US orders federal agencies to erase employee COVID-19 Vaccine records

In a significant rollback of pandemic-era measures, the Trump administration has instructed all federal agencies to delete records related to employees’ COVID-19 vaccination status, past mandate noncompliance, and exemption requests.

The directive, issued Friday by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), gives agencies 90 days to permanently remove such information from both physical and electronic files—unless individual employees formally opt out. The move follows recent court cases and is part of what officials describe as a wider effort to undo “harmful pandemic-era policies” introduced under the Biden administration.

“During the pandemic, federal workers faced unfair consequences for personal medical choices,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said. “President Trump is ensuring that these excesses leave no lasting mark on people’s careers.”

Biden’s Executive Order 14043, signed in September 2021, required COVID-19 vaccination for federal employees. The mandate faced multiple legal challenges from workers, unions, and state governments, with critics arguing it violated constitutional and labor rights. Enforcement was halted by a federal appeals court in 2022, and Biden formally rescinded the policy in May 2023.

Following the repeal, OPM told agencies to update job postings to remove vaccination requirements. The latest memo goes further, banning the use of vaccination history or exemption requests in any hiring, promotion, disciplinary, or termination decisions.

Agencies must certify they have complied with the new order by 8 September 2025.

The White House has not yet commented on the policy shift.