The Department of Energy said Friday it is dropping most pandemic-related safeguards, such as COVID-19 screening and collection of vaccination data for employees and contractors— although indoor mask mandates remain in place in areas with high transmission rates.
The DOE announced its “Updated COVID-19 Workplace Safety and Reentry Framework” in an email to “Team DOE” on Friday, Aug. 19.
The email from DOE chief of staff Christopher Davis, viewed by Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, announces the agency is modifying its COVID-19 policy to match the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated guidance from Aug. 11.
“Workplace safety protocols no longer vary based on vaccination status and do not depend on vaccination information,” according to the email, which adds DOE will stop collecting vaccination information from its federal and contractor workforce. The changes also affect visitors to DOE sites.
Likewise, the agency will stop doing COVID-19 screening and is no longer requiring that employees who did not receive the inoculation show proof of negative COVID-19 tests.
But COVID-19 rules that remain will apply to everyone, according to the Davis email. “Regardless of vaccination status and when masks are required, employees, contractors, and visitors must wear high-quality masks or respirators (e.g., surgical masks, N95s, KN95s).”
Quarantines are no longer required when someone is exposed to an individual who tested positive for the virus, which has killed more than 1 million Americans.
The changes are reflected in DOE’s updated COVID-19 guidance.
“Testing may be made available to DOE Federal employees and onsite support service contractors who may have been exposed while on official government business or while on official government travel,” according to the updated online policy.
The DOE “will continue to strongly encourage all Federal employees to be vaccinated but is not enforcing a requirement for vaccines” laid out in September 2021 executive order from President Joe Biden. Likewise, DOE “has notified contractors that it will take no action to enforce” vaccination mandates on them, according to the policy.
“These requirements may be subject to future change depending on the outcome of ongoing litigation and the receipt of updated guidance from the Office of Management and Budget,” according to the DOE policy.
For the seven days ended Thursday Aug. 18, there were 153 active, confirmed onsite cases of COVID-19 at DOE Office of Environmental Management worksites, which is nine less than the prior week’s total of 162, according to an office spokesperson.