ODESSA, Texas — All Odessa College employees are required to be fully vaccinated no later than February 9.
In order to be considered fully vaccinated, employees will have to either get one dose of a single dose vaccine no later than January 26 or obtain the first dose of a two-dose vaccine no later than January 9 and the second dose no later than January 26.
After getting the final dose no later than January 26, employees will be considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
The employees are required to set up their own appointments, but Human Resources will be their to assist in tracking leave time.
Employees must submit a vaccination status document to Odessa College no later than January 10. Employees will have to let the college know whether they are full vaccinated, partially vaccinated or unvaccinated.
Odessa College considers acceptable proof of vaccination status by either showing a record of immunization from a healthcare provider or pharmacy, a copy of the COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card, a copy of medical records documenting the vaccination, a copy of immunization records from a public health, state, or tribal immunization information system, or a copy of any other documentation that contains the type of vaccine administered, date of administration, and the name of the healthcare professional or clinic site.
Employees who are not fully vaccinated will have to get tested at least once every seven days and must provide documentation of the most recent COVID-19 test results to Human Resources no later than the seventh day following the date on which the employee last provided a test result.
If an employee is not a work for a time period of seven days, then they must be tested for COVID-19 within seven days prior to returning to work and also show documentation of that test result to Human Resources.
For any questions about the COVID-19 policy, people can contact the Human Resources Office at 432-335-6606.
NewsWest 9 reached out to Odessa College for comment concerning the requirement:
Odessa College recently communicated with employees the new Department of Labor OSHA Standard, which requires all employers of 100 or more employees to implement vaccination, testing and face covering standards. All the requirements of this new Department of Labor standard, except the testing, will be enforced by OSHA as of Jan. 10, 2022. This is not a local, institutional vaccination mandate. It is a federal requirement. Should the United States Supreme Court overturn OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard on Vaccination and Testing (29 CFR 1910.501), the college will follow the law, make appropriate adjustments to the local administrative policy/procedure, and communicate with employees accordingly.
It is important to recognize that Odessa College must comply with this new federal regulatory standard to the same degree with which the college currently complies with other federal regulations. Compliance with this new standard is no different, nor any less compulsory, than compliance with similar regulatory standards regarding fair employment practices, hour & wage policies, family and medical leave provisions, non-discrimination policies, and a number of other federal regulatory mandates, which apply to all employers with more than 100 employees.
We reached out to Both Midland College and UTPB. Both schools are not requiring employees to be fully vaccinated at this time.