COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

To protect our colleagues, patients, and community, COVID-19 vaccination is required for Weill Cornell Medicine faculty and staff. To meet the vaccination requirement, faculty and staff must receive the primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine or have an approved exemption in place by their employment start date. 

• Health care personnel who never received any COVID-19 vaccines or received one dose of monovalent COVID-19 vaccine only, one dose of current bivalent COVID-19 vaccine is required after two months of last dose (if any) unless an approved exemption exists.
• Monovalent COVID vaccines (e.g., two doses of Pfizer or Moderna primary COVID-19 vaccine series) are no longer authorized to use in the US by the FDA.

Exemption Requests

Faculty and staff may request an exemption from the vaccination requirement due to pregnancy, a medical contraindication, or a religious belief. An exemption may also be granted to employees who work remotely and will never be on campus (i.e., employees who live outside of the tri-state area). Those with approved exemptions are required to wear a mask at all times, including in non-clinical areas. 

Medical Contraindications and Pregnancy

Medical and pregnancy exemption requests will be managed and reviewed by Workforce Health and Safety. To apply for a medical or pregnancy exemption:

1. Complete the Request for Medical COVID-19 Immunization Exemption Form.
2. Ask your physician to provide the required information and signature.
3. New hires complete the Vaccine Submission/Exemption Request Form.
4. Existing employees submit the completed form to Workforce Health and Safety via VaxApp.
5. For assistance, please email WHS-DataManagement@nyp.org.

Religious Beliefs

Religious exemption requests will be managed and reviewed by a designated committee of institutional leaders. To apply for a religious exemption: 

1. Complete the Request for Religious Exemption from COVID-19 Vaccination Form, describing your religious belief and how it relates to your request to decline the COVID-19 vaccine.
2. Submit the completed form to exemptionrequest@med.cornell.edu.

Off-Site/Remote Work

A committee of clinical, operational, and administrative leaders will review remote work exemption requests for employees who have been informed that their job will permanently be 100% remote, with no expectation to be on-site. To request an off-site work exemption:

1. Complete the Request for Off-Site Worker Exemption from COVID-19 Vaccination Form.
2. Ask your Department Administrator or Chair to sign the form to confirm that your work arrangement is permanently 100% remote.
3. Submit the completed form to exemptionrequest@med.cornell.edu.