Slowing the spread of COVID-19 is in everyone’s best interest. And the government is working to make that a reality sooner rather than later.

President Biden recently updated the requirements for government contractors and their employees.

This guidance states that covered contractor employees must be fully vaccinated by January 18, 2022. 

A person is counted as fully-vaccinated two weeks after they’ve received the second dose of a two-dose vaccine, or two weeks after they’ve received a single-dose vaccine. That means that second doses or one-dose vaccines must be received by January 4, 2022.

But it’s not quite as simple as it sounds.

Some states (Arizona, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Kentucky) have launched lawsuits in federal court, stating that the administration is actually violating the U.S. Constitution by requiring mandatory vaccinations.

(While there may be some viable arguments, it’s worth noting that the cases aren’t expected to succeed, namely because it would entail the federal government making a ruling about its own contracts.)

The bottom line is this: As things currently stand, all federal executive branch workers must be vaccinated. This mandate is far-reaching and includes employees of contractors that do business with the federal government.

Let’s get into a little more detail.

Who’s considered a covered federal contractor?

All the employees in workplaces where people work on, or with a government contract or subcontract.

The executive order applies to:

• New contracts.
• New solicitations for contracts.
• Extensions or renewals of contracts.
• The exercise of an option on an existing contract, with certain qualifiers that you can find here.

The mandate doesn’t cover employees who work outside the U.S.

Next steps

Because the majority of the organizations in the federal supply chain will be under the vaccine mandate, it’s crucial to be prepared.

Here’s what needs to be considered:

• Determining each employee’s vaccination status.
• Making sure the deadline for full vaccination is met. (This needs to include paid time off and information about the facilities that are offering vaccinations.
• Make a decision about whether or not to allow a vaccination exemption because of a religious objection or a disability.
• Determining what disciplinary measures will be taken for the people who refuse to comply with vaccination, masking, or social distancing requirements.

How ThreatSwitch helps

But for those in the industrial security space, work can’t stop – but it was forced to change.

And that’s where ThreatSwitch comes in.

We were born in the cloud. That’s a great thing because COVID has made anything else both not secure and ineffective. 

You need programs that can run remotely for a distributed, trusted workforce because going into the office to work with consultants or to install software may not be feasible.

You have to address new security risks that make old, immature software risky.

ThreatSwitch is the only solution that works for everyone, everywhere.