Pentagon Gives Civilian Employees Until Early November to Get Fully Vaccinated

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan and plans for future counterterrorism operations in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Sept. 28, 2021. Patrick Semansky/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The Department of Defense (DOD) said all U.S. civilian employees need to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Nov. 22, giving them only a few weeks to get the shots. The workers are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

For employees opting to receive the two-dose Moderna vaccine, they would have to receive their first shot by Oct. 11, said a DOD memo. Individuals who are slated to get the two-shot Pfizer vaccine would have to get their first dose by Oct. 18.