University of Idaho Evaluates Federal Vaccination Mandate | Local

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The University of Idaho administrators are still examining whether the Biden government’s vaccine mandate affects their employees.

The implementing regulation, which stipulates that all employees of federal contractors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or subjected to weekly tests, will come into force in January. According to Torrey Lawrence, provost and executive vice president at UI, the institution is trying to handle the situation carefully.

“We’re on hold because we’re taking some action,” said Lawrence. “We continue to have discussions with the state – that is, the governor’s office, the attorney general, the state board of education and other government agencies – trying to work out exactly what this mandate means and to whom it applies.”

Last week the State Board of Education joined a federal lawsuit to block Biden’s executive order.

Lawrence told staff at a faculty senate meeting Tuesday night that the board had not directed UI to implement the mandate. It is not yet clear how many employees or students are covered by the assignment.

“We frankly marginalized a number of projects with that vaccine mandate, and it was hands on deck trying to sort them out,” said Lawrence. “We will continue to work on it and will certainly update the entire campus with developments.”

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