University of Mississippi ditches employee vaccine mandate on the day it was to go into effect

by Will Stribling, Mississippi Today
December 8, 2021

Chancellor Glenn Boyce announced on Wednesday that the University of Mississippi is abandoning its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees on the very same day employees were required to be fully vaccinated.

The decision comes after a federal judge in Georgia issued an injunction against President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal contract workers.

Judge R. Stan Baker temporarily blocked implementation of the federal mandate on Tuesday in response to a lawsuit from multiple states, including Mississippi, that argued that letting the mandate take effect on Jan. 4 would cause “irreparable injury” to workers who could be fired for failing to comply. In his announcement, Boyce did not rule out reinstating the mandate for employees if the injunction is overturned. 

“We will continue to monitor any additional developments in the law, including any appeal of the Georgia decision and other court cases related to the vaccination mandate,” Boyce said in an email announcing the reversal. “As courts make their rulings, this situation could change. If the mandate is reinstated by a court, we will adjust our efforts accordingly.”

The university’s vaccine mandate for those in institutional clinical settings, such as the University of Mississippi Medical Center, was approved separately and will remain in effect.

The Institutions of Higher Learning’s Board of Trustees voted on Oct. 25 to require university employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8. The board made the decision just weeks after it voted to ban public universities from requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for students, faculty and staff. It was the first higher education governing board in the country to do so.

READ MORE: In a reversal, IHL requires employees be vaccinated by Dec. 8 to comply with federal order

Mississippi’s public universities have about 120 federal contracts totaling $271 million in funding, so the federal mandate applied to its employees. However, the IHL requirement included language that allowed COVID-19 vaccine requirements to be reversed if Biden’s executive order was stayed, delayed or revoked.

Though university employees will now be able to refuse vaccination if they wish to do so, Boyce encouraged them to take the shot anyway.

“While this action stays the mandate, the benefits of getting vaccinated are clear,” Boyce said. “As we approach the year-end holiday season when we will gather with family and friends, I urge everyone to make it a priority to protect yourself and your loved ones by getting vaccinated.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.