UConn and UConn Health to require COVID-19 vaccines for employees. Additional state workers could fall under vaccine mandates as early as Thursday

Both UConn and UConn Health will require all employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19 — with the possibility additional state employees will fall under vaccine mandates as early as Thursday.

The agreement between the university and its unions, announced Wednesday, will cover about 5,100 people who work for UConn across its five campuses and about 4,700 employed by UConn Health. Employees must show evidence of vaccination by Oct. 15.

“At the University of Connecticut and UConn Health our primary goal during this pandemic is to keep all employees, students, and patients safe,” interim President Andrew Agwunobi told employees in an email Wednesday. “This is particularly important given the rise of the Delta variant and the upcoming start of in-person classes.”

The announcement comes amid growing pressure on Gov. Ned Lamont to require state employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread. Beyond UConn, there is no requirement for other state employees to be vaccinated.

Five of Connecticut’s eight counties are now considered at “high” risk of transmission, with hospitalizations continuing to rise and the positivity test rate climbing above 4% this week. The resurgence of COVID has been a key factor in driving an increasing number of hospitals, private colleges and some businesses to mandate vaccinations for workers.

Gov. Lamont said Wednesday that his administration is speaking with representatives of state employee unions on whether to follow the lead of UConn employees.

“I can tell you we’re in good, constructive conversations with our labor representatives, and we will see what we can do together to keep their members safe,” Lamont told reporters Wednesday in Hartford.

The talks with the unions are ongoing and Lamont said he could not provide specific details.

“It’s not soup yet,” Lamont said. “Give us a few days. Let me see how close we get, but we’re going to work it out.”

UConn announced in early June that students would have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for the fall 2021 semester, unless the university granted them a medical or nonmedical exemption. As of late July, the university had approved more than 500 student nonmedical exemptions and 55 medical exemptions. UConn said in early August no student exemption requests had been denied.

Exemptions possible

UConn’s policy will allow for medical and religious exemptions, but eligible employees will be required to be tested weekly.

Agwunobi said the new policy is a result of negotiations with employee unions “to achieve this important policy initiative.”

The full and part-time faculty union, UConn-AAUP, said in a notice to its members — as well as those of the University of Connecticut Professional Employees Association — that they finalized their agreement Friday. An agreement was also reached by the UConn Health AAUP chapter and the University Health Professionals, or UHP, Local 3837.

Michael Bailey, executive director of UConn-AAUP said the union surveyed its 2,400 members several weeks ago regarding support for the coronavirus vaccine requirement. Of the more than half that responded, 94% supported the policy, he said.

“We’re required as a union to make sure that our members are in a safe environment … and we worked toward that,” he said.

Bill Garrity, president of UHP Local 3837 — the group represents more than half the staff of UConn Health — said there were some “tense moments in negotiations on this,” although the unions succeeded in securing the medical and religious exemptions within the policy, as well as deferral options for certain individuals.

With more than 2,800 individuals, Garrity said the union members range from being “very much anti-vax” to fully supporting the COVID-19 shot, with most falling “somewhere in the middle.”

Speaking about the university administration and the unions, he said: “I think we both believed how important it was to get something in place. The hard part was finding where we could, I want to say, ‘try to make everyone happy,’ when I know that’s impossible.”

According to the university policy, the vaccine requirement applies to all UConn “workforce members,” including employees, volunteers, and any contracted individuals, unless they receive a medical or religious exemption. Employees must receive their first dose by Sept. 10 and their second dose by Oct. 15.

The deadline to apply for an exemption is Sept. 1. Should an employee be denied an exemption, they must be vaccinated within 10 days of the denial notice.

The agreements signed by unions say employees may apply for deferrals if they are pregnant or breast-feeding, or if they are undergoing active, immunocompromising medical treatment. Individuals out on family and medical leave may also request a deferral, as well as employees who tested positive for COVID-19 within 30 days before submitting the deferral request or within 90 days if they were treated with a monoclonal antibody infusion.

Any employees granted a deferral must be fully vaccinated within eight weeks of its end. During that time, they will be regularly tested for COVID-19.

Amanda Blanco can be reached at ablanco@courant.com.