(AP) — More than half of Oregon’s state employees have an extra six weeks to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a deadline has been pushed back to Nov. 30.
Gov. Kate Brown’s office confirmed to KOIN 6 News the change affects about 24,000 state employees represented by the Service Employees International Union 503 out of about 42,000 state executive branch employees. The same Oct. 18 deadline set by the governor for health care workers and teachers remains in place, Brown’s office said.
Brown announced the vaccine mandate among all executive branch employees on Aug. 10. According to Brown’s Press Secretary Liz Merah, “the collective bargaining process is still underway with other bargaining units.”
Union members now have more time to complete shots but no more leeway in getting vaccinated than they did before.
KOIN 6 News contributed to this story by The Associated Press.