UMS Community -
I've written directly to you many times during the pandemic. In all of these communications, I've been very clear that the most important principles we'll follow as long as the pandemic is with us are that UMS's COVID response and policies will be based on science and fact, that we will adjust them whenever necessary to keep our university communities safe as the pandemic itself evolves, and that we will follow all applicable mandates issued by public health authorities.
Today this last principle is at issue, and let me get right to it: Based on our legal review, all full-time and part-time UMS employees, including student employees and employees who work remotely, must comply with the President's Executive Order 14042: Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors. In sum, that Executive Order requires that employees of a federal contractor must be either fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or seek a legally recognized exemption from vaccination for medical reasons or a sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance. UMS (including all of our universities and Maine Law) is a federal contractor, and the deadline for full compliance is December 8, 2021.
Fortunately, most UMS employees already comply with the requirements of the Executive Order. If you've already registered proof of your COVID-19 vaccine or confirmed a medical or religious exemption through the UMS online COVID-19 vaccine portal, you're already in compliance with the Executive Order's vaccine or exemption requirements.
Even if you have not yet registered your vaccine card or exemption request with the UMS portal, it's easy to do so. And there's still time. You can learn more and submit your vaccine card or an exemption request online here. If you're not yet vaccinated, please make plans to do so as soon as possible. It’s easy to get a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. Check here for vaccination locations in Maine or in Maine and beyond at www.vaccines.gov, and watch for more information from your university about vaccination opportunities on campus and locally. To allow time for your full compliance, I urge those employees who opt for the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be vaccinated by November 24. For those who opt for the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, I urge you to receive your first dose by November 3. The first dose of the Moderna vaccine must have been received by October 27.
I think it’s important to make clear the consequences of not complying with this federal mandate – we would put at risk the federal grants and contracts that support mission-critical university education, research and public service and related employment in our university communities.
We've done remarkably well managing COVID in our university communities this fall -- so well that our success has drawn national attention. We can and should take pride in this, but we also can't let our guard down. There's no doubt our success in limiting the spread of COVID-19 is due in large part to the facts that we keep our faces covered, 85 percent of our employees and 95 percent of our Fall 2021 students are fully vaccinated, and we're regularly testing everyone who isn't vaccinated.
More than 88 percent of our employees, including both full- and part-time, already meet the federal requirements to prove either vaccination or a medical or religious exemption. We will work through Human Resources and our labor partners to support every employee’s work to come into full compliance over the next month. It's now a federal legal mandate that we do so, and we will meet this responsibility together to keep our university communities as safe as possible.
Regards,
