University employees covered by federal directives are required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 8 following President Biden’s executive order 14042. Anyone who is affected by this requirement will receive information in their email regarding next steps.
The majority of the University’s faculty and staff are already vaccinated. As of Oct. 29, 96% of faculty and 80% of staff are vaccinated. The University began notifying unvaccinated employees of the new directives Oct. 25, and it is likely that more employees will need to become vaccinated as the University continues to evaluate the vaccine guidance.
Employees can receive the Moderna, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or the single dose of Johnson & Johnson must be administered by Nov. 24.
According to Amy Orders, the director of emergency management at NC State, students will be affected by this requirement if they work closely with, have direct relationships with or work in a space with employees who are required to be vaccinated under the new order.
“As there is better application of the federal expectation, we will talk to the different parties that are impacted,” Orders said. “For example, if a student works in a direct research space or a lab, then they will get information sent in an email [regarding vaccines].”
According to Orders, NC State is using a phase system to figure out who is affected by the new vaccine requirement. The first phase will apply to those directly paid from federal funds or connected to federal contracts.
“In this phase, we find out who is directly paid from different federally impacted programs,” Orders said. “That included some students, because if a student has an internship, fellowship or a graduate assistantship and is paid, then that student is under that obligation to be vaccinated.”
The second phase required the University to talk to investigators to find out who was in close contact with employees who are federally funded.
“The next phase impacts a bigger group because they are in a building space, such as a building with federal funding,” Orders said. “This could include faculty, students or even service employees, and some may not be directly paid to be on a federal project, but they had to be in that space.”
The third phase included people who had direct impacts on their jobs based on federal funding. This included facilities, desk support in colleges, police and lab safety employees and the research administration team. If students have a paid job relating to these fields, they could be affected by the vaccine requirement.
There are University-approved medical and religious accommodations that exempt some employees from receiving the vaccine. These accommodations can be found here.
Regardless of University employment status, NC State is encouraging all students, faculty and staff to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations. To receive a COVID-19 vaccine, appointments can be made online through the University’s PackVax clinic.
