NDSU staff vaccination mandate currently on hold due to lawsuit against Biden’s executive order
President Joe Biden released an executive order mandating vaccinations for federal contractors making NDSU subject to this mandate. The mandate requires federal contractors to comply with the vaccinations as well as other COVID-19 safety protocols, which means NDSU staff will need to be vaccinated. The vaccine mandate is currently on hold due to legal action but NDSU has formed a protocol regarding the employee vaccination.
Originally NDSU had hoped to only require vaccination for a small number of staff but that has not been able to go through and they are now requiring all staff to be vaccinated.
“Earlier this month, I indicated that the federal government had required a vaccination mandate that will be tied to a large number of NDSU’s federal contracts. This put NDSU into the position of losing tens of millions of dollars and many jobs if it did not impose a vaccination mandate on its employees,” Dean Bresciani said. “At that time, we only required a small number of employees who work in federal buildings located on NDSU’s campus to comply with the mandate, and we indicated that we were going to wait on expanding the mandate to see if either the federal government would modify it or if the courts would block it. Neither of these events have happened.”
Staff have until Jan. 4 under the mandate, which is now on hold, to reach vaccination status unless they have been awarded an exemption. Medical and religious exemptions are allowed but will require staff to meet other criteria such as weekly testing.
“As a result, with this email, NDSU is implementing the second phase of complying with the federal mandate and notifying all its employees that they must have received their full series of vaccinations (i.e., either two shots of Pfizer/Moderna or one shot of J&J) and provide proof to NDSU or have received an exemption on or before Jan. 4,” Bresciani said. “Under the federal rules, there are only two permissible exemptions involving religious or medical concerns. Employees receiving an exemption will be required to maintain other mitigation efforts including mandatory weekly testing, masking and social distancing.”
Part and full time staff are required to vaccinate under the mandate with the exception of those working 100% off campus who do not plan on returning to campus. This vaccination requirement included students who work on campus.
NDSU has said after the Jan. 4 mark they will update masking protocols as well to fit within the executive order if it stays in place. Students who work for the university are required to vaccinate which comes with the news of the university continuing the vaccination incentive program for all students.
“Earlier this month, I indicated that the federal government had required a vaccination mandate that will be tied to a large number of NDSU’s federal contracts. This put NDSU into the position of losing tens of millions of dollars and many jobs if it did not impose a vaccination mandate on its employees,” Dean Bresciani said. “At that time, we only required a small number of employees who work in federal buildings located on NDSU’s campus to comply with the mandate, and we indicated that we were going to wait on expanding the mandate to see if either the federal government would modify it or if the courts would block it. Neither of these events have happened.”
“Please remember that this only applies to students if they also work at NDSU, not all students. The good news is that if you have already participated in the student vaccine incentive program, there is nothing further you need to do,” Bresciani said. “We already have the information that we need. I am also pleased to announce that, in order to help those student-workers that need to get vaccinated and to encourage all other students to get vaccinated, NDSU is re-opening the vaccination incentive program for students until Jan. 4.”
For those wondering why NDSU is required to vaccinate under this order, according to NDSU, the university currently has around $147 million in annual awards for federal contracts, grants, appropriations and student loans. The university says they believe around $33 million of these funds to be applicable to the executive order. There are also a few federal buildings located on NDSU land which also fall under the order.
The Dean addressed a timeline for those required to be vaccinated, which again is those who do not have an approved exemption.
“If you are not fully vaccinated and cannot seek an exemption, you should start the vaccination process as soon as possible. We implemented this mandate now to give the employees more than enough time to have a choice regarding vaccinations,” Bresciani said. “The vaccinations that require two shots have a minimum waiting period between shots (four weeks for Moderna and three weeks for Pfizer), whereas J&J requires only one shot for full vaccination status. This means that if you want a Moderna vaccination, you should get your first shot no later than Dec. 7, and if you would like Pfizer, your first shot should be no later than Dec. 14.”
Again the mandate is currently on hold while waiting for the outcome of legal action. For more information on the staff mandate visit the NDSU website under vaccine information.