UK employees suspended for noncompliance with COVID-19 testing

A+community+member+receives+a+COVID-19+test+on+Friday%2C+Feb.+5%2C+2021%2C+at+UK%E2%80%99s+Kroger+Field+testing+site+in+Lexington%2C+Kentucky.+Photo+by+Jack+Weaver+%7C+Staff

A community member receives a COVID-19 test on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, at UK’s Kroger Field testing site in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo by Jack Weaver | Staff

Kaleb Littleton

Twenty-four University of Kentucky employees are on administrative leave for not complying with COVID-19 testing requirements.

In August, UK mandated that students and employees who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine must be tested for the virus once a week. For each week an unvaccinated individual goes without testing, they undergo escalating disciplinary actions.

Employees who do not get tested regularly face potential administrative leave without pay and are not eligible for the 2% merit-based raise. Students who do not get tested risk being unable to register for class or attend social and athletic events. They may also be suspended. 

UK spokesperson Jay Blanton confirmed that there are 146 students who have not complied for four or more weeks, out of 412 total students who have not complied as of last week.

Blanton these numbers are out of the 26,523 students and 20,710 employees who are required to receive a vaccination or test as of Nov. 9. However, he said these cases make up a small percentage of the total campus population.

“The numbers who have faced some disciplinary sanction are very small,” he said.

Blanton also said that the community is 90 percent vaccinated, and the majority of those that aren’t get tested every week.

As of Nov. 12, UK has a more than 89% rate of vaccination for COVID-19, according to an update from university president Eli Capilouto.