Vaccine mandates 'will not disrupt' Energy Department operations, says spokesperson

Oct. 22—Requirements to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and ongoing turbulence from such mandates, will not put at risk the Department of Energy's operations, a spokesperson said this week.

"DOE continues to focus on our mission of safeguarding national security, and central to that is keeping our workforce healthy and on the job," the spokesperson said. "The science is crystal clear that the best way to do that is through vaccination."

Republican lawmakers from South Carolina and Georgia last week pressed Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on the matter, asking in a letter if the department had considered the fallout mandates would cause. The letter was received.

"This requirement," the Energy Department spokesperson said, "will not disrupt the critical work we do every day."

The vast majority of Savannah River Site workers have received the jabs; some 95% of the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions workforce had been vaccinated as of Oct. 14.

Both Granholm and Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk have advocated for widespread vaccination.

"Vaccines save lives," Granholm tweeted in July, amplifying a similar message from the White House.