Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The COVID-19 vaccination for all employees of the Executive Branch is now mandatory and those employees have until Dec. 15 to provide proof of “full vaccination” to the Human Resources (DHR) director, according to Gov. Lemanu Peleti Mauga’s recent amendment to the current COVID-19 Declaration.

Dated Nov. 1, the governor’s amendment — which also provides exceptions for not getting vaccinated —  was released early yesterday morning by the Governor’s Office. The mandatory vaccination for ASG’s workforce was expected to come soon after the proposed plan was announced by the governor during a cabinet meeting a few weeks ago.

“Full course of vaccination against COVID-19 [is] now mandatory for all Executive Branch employees of the American Samoa government, including but not limited to career service employees, political appointees, and contract employees,” according to the governor’s amended declaration, which was effective Nov. 1st. 

Additionally, ASG’s semi-autonomous agencies and entities which have their own personnel hiring, compensation, leave, disciplinary and termination rules and policies, will adopt their own COVID-19 vaccine requirements for their employees.

For Executive Branch employees, the amendment says that employees must provide the DHR director with evidence of having completed the full course of vaccination against COVID-19 that is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the World Health Organization by Dec. 15th.

Departments and agencies may collect proof of vaccination from their employees on behalf of the DHR director.

The amended document explains that employees who are fully vaccinated require two doses, and are reminded that the recommended interval between the first dose and second dose is 21-days for Pfizer vaccine and 28 days for the Moderna vaccine.

Thus, an employee would need to receive the first Pfizer dose by Nov. 24 this year or the first Moderna dose by Nov. 17 this year, in order to meet the Dec. 15 deadline.

The amended declaration also spells out documents needed by the employee to show evidence of a full course of vaccination and that all documents must be provided.

“Employees who fail to provide evidence of vaccination” as required in provisions of the first amended declaration, “will not be permitted to work in any position inside a government-owned or leased building, or a government owned or leased vehicle or any worksite or location where they will be in the presence of other ASG employees or members of the public in the course of their employment,” the amended declaration said.

It also says that any employee who does not comply with the new mandatory vaccination “shall be suspended” by employee’s department or agency and the Human Resources director “until employee provides proof of vaccination.”

Pursuant to ASG regulations, employees may use their accumulated annual leave or sick leave while they are suspended. “Otherwise, the suspension shall be without pay,” the amended declaration said and noted that nothing in the declaration prohibits the termination of an employee for violating of standards administratively which govern employee conduct and deportment — pursuant to local statue — or abandonment of position — pursuant to local law.

“Exceptions to the vaccination requirement” of the amended declaration “will only be permitted as required by law,” it says, noting that a “reasonable accommodation may be provided to employees who communicate in writing to DHR that “they are not vaccinated against COVID-19 because of a disability pursuant to the [federal] American with Disabilities Act... or a valid medical reason or because of sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance.”

Determining whether an exception is legally required will include consideration of relevant factors including the basis for the request; the nature of the employee’s job responsibilities; the reasonably foreseeable effects and any burden on government operations; and the protection of other employees and the public from COVID-19.

According to the amended declaration, no employee hired after the effective date of this Amendment shall begin work until they demonstrate that they can comply with the vaccination requirement or are granted an exception.

In a separate news release that accompanied the amended declaration, the governor said ASG had launched incentive programs, stressed personal responsibility, deployed mobile vaccination units, and coordinated with the Office of Samoan Affairs, villages, and private sector partners to encourage and push to increase vaccination uptake.

“However, our numbers have not reached our 80% goal. The virus continues to spread across the world, and the numbers show infections and deaths are higher among unvaccinated populations,” the governor said.

"This is not an easy decision for any leader to make,” said the governor referring to the new COVID-19 vaccination mandate for executive branch employees.

And he commended, Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Ale, who is the Governor’s Authorized Representative, as well as chair of the COVID-19 Task Force, and its members “for the courage to move forward and present all options and findings on how to increase rates and awareness for our citizens, responsibly.”

He explained that the task force, Department of Health and partners, “have tried different approaches with the hope that more of our citizens would consider becoming fully vaccinated. However, we have exhausted these avenues and based on recommendations from the Task Force, I hope that this call to action will help bring up our numbers."

According to the governor, borders will also remain in a limited controlled flight operation until the Territory’s vaccination numbers reach 80%- 90% fully vaccinated.

Mandatory for entry into American Samoa is that the traveler is to be fully vaccinated.

Click on attachment below to download full text of the amended declaration.