Good afternoon,

Employee health, wellness and safety are top priorities and essential to making USDA a great place to work for everyone.

This is a reminder that all USDA employees (excluding contractors) are required to receive their final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and submit proof of vaccination through the proof of vaccination survey by Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. 

This is a critical step to making sure all USDA employees are fully vaccinated (meaning at least two weeks past the final dose) by no later than Nov. 22, 2021, which is required by Executive Order 14043, Executive Order on Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees.  

Employees who have not submitted proof that they have been fully vaccinated by Nov. 9, 2021, AND who do not have a pending request for a legally entitled accommodation, including medical and religious, will have appropriate disciplinary action initiated against them, up to and including removal from Federal service. 

If you have or will submit a request for a reasonable or religious accommodation, you are required to indicate that in the proof of vaccination survey by Nov. 9, 2021. Here is a link to the Reasonable Accommodation Coordinators. Here is a link to the Religious Accommodation Coordinators.

If you still need to be vaccinated, visit www.vaccines.gov, text your ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find a location for a COVID-19 vaccine administration site near you.

COVID vaccines are widely available and free of charge to all people living in the United States.  If you are in the National Capital Region, vaccines are available in the South Building (Room 1411) from Monday to Friday, 6 a.m.-5 p.m. Please call 202-720-9522 to make an appointment. 

For more information on these topics, please visit our FAQs or USDA’s COVID Workplace Safety Plan—both of which are updated frequently. Please send any concerns or questions to your pandemic coordinator or to futureofwork@usda.gov.

If you are a bargaining unit employee and have questions regarding the content of this message and its potential impact on a current labor agreement, please contact your local union representative.  

Supervisors should ensure this notice is immediately made available to employees without access to email.

Thank you for your help in ensuring the health and safety of the federal workforce and protecting individuals interacting with the Federal workforce. We appreciate your service and all you do for USDA.

Sincerely, 

Tom Vilsack                      Dr. Jewel Bronaugh
Secretary                          Deputy Secretary