The Department of Energy is implementing an electronic system for employees and contractors to either verify they are vaccinated against COVID-19, or refuse to reveal their status, according to a Monday letter to workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
“On Friday, DOE launched an electronic vaccination attestation form to obtain information from federal employees about their vaccination status,” site manager Brian Vance said in the memo, a copy of which was viewed by Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. There is an option not to disclose vaccination status, he added, but it will result in someone being counted as unvaccinated and subject to regular testing.
Likewise, on Tuesday, Sept. 7, contractors at the former plutonium production complex will launch an updated Hanford Attestation Application, which the memo indicates can be completed via smartphone app. The contractor employee’s manager will be electronically notified and “will be required to visually verify proof of the employee’s COVID-19 vaccination,” according to the Vance memo.
Also, visitors to DOE will be required to fill out a disclosure form on vaccination status.
Those unvaccinated federal employees and contractors will be required to undergo mandatory testing for the coronavirus that will be conducted at least weekly under a program being put together by DOE and the contractor executives, Vance said. The testing regime is expected to be operating in October, said Vance.
Unvaccinated employees who telecommute full time are not required to be tested unless they must report to an on-site location.
“Employees who are required to be tested, and fail to do so, will have their access to the site restricted,” Vance said in the memo.
“Please help us keep one another safe by considering a vaccine if you haven’t already received it, staying home when you’re not feeling well, and always practicing situational awareness,” Vance said.
The DOE and other federal agencies, as well as many large companies, are taking an increasingly aggressive stance to push reluctant employees to get vaccinated against the virus that has claimed more than 630,000 American lives in less than two years. Sixteen workers at Hanford informed their managers Monday they have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a website run by a Leidos-led contractor.
