The Department of Energy wants its employees fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before Thanksgiving, which means they have until Nov. 8 to receive their final injection, according to a memo from the agency’s chief of staff.
The memo, dated Tuesday from DOE’s chief of staff Tarak Shah and viewed by Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, does not mention federal contractors. In an email late Tuesday, a DOE spokesperson said the agency was “awaiting additional guidance” about vaccine mandates for federal contractors.
In separate executive orders issued Sept. 9, President Joe Biden ordered that all federal employees and contractors receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Biden has said all federal employees, including telecommuters, must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22.
To become fully vaccinated by the deadline, DOE is now requiring its federal employees to receive their second shot of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson injection, by Nov. 8.
That means there is Oct. 11 deadline for DOE feds to receive their first shot of the Moderna vaccine and an Oct. 18 date for those planning to get their first dose of Pfizer. The makers of these two vaccines call for differing amounts of time between the first and second dose in order to reap the maximum benefit from the inoculation.
Those electing to go with the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine only have one deadline to remember, Nov. 8.
It typically takes two weeks after the final dose of vaccine for the body to build up maximum protection or immunity against the virus that causes COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
DOE will make exceptions to the vaccine mandate in “limited circumstances in which an employee may be exempt due to a legally required accommodation,” according to the Shah memo.
The memo said 88% of DOE employees filled out a form to attest their vaccination status. “Based on the responses, 84% of DOE’s Federal workforce is fully vaccinated!! This is great news, but we still need to make progress to meet the November 22 deadline,” Shah said.
On Sept. 9, Biden issued an executive order saying all federal employees and contractors on federal sites would be required to receive the vaccine.
