COVID-19 Update Issued Oct. 29, Including Federal Contract Guidance

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 29, 2021) — University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto issued an update to the campus community about the university's response to COVID-19 as well as how that impacts federal contracts on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 29. You can read that message below. 

Campus community,

Thanks to the commitment and compassion of this community, we continue to make progress in making it as easy as possible to be safe on the UK campus.

As of last night, 89.2% of our campus was either partially or fully vaccinated.

On top of making that number possible, you are continuing to engage in the behaviors that keep yourself and those around you safe: you’re wearing masks inside, you’re washing your hands and you’re encouraging those around you to take the most simple but important step in combatting this pandemic: getting vaccinated.

Thank you.

Thank you for everything you are doing.

We will continue to keep you updated as our community’s vaccine numbers continue to rise. You can go to our dashboard for a breakdown of the numbers.

And we will continue encouraging those eligible for boosters to schedule their appointment here.

Additionally, as part of our efforts, vaccinated students have one final opportunity to win a prize through our student vaccine incentive program, with the last drawing taking place on Nov. 12. Vaccinated faculty and staff also can enter our employee vaccine incentive program to win a variety of prizes.

Biden Vaccine Mandate Regarding Federal Contracts

Additionally, I’d like to share with you another important update with respect to vaccination and federal regulations that apply to us.

The Biden administration has provided guidance that directs universities, which are federal contractors, to mandate that certain employees either be vaccinated for COVID-19 or obtain a medical or religious exemption.

Already, through your tremendous efforts, more than 93% of our employees are partially or fully vaccinated. We have a small percentage who are unvaccinated, but who we think — after careful legal review — are required to get vaccinated under this directive from the federal government.

We are in the process now of determining the exact cohort of our employees who are required to be vaccinated under the federal government’s directive and reaching out directly to them.

In short, they will be required to vaccinate or seek an exemption. Those who are granted an exemption for medical or religious reasons will be required to continue testing on a weekly basis in accordance with the university’s health and safety policies. As always, our goal is to make it as easy as possible to be safe and keep everyone on our campus protected.

If you do not receive direct contact about this process, then it does not apply to you. If you have questions, though, as always, you can email us at coronavirus@uky.edu for more information.

Thank you for your continued commitment to the health and safety of this community.

Eli Capilouto

President