The head of Kentucky’s League of Cities says President Biden’s proposed vaccination/testing mandate could affect localities across the Commonwealth. The president is asking the Labor Department to issue a rule for employers with more than 100 workers to require vaccinations or weekly testing.
KLC Executive Director J.D. Chaney said Kentucky participates in the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He noted local officials are anxious to see how that is applied. “Most likely it looks like, under the federal law, that the president’s mandate, assuming that the challenges hold up, are going to apply to Kentucky city governments or many of Kentucky’s city governments,” said Chaney.
Chaney said a couple of cities in Kentucky have already been required to meet that mandate. And the League of Cities CEO noted local governments can elect to require employee vaccinations on their own.
Meanwhile, Eastern Kentucky University President David McFaddin said higher education officials are reviewing the federal vaccination mandate proposed by President Biden.
Currently, no public university across Kentucky mandates vaccinations. McFaddin said universities are looking for guidance from the Department of Education and Labor Cabinet. “And then we’ll work in conjunction with the rest of the universities across the state to make sure that we’re all kind of in the same place as far as our understanding of what the expectations are. But, that is currently under review, so we will have more clarity on that toward the end of the week, this week,” explained McFaddin.
McFaddin said EKU continues to sponsor pop-up vaccination clinics around campus. Regarding the amount of coronavirus activity on the Richmond campus, the president added it’s in line with case numbers this time last fall.
