Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 16 and older.
Governor Brown recently announced that certain Oregon employees would be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or obtain a disability or religious accommodation by October 18, 2021, or six weeks after the FDA gave full approval to a COVID-19 vaccine. With the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine, the deadline for these employees is October 18, 2021. Testing is no longer an alternative to the requirement to be fully vaccinated.
The Governor’s vaccine mandate applies to:
- Healthcare workers and healthcare staff;
- Public and private K-12 teachers, educators, support staff, and volunteers; and
- Oregon executive branch employees.
Similarly, Multnomah County has that all of its employees will be required to be fully vaccinated by October 18, 2021, subject to medical, disability, and religious accommodations.
In related news, to ensure a uniform statewide approach regarding mask wearing, Multnomah County rescinded its mask mandate and is instead following the statewide .
OHA is expected to release updated rules implementing the Governor’s vaccine mandates. Links to those rules will be available on the of this E-Alert as they become available.