Arizona’s
three state universities will implement the federal COVID vaccine mandates put
in place for government contractors. The University employees will be required to
be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by December 8 unless they get exempted under
the rules, officials announced on Friday.

The
requirement by the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern
Arizona University will also cover undergraduate and graduate students who are
also university employees, the state Board of Regents said in a statement,
according to the Associated Press.

The move
comes after President Joe Biden’s executive order regarding compliance with
federal COVID-19 workplace guidance. The board said that the universities have
“hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts, funding critical
research, employment and educational efforts.”

“We respect
individual opinions regarding the vaccine and will include disability
(including medical) and religious accommodations consistent with federal
rules,” the board added.

The
University of Arizona “already has received amended federal contracts that
include this requirement. While we respect individual opinions regarding the
vaccine, we will continue with these mission-critical endeavors and will be
complying with this new requirement,” President Robert Robbins was quoted as
saying by the Associated Press.

No comments
were offered on the scenario in which an employee, who has not been granted an
exemption, does not get vaccinated by the set deadline. What will happen then
is a question that has been left unanswered for now.

In other
news regarding the virus and vaccination, Nevada health officials are concerned
about the rural areas where vaccination
rates remain low but also add that the overall COVID-19 trends continue to
improve statewide, with a test positivity rate that’s dropped below 8% for the
first time since early July.

“The Delta
surge continues to recede across Nevada, with all key COVID-19 metrics
declining,” state officials reported in Thursday’s weekly update.

(With AP input)