UMaine System will offer paid time off to get vaccinated
The University of Maine System said Friday employees will be eligible for two hours of paid administrative leave time that can be used to get the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination.
Faculty and staff were also informed that UMS managers will help make vaccination a workplace priority and provide the flexibility they need to get vaccinated when it is their turn.
“I was fortunate to get my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine last week. Doing so was simple and pain-free,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy. “I urge every member of our faculty and staff to join me in doing the same. As soon as it's your turn, please get vaccinated.”
The UMaine System does not require the vaccinations, but encourages employees to get it under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “Emergency Use Authorization” status.
The initiative could be a model that other institutions and companies follow as they toe the line between encouraging employees to be vaccinated while recognizing that employees cannot be legally required to.
About 25% of UMaine System employees are now eligible for vaccination, Malloy urged voluntary participation with the goal of becoming Maine’s most vaccinated workforce.
Some UMS employees or students have already been vaccinated including those working directly on COVID-19 response, including nursing students working on Maine’s vaccination campaign. About a quarter of 4,635 employees are 60 or older and also are eligible to be vaccinated.
If all goes according to plan, almost three-quarters of faculty and staff will be eligible by the end of the semester, the UMaine System said.
“We are incredibly proud of how our nursing students have volunteered to help with the vaccination campaign and know that vaccination is the safe, effective, and smart thing to do,” Malloy said in a message to UMS employees. He urged voluntary participation in the vaccine campaign when it is their turn.
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