No firings apparently occurred under the mandate, although some employees reported receiving letters of warning before the court’s decision against it. Image: Image Point Fr/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Biden administration has said it will end on May 11 its Coronavirus vaccine mandate for federal employees, a directive that has remained on the books but not in effect since a federal judge issued an injunction against it just as agencies were preparing to enforce it.
The action comes as the national health emergency related to the pandemic is set to end on that date; the general national pandemic emergency already has been lifted. As part of that same announcement, the White House ended vaccination requirements for federal contractors, for international air travelers and under several health-related programs.
“We are in a different phase of our response to COVID-19 than we were when many of these requirements were put into place,” the announcement said.
Under an executive order issued in September 2021, federal employees were to be subject to discipline up to and including firing if they were unvaccinated and had not received, or at least applied for, an exception on religious or medical grounds. However, enforcement was put off by several months to give employees time either get vaccinated or seek an exception.
No firings apparently occurred under the mandate, although some employees reported receiving letters of warning before the court’s decision against it. The injunction remained in effect through a number of legal appeals afterward.
The statement said that the mandate “helped ensure the safety of workers in critical workforces including those in the healthcare and education sectors, protecting themselves and the populations they serve, and strengthening their ability to provide services without disruptions to operations.”
It cited statistics from late 2021 showing that as of that point 98 percent of federal and military personnel—who at the time fell under a similar mandate, since repealed by law—were in compliance, defined as either having received at least one vaccine shot or having received or applied for an exception.
Along with the expiration of the emergency declarations, several recent federal workplace policy decisions had raised speculation in the federal community that the mandate would end.
First, OMB ordered a review of the impact on productivity of telework and other workplace practices with an eye toward having more employees onsite and more often. Soon after, the OPM ordered the end, effective May 15, of “maximum telework” status, saying that “COVID-19 is not driving decisions regarding how federal agencies work and serve the public.” Most recently, the OPM issued guidance on the status of FEHB policies instituted due to the pandemic (see related story) ahead of the end of the health emergency designation.
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