Last Thursday (Jan. 13), the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the vaccine/testing requirement aimed at large employers, such as Drake, that had been published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). At the same time, the Court upheld the vaccine mandate for certain health care workers to go into effect nationwide, which had been adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services.

While OSHA could go back to the drawing board to re-envision a new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), that will take time. For now, this means the OSHA weekly testing requirement for unvaccinated employees is not taking effect. As has been the case throughout the entire pandemic, Drake will closely monitor infection rates, public health guidance, and best practices to protect our students, employees, and visitors.

For now, there is an important part for you to play in all of this:

• If you are not vaccinated, get vaccinated.
• If you have not received your booster shot, get it as soon as possible.
• Continue to self-monitor your health.
• Do not come to campus with cold and flu symptoms.
• Continue to appropriately mask on campus (and, please, when in public)
• If you have not shared your vaccination status (including your booster) with the University, please do so through Drake’s secure online form.

Thank you for doing your part to keep not only yourself healthy, but also those around you!

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources; Chris Nickell, Environmental Health & Safety