The controversial Biden vaccine mandate is being applied to employees in the University of Alabama System and Auburn University. Administrators, in a joint statement Friday, said the mandate applies because all the schools have federal contracts. Under the order, contractors doing business with the feds are required to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The statement said that there is no flexibility on this mandate, adding that a failure to comply will put the universities in danger of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds, and thousands of jobs. Both systems have notified employees of the vaccine requirement, and said they will closely monitor the executive order. All employees will be required to be vaccinated against by Dec. 8, unless they have an approved medical, disability, or religious exemption. Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl on Friday called on the Legislature to ban vaccine mandates, calling them "the very definition of discrimination." Lawmakers are scheduled to convene next week in a special session to take up redistricting.
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