BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

Los Alamos National Laboratory confirmed late Friday that the vast majority of employees have received the COVID-19 vaccine with 97 percent having received their first dose and 96 percent fully-vaccinated.

First Judicial District Judge Jason Lidyard early Friday denied a request from more than 100 LANL employees for a preliminary injunction to prevent LANL from enforcing their policy which requires all employees to be vaccinated by close of business October 15. See https://losalamosreporter.com/2021/10/15/district-judge-jason-lidyard-denies-request-for-preliminary-injunction-in-lanl-employees-vaccination-mandate-case/

“Triad values the contributions of all employees, and our decision to mandate the vaccine was made only after considerable thought. The safety and health of our employees remains our top priority as we fulfill our national security mission, and as a result our vaccine mandate remains in effect. We appreciate the thorough review and consideration provided by the court on the important issues presented at the hearing”, a LANL spokesperson said.

LANL employees who received their first vaccine dose between October 1 and October 15 are being placed on leave without pay or vacation until fully vaccinated. Employees with an approved medical exemption will continue their employment. Employees with approved religious exemptions are being placed on leave without pay or vacation effective October 15.

No indication has been given by LANL as to the number of employees it will lose due to the vaccination mandate.

LANL also indicated Friday that the Lab has had 1,117 total confirmed cases of Covid-19, 1,106 fully recovered. On-site testing continues with a cumulative total of 29,984 tests to date, 365 positives from the latest testing.  A little more than 44 percent of employees continue to telework.