Federal Agencies Directed to Erase COVID-19 Vaccination Records
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has announced new guidance instructing all federal agencies to delete records related to employees’ COVID-19 vaccination statuses, alongside any records of prior violations of the mandate or requests for exemptions.
This guidance was shared in memos on Friday across all federal departments and executive directors.
OPM outlined that this initiative is a response to recent legal challenges and forms part of the previous administration’s efforts to undo “harmful pandemic-era policies” implemented under former President Biden.
“The situation became quite overbearing during the pandemic, with federal workers facing termination, punishment, or being sidelined for making personal medical choices,” stated OPM Director Scott Kpole. “This shouldn’t have happened. I appreciate President Trump’s leadership in ensuring the excesses of that time do not negatively affect federal employees long-term.”
Back in September 2021, Biden signed Executive Order 14043, which mandated federal agencies to require COVID-19 vaccinations for federal employment.
Since then, numerous lawsuits filed by federal employees, unions, and states argued that this mandate infringed on constitutional rights and federal labor laws.
A federal appeals court blocked the enforcement of this order in 2022. Ultimately, Biden rescinded the mandate in May 2023, directing the HR director to issue a memo advising institutions to consider job-related information instead and reminding agencies they could no longer enforce the previous order.
In this latest memo, Kupor highlighted that institutions are now barred from using an individual’s vaccination history or exemption requests in decisions regarding employment, promotions, disciplinary actions, or terminations.
All vaccine-related records must be permanently deleted from both physical HR files and electronic personnel systems unless the employee expressly opts out within 90 days.
Agencies are required to demonstrate compliance with this directive by September 8th.
