(WBEN) - The White House mandate requiring federal workers and employees of government contractors to be vaccinated by December 8 may not be a strict deadline.
During a weekly briefing, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients suggested that federal contractors employing workers who have not been vaccinated have flexibility in enforcing the mandate, and will not be required to immediately fire employees.
"Even once we hit those deadlines, we expect federal agencies and contractors will follow their standard HR processes and that, for any of the probably relatively small percent of employees that are not in compliance, they'll go through education, counseling, accommodations, and then enforcement," Zients said.
"So, these processes play out across weeks, not days. And so, to be clear, we're creating flexibility within the system. We're offering people multiple opportunities to get vaccinated. There is not a cliff here."
The statement was in response to a question on if further disruptions to the supply chain and exacerbate the labor shortage.
Locally, employees at Moog staged walkouts in protest of the federal vaccination mandate. Employees at Moog in Elma were told that in order to comply, workers must be vaccinated by the deadline or face termination.
