Federal employees that have not received their COVID-19 vaccines and intend to get the Moderna version must get their first shot by the end of the day Oct. 11 in order to comply with President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate.
Federal agencies were told by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force and the Office of Personnel Management that all employees who do not qualify for an exemption or delay of their COVID-19 vaccine must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22.
Full vaccination occurs two weeks after a person receives their final dose, meaning that all employees will have to get that dose by Nov. 8.
Moderna is a two-shot vaccine course, and recipients get their second dose four weeks after receiving the first.
If feds are planning to get their second dose of Moderna by Nov. 8, they must get their first dose by Oct. 11 to make the deadline.
For feds that have received the first dose of Moderna but have neglected to get the second, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that a second dose may be scheduled up to six weeks after the initial shot and retain efficacy, though “if the second dose is administered after these intervals, there is no need to restart the series.”
Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.
