The Biden administration has modified a September executive order (EO) to extend the vaccine mandate compliance deadline for federal contractors to January 4, 2022.

In a statement, the White House said the change was intended to make it easier for businesses and workers to comply by using the same deadline as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in its Emergency Temporary Standard and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in its recent Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule.

In a prior alert about the federal contractor rule, we noted that the scope of the EO is broad, applying to all contracts and any “contract-like instrument” or subcontracts of any tier thereunder, whether negotiated or advertised, including any procurement actions, lease agreements, cooperative agreements, provider agreements, intergovernmental service agreements, service agreements, licenses, permits, or any other type of agreement, regardless of nomenclature, type, or particular form, and whether entered into verbally or in writing.

Now, with the deadline extension, employees falling under the ETS, CMS or federal contractor rules will need to have their final vaccination dose – either their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna, or single dose of Johnson & Johnson – at least two weeks prior to January 4, 2022.

In its statement, the White House said that OSHA is also clarifying that it will not apply its new rule to workplaces covered by either the CMS rule or the federal contractor vaccination requirement. And, both OSHA and CMS are making clear that their new rules preempt any inconsistent state or local laws that are less protective than the federal rule, including laws that ban or limit an employer’s authority to require vaccination, masks, or testing.

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