Trump admin orders fed agencies to scrub worker COVID vaccine records
Kupor said the move was part of the Trump administration's broader effort to reverse "many harmful policies" of former President Joe Biden's administration.
More: Leading doctors sue RFK Jr. over COVID-19 vaccines. Here's why.
"Things got out of hand during the pandemic, and federal workers were fired, punished, or sidelined for simply making a personal medical decision. That should never have happened," Kupor said in a post on X. "Thanks to @POTUS's leadership, we're making sure the excesses of that era do not have lingering effects on federal workers."
Also, due to document preservation requirements related to recent litigation, Kupor said, "all information related to an employee's COVID-19 vaccine status, noncompliance with prior vaccine mandates, or exemption requests must be expunged" from all employees' official personnel folders unless, within 90 days, any individual "affirmatively opts out of this removal."
The White House did not respond immediately to a USA TODAY request for comment.
Kupor's memo cited a Sept. 9, 2021, executive order from Biden directing federal agencies to require COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of federal employment. While Biden subsequently repealed that order, his Office of Personnel Management soon after issued a new policy reminding agencies that the executive order could no longer be enforced.
A federal judge in December 2021 issued a nationwide injunction against a vaccine mandate for federal contractors, ruling that Biden likely exceeded his authority by imposing the requirement.
In May, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the COVID-19 vaccine is no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. But the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was still recommending COVID vaccines for healthy children, according to its published immunization schedule.
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