U.S. Postal Service seeks relief from testing, vaccine rules

USPS wants approval to continue using its current COVID-19 mitigation policies while the request is being decided. USPS has 30,000 U.S. locations.

“We respectfully suggest that the nation cannot afford the additional potential substantial harm that would be engendered if the ability of the Postal Service to deliver mail and packages is significantly negatively impacted,” USPS wrote.

USPS is not covered by Biden’s separate rules, which mandate 3.5 million federal workers be vaccinated or win medical or religious exemptions by Nov. 22.

USPS warned the rules are likely to result in the loss of “many employees.” Requiring USPS, it added “to absorb what could inevitably be a dramatic loss of employees at a time when the labor market is extremely tight and in the middle of the Postal Service’s Peak Season would have a potentially catastrophic impact on our ability to provide service.”