UNH Issues Vaccine Mandate For Employees: PM Patch NH

Concord NH

22 October, 2021

5:01 PM

Description

CONCORD, NH — Due to the number of federal government contracts connected to the school, New Hampshire's largest university is implementing a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for employees. All employees will need to be vaccinated by Dec. 8, according to James Dean Jr., the president of the university, who made the announcement on Friday. The requirement includes "all employees, including all student employees, who work on the Durham campus," he said. No decisions have been made as to whether the Manchester campus or UNH School of Law in Concord employees will also be required to get vaccinations. Dean said officials were "closely assessing compliance" — with more information to come soon. "This is because anyone who works on federal contracts, supports federal contracts, or comes into contact with those who do, are part of this requirement," he said of the mandate. "After a detailed review of interactions on the Durham campus, we cannot find a way to exclude any group of employees." Employees will be required to upload documentation to a school server showing they have been vaccinated. There is also a religious or health objection form employees can fill out. Dean added, "the overwhelming majority of our university community has already told us that they are vaccinated, so this new requirement affects a relatively small number of employees and student employees." Gov. Chris Sununu has been both an active cheerleader for vaccines and a critic of the federal government's mandates for vaccinations while saying private employers can make their own decisions and also signed a medical freedom bill into law earlier this year. "Within the coming days, we anticipate suing the Biden Administration regarding their overreaching OSHA mandates," he told Patch. "Today's decision ultimately lies with the university system. But it is another example of the Biden Administration's overreach. Going down this path will have lasting ramifications on workforce staffing levels and USNH needs to be ready to manage through it." Frank Edelblut, the commissioner for the New Hampshire Department of Education, while commending the school for its efforts fighting the coronavirus pandemic, said he was disappointed with the decision. "The University System of New Hampshire has, throughout the course of the pandemic, implemented its own safety plans to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through surveillance testing, masking, and other measures," he said. "These efforts have been incredibly effective in keeping the campus community safe, without the implementation of a vaccine mandate. I am deeply disappointed that the University of New Hampshire was put in a very difficult and untenable situation with unwarranted pressure from its federal partners." Edelblut said "the pressured overreach" for the vaccine mandate "was unnecessary and unproductive in our efforts to keep our communities safe." Institutions of higher learning, he added, should not be imposing vaccine mandates, "but instead should be focusing their efforts on supporting students and staff, improving academic achievements and also allowing employees to decide what works best for their families." Drug Take Back Saturday Saturday is another Drug Take Back event with locations across New Hampshire sponsored by local police departments and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. For locations around NH, click on this take back locator link. Unemployment Update: NH Is 5th WalletHub.com, a financial website which studies all kinds of economic data, said New Hampshire has the fifth-best unemployment rate recovery since the pandemic. The company used a slew of metrics to come up with the report including the state's 2.9 percent unemployment rate, the third-lowest in the nation, with tens of thousands of people returning to work or finding new jobs since March 2020. Here is everything else going on in New Hampshire right now. Police In Abington, MA Searching For Missing Merrimack 5-Year-Old MERRIMACK, NH - Several Law Enforcement agencies have worked for more than a week on an investigation surrounding missing 5-year-old Elijah Lewis. Thursday divers and underwater recovery teams... Read more Massachusetts Man Indicted On Lewdness Charge: Court Roundup NASHUA, NH — The following people were indicted in Hillsborough County Superior Court South recently. Stevan Lonie, 20, of London Court in Merrimack was indicted on second-degree assault and... Read more Canterbury Man Indicted On Numerous Drug Dealing Charges: Court CONCORD, NH — The following people were indicted recently in Merrimack County Superior Court. Stephanie L. MacDonald, 40, of Union Street in Somersworth on robbery, a felony, and theft by unauthorized... Read more See What $10 Million Can Get You On Lake Winnipesaukee: NH Wow CONCORD, NH — View this listing in the Lakes Region. Wow! Address: 296... Read more Neil Claffey, Nashua Board Of Education Candidate Neil Claffey Age (as of Election Day) 58 Position Sought Nashua Board of Education Party Affiliation Democrat... Read more Benton 'Chick' Smith, District A Charter Commission Candidate My name is Chick Smith and I'm a candidate for the Concord School District Charter Commission. I have been a resident of Concord since 1973 and my wife Pam and I have been taxpayers for 42... Read more New Hampshire Teacher Of The Year; Shooting; More: PM Patch NH CONCORD, NH — A language arts teacher from South Hampton is New Hampshire's 2022 Teacher of the Year. Sara Casassa, who teaches at the Barnard School on the Seacoast, was named teacher... 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Portsmouth DigestMerrimack Weather Forecast For The Weekend AheadTown Of Hampton: Collection Vehicle Breakdowns - RECYCLING DELAYED🌱 Fall Craft & Artisan Show; Business Info; More: Windham DigestCity Of Portsmouth: Portsmouth NH 400th Holds First Task Force Meeting, Opens Fund-Raising PortalIs 5G The Answer To America's Broken Transit Problem? Have a great weekend! Editor's note: I was director of communications for the New Hampshire Department of Education between April 13, 2018, and April 16, 2019. Got a news tip? Send it to [email protected]. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel.