COVID-19 Vaccinations Related to Federal Contracts

Executive Order 14042 and guidance issued by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force requires COVID-19 vaccination for employees of federal contractors. On Oct. 25, ECU implemented a measured approach to ensure compliance. In the first phase of ECU’s response, all employees paid from federal contracts or who directly support federal contracts were informed of the need to be vaccinated. At this time, 95% of faculty and staff directly paid from federal contracts or directly supporting federal contracts have attested to being fully vaccinated or have been granted an exemption based on a medical condition or sincerely held religious belief. 

In addition to employees paid from federal contracts, the federal mandate requires vaccination of employees who work in connection with federal contracts or who work in the same location as employees working on federal contracts. Accordingly, by Jan. 18, 2022, all employees working in departments that receive funding from federal contracts or who work in administrative offices that support federal contracts must provide written documentation of being fully vaccinated, begin the process of being vaccinated, or request an exemption based on a medical disability or sincerely held religious belief. Please note that attestation or natural immunity (positive test within last 90 days) are not sufficient proof for this federal mandate. Affected employees will be notified by ECU Human Resources and provided instructions on how to submit proof of vaccination.

The requirement for vaccination is expected to be expanded to other ECU employees in the near future; we highly encourage all vaccinated faculty and staff to proactively submit proof vaccination to covidvaccination@ecu.edu which is managed by ECU Human Resources. Information received via this email address is uploaded to the confidential medical portion of the employee’s personnel file and is treated in the same way as other confidential medical information (e.g., FMLA paperwork).

The process for submitting your proof of vaccination is as follows:

1. Take a picture of or scan a copy of your COVID-19 vaccination card/record and send to ECU Human Resources at covidvaccination@ecu.edu.
2. Once your photo or scanned copy is received, it will be uploaded to the confidential medical information section of your personnel file and be treated in the same way as other confidential medication information (e.g., FMLA paperwork).
3. Human Resources will then denote the employee’s vaccination status as “completed” and notify the employee their proof of vaccination has been approved.

Please note: If employees responded to the Employee Attestation survey that they were vaccinated and/or uploaded their vaccination card to myPIRATEchart, we still ask that they submit their proof of vaccination to covidvaccination@ecu.edu as this is the means of official documentation for vaccine mandates.

Key dates related to this requirement

Under federal guidance, individuals are considered “fully vaccinated” two weeks after completing either a second dose in a two-dose series or one dose of a single-dose vaccine. To be fully vaccinated by the Jan. 18, 2022, federal deadline, employees should complete their vaccination according to the following schedules:

• For Moderna, you should receive your first dose by Dec. 14 and your second dose by Jan. 4.
• For Pfizer, you should receive your first dose by Dec. 21 and your second dose by Jan. 4.
• For Johnson & Johnson, you should receive one dose by Jan. 4.

Booster shots are not included under the federal vaccine mandate.

The federal vaccine mandate does not apply broadly to all categories of student workers. Postdoctoral scholars and graduate students working in connection with a federal contract are likely subject to the mandate and should comply with the vaccination requirement.

Employees subject to the mandate may seek an exemption due to a medical disability or a sincerely held religious belief. The Return of Pirate Nation website has the employee religious exemption form and the employee medical exemption form that should be used to request exemptions.

Getting the Vaccine

Employees may get vaccinated at the ECU Family Practice Center Pharmacy or use the NC DHHS Find My Spot vaccine locator tool. University policy allows employees up to eight hours in one day paid work time for vaccinations, received on or off campus, occurring within regular work hours, with their supervisor’s permission. Employees are also entitled to paid leave for adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccinations on the day or the day after the vaccine is received.

We encourage you to take action now, not only for your health and that of your community, but also to continue the important work of our institution.