According to revised guidelines from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, covered federal contractor employees must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 18 of next year. The deadline was previously moved to be Jan. 4 to align with the emergency temporary standard (ETS) for employers with 100 or more employees.

On Nov. 4, the White House pushed back the deadline laid out in its guidelines for federal contractors from Dec. 8 to Jan. 4. The guidelines give contractors some leeway, saying that they should be “working in good faith” to fully vaccinate their workers by the deadline. Federal contractors do not have the option for regular testing in lieu of being fully vaccinated.

The guidelines state if federal contractors aren’t taking steps to comply with the vaccine mandate, actions like termination of a contract should be taken by the federal agency contracting with them.

The Nov. 4 announcement was paired with a new ETS for employers with 100 or more employees. The ETS states all employers that qualify must either fully vaccinate their workforce or have them undergo regular COVID-19 testing. This also sets a deadline for Jan. 4.

“OSHA is also clarifying that it will not apply its new rule to workplaces covered by either the CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) rule or the federal contractor vaccination requirement,” White House officials said. “And, both OSHA and CMS are making clear that their new rules preempt any inconsistent state or local laws, including laws that ban or limit an employer’s authority to require vaccination, masks, or testing.”