Last week, Virginia Governor Ralf Northam announced an Executive Directive requiring all state workers to either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by September 1, 2021, or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. As an entity of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the order extends to Southwest Virginia Community College faculty, staff, part-time employees, and contractors who enter the workplace or have public-facing duties. Employees who are not fully vaccinated by this date or refuse disclosure of vaccination status will be required to provide evidence of weekly negative COVID test results. The order includes an exemption for medical and religious reasons; those employees, if approved, must provide evidence of weekly negative COVID test results.
The full text of the Executive Directive 18 (2021) can be found at: https://www.governor.virginia.gov/media/governorvirginiagov/executive-actions/ED-18-Ensuring-a-Safe-Work-Place.pdf
Southwest Virginia Community College intends to follow Executive Directive 18 as we have all previous executive actions and existing laws. Additional guidance is forthcoming from the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) and the system office of Virginia’s Community Colleges (VCCS) regarding details about how certain parts of the law will be implemented.