With growing federal alarm over the surging numbers of new COVID-19 cases, especially among the unvaccinated, the Department of Energy on Friday confirmed it is imploring government contractors to find ways to get workers to take their shots.
The agency acknowledged the effort, spearheaded by Tarak Shah, chief of staff to Secretary Jennifer Granholm, after multiple industry sources told RadWaste Monitor Thursday that DOE was reaching out to managers of its federal nuclear site contractors to press for more workers to be vaccinated.
“The safety of DOE’s workforce is our first priority,” a DOE spokesperson wrote in a Friday email. “As such, DOE has been in contact with our contractors about the importance and need for every member of our workforce to get vaccinated, and we support any proactive steps our contractors can take to better protect workers and communities.”
Industry sources said DOE is expressing support for vaccinations and even mandates at contractors. “Those calls have started,” one industry source said by phone this week. “I don’t know that they have reached everyone yet.”
More than 18 months after the coronavirus pandemic started to spread in the United States, DOE has yet to order federal employees or contractors to take one of the vaccines approved for emergency use in the United States.
But President Joe Biden adopted a more combative stance two weeks ago, saying federal workers and contractors who fail to attest that they have been vaccinated will have to stay masked on the job, be tested regularly and forgo any federal work travel.
