On September 9, 2021 President Joe Biden issued an executive order that required federal employees to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19. In accordance with this executive order, the Social Security Administration sent an email to all employees on September 27, 2021 with specific deadlines on the vaccination process. Below is a portion of the executive order Biden issued September 9, 2021.
Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Each agency shall implement, to the extent consistent with applicable law, a program to require COVID-19 vaccination for all of its Federal employees, with exceptions only as required by law. The Task Force shall issue guidance within 7 days of the date of this order on agency implementation of this requirement for all agencies covered by this order.
The email sent to employees provided deadline specifics on when the first shots of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine needs to be obtained in order for employees to be fully vaccinated by November 22, 2021. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is just one shot so the timeline for people getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a bit different. In addition to the requirement to be fully vaccinated by November 22, 2021, Social Security is also requiring employees to provide documented proof of vaccination. The agency is providing accommodation for employees who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons and or religious reasons, but proper documentation is needed to obtain these accommodations.
Below is a portion of the email Social Security sent to employees informing them of their responsibilities related to getting vaccinated.
In accordance with the President’s Executive Order on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees, all employees must be fully vaccinated (i.e., receive a single dose vaccine or the second shot of a two-dose vaccine, excluding booster shots) by November 22. Employees must therefore have received their final vaccine dose by November 8. Two of the three vaccines being administered in the US have two-dose regimens. Therefore, employees will need to start vaccination by the following dates in order to be fully vaccinated by the November 22 deadline:
All employees will be required to provide documented proof of vaccination (e.g., a copy of the record of immunization from a health care provider or pharmacy, COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card, medical records documenting the vaccination, immunization records from a public health or state immunization information system, etc.). Employees should take steps now to schedule a vaccination if they have not already done so or preserve their proof of vaccination if already vaccinated. Please do not email your vaccine documentation to your supervisor. Additional instructions will follow concerning collection of your documentation. Employees will receive duty time of up to 4 hours per vaccination shot (up to 8 hours total for two-shot vaccines) rather than administrative leave to complete the vaccination process; other policies concerning administrative leave for vaccination reactions and to take family members for vaccination will continue unchanged.
Employees who fail to comply with the vaccination requirement by the deadline or apply for and receive an accommodation will be subject to discipline up to and including termination.
