Madison Kwiecinski 

News Editor 

Mvk5945@psu.edu 

Penn State has announced that, in compliance with President Joe Biden’s September 9th executive order, which requires COVID-19 vaccination for all federally contracted employees and federal employees, Penn State faculty and staff at seven Penn State campuses must submit their proof of vaccination by December 9th, 2021. University Park receives over $500 million in federal funding for over 1,000 different research projects in areas ranging from the Applied Research Laboratory,  different research institutes, several colleges, and various administrative units. 

This policy applies to faculty and staff located at the Altoona, Behrend, Brandywine, DuBois, Fayette, Harrisburg and University Park campuses. The order also applies to graduate and undergraduate students who are supported by wage payroll, as well as those students that are supported on graduate assistantships.

“After a review of the University’s federal contracts, we found that these campuses are home to government projects that make them subject to President Biden’s executive order requiring COVID-19 vaccines for federal contractors,” said Kelly Austin, Interim Senior Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses and Executive Chancellor. “While the mandate only applies to six Commonwealth Campuses at this time, we continue to strongly encourage our faculty and staff — and students — at every campus to get vaccinated to protect themselves and our campus communities.”

An Individual is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two weeks after the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. In order to meet the December 8th vaccination deadline individuals must receive their vaccination by the following dates: 

• Moderna: first dose by Oct. 27; second dose by Nov. 24
• Pfizer-BioNTech: first dose by Nov. 3; second dose by Nov. 24
• Johnson & Johnson: single dose by Nov. 24

This applies to all Penn State employees at the above listed campuses, unless an individual applies for religious or medical exemption. Penn State has announced that information on exemptions will be available at a future date. Additionally, if an individual is employed by the university but is currently working remotely, the vaccine requirement still applies to them.

If you are employed by the university but have already shared your vaccination status with the school, no further action is necessary. Faculty, Staff, and world campus students should review their vaccination statue and/or update it at https://psu-healthcloud.force.com/. 

Students who are employed by the University and are required to get vaccinated should review and update their vaccination status at http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/submit-immunizations. 

While Penn State is currently only requiring employee vaccination at a set number of campuses, the school is not impartial whenever it comes to the vaccine, and makes it clear that Penn State supports all students, faculty, and staff getting vaccinated as soon as possible. It is possible this policy could extend to other campuses, and that vaccination requirement could expand to more commonwealth campuses. 

“While the great majority of federal contracts impact the University Park campus, we are closely reviewing the Biden administration’s mandate and how it may apply to employees at other campuses and locations, as other parts of the University also receive government support,” said Penn State President Barron. “So we are strongly urging all of our employees across the commonwealth to start the vaccination process now, if they have not already done so.”

All three of the available COVID-19 vaccines are readily accessible at hospitals, urgent care centers, doctor’s offices or pharmacies. Providers can be located easily by visiting https://www.vaccines.gov/