This message is being sent to all UGA employees, including those who have been notified as covered contractor employees subject to the vaccination requirement and those who have not yet been identified.

Earlier today, November 4, 2021, the White House announced that the December 8, 2021 deadline for all covered contractor employees to be fully vaccinated unless otherwise exempted has been extended. As a result of this action, the deadline for covered contractor employees to receive their final vaccination dose – either their second dose of a two-dose vaccine (e.g.: Pfizer or Moderna), or single dose of a single-dose vaccine (e.g.: Johnson & Johnson) – is now set as January 4, 2022.

This is a change to previous communications to campus that indicated the deadline would be December 8, 2021. The new deadline of January 4, 2022 takes effect immediately.

This extension will provide covered contractor employees on our campuses with additional time to make the right decision for themselves in consultation with their physician about which vaccine to receive. Some covered contractor employees have been notified, and we are still in the process of identifying and notifying others.

While the deadline for covered contractor employees to receive their final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has been changed, all other aspects of the federal mandate remain the same, including the definition of covered contractor employee and the requirement that covered contractor employees must be fully vaccinated in accordance with the new deadline unless otherwise exempted. Information on requests for medical and religious accommodations from the vaccination requirement is available at this link.

We understand that this is a significant shift in what has been a very tight timeline for compliance under the federal guidance. Thank you for your attention as the federal government’s guidelines for this mandate continue to evolve.

For full information about the federal mandate, including frequently asked questions, please see coronavirus.uga.edu/executive-order. Please continue to monitor your emails for additional information, including notifications to additional employees identified as covered contractor employees who are subject to the vaccination requirement.