On December 7, 2021, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of President Biden’s Executive Order 14042 and the accompanying guidance from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force as it relates to covered contracts, including the requirement that covered contractor employees be vaccinated. The injunction takes effect immediately and its scope is nationwide. The injunction prohibits the federal government’s enforcement of the federal vaccine mandate pending the outcome of the ongoing legal challenge to the federal mandate.
The injunction impacts the university community in a number of ways. As has been previously communicated, the federal vaccine mandate required the University of Georgia to identify covered contractor employees and notify them of the requirement under the federal mandate that they receive their final dose of vaccination by Jan. 4, 2022. The federal mandate also required that the University of Georgia identify all covered contractor workplaces and take steps to enforce mask-wearing and physical distancing requirements in those workplaces.
As a result of the injunction, these requirements are currently suspended until further notice.
- An employee who has received a notificationidentifying them as a covered contractor employee does not need to take any further action to comply with the federal vaccination mandate or the notification received.
- Employees who have notreceived a notification identifying them as a covered contractor employee do not need to take any action.
While the injunction remains in place, no further notifications of covered contractor employee status will be sent to campus employees. The mandate’s requirement to enforce mask-wearing and physical distancing in covered contractor workplaces is also suspended until further notice.
Please note that the litigation is ongoing, and the injunction could be lifted or overturned. If there is any change in the status of the injunction and the federal mandate, we will communicate this to campus.
We continue to strongly encourage all members of the University community to get vaccinated, and we encourage everyone—whether vaccinated or not—to wear a face covering while inside campus facilities.
