order 14042, it will require all University employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8, 2021.
The policy will apply to full-time and part-time employees, including those that are working remotely. Those who are not fully vaccinated by Dec. 8 are subject to termination in accordance with University policies.
The current University COVID-19 policy, effective Oct. 22, 2021, states that "Auburn University employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19."
Executive Order 14042, issued by President Joe Biden on Sept. 9, 2021, requires that federal contractors provide "adequate COVID-19 safeguards for their workforce."
As a public research institution, this classifies Auburn University as a federal contractor, along with hundreds of other public universities across the United States.
According to the email, an individual is considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks removed from their second dose in a two-dose series, or two weeks removed from a single-dose vaccine.
This means that in order to be considered fully-vaccinated by the Dec. 8 deadline, employees who are not vaccinated will need to begin the vaccination process at the following dates:
- Moderna: First dose by Oct. 27, 2021, and second dose by Nov. 24, 2021.
- Pfizer: First dose by Nov. 3, 2021, and second dose by Nov. 24, 2021.
- Johnson & Johnson: Dose needed by Nov. 24, 2021
Employees with medical or religious exemptions to the vaccine requirement will need to apply for exemption to the Office of Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity.
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Originally from Helena, Ala., Caleb Jones is a senior studying journalism at Auburn University. He has been on staff with The Plainsman since 2019.
You can follow him here on Twitter: @calebjsports
