AUBURN | Bryan Harsin is standing by his decision to not publicly disclose his COVID-19 vaccine status.

Auburn University in conjunction with the University of Alabama system announced Friday that they were setting a mandate for all full, part-time and remote employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8.

The announcement was due to Executive Order 14042, which requires all federal contractors and subcontractors to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine to its employees.

That covers all University employees including Harsin, his staff and the all the coaches and administrators within Auburn’s athletic department.

"Yeah, you go back to not just a media days, but also in August, I had a chance to talk to you guys about that as well. So I'm aware of the new policy. I appreciate you have to ask the question and understand it, but it doesn't change ... I mean, the executive order, all those things, it doesn't change the fact that I'm not going to discuss any individual's decision or status on the vaccine or anyone else's including my own, like I said before,” said Harsin during his press conference Monday.

“So from the beginning, I think I've made it clear that that wasn't something that I was going to talk about or discuss. I wasn't going to go down that road and don't feel like right now that's any different. We're focused on Ole Miss. We're focused on the things we have to do to get prepared for this week. There's a lot of other things right now that we have to make sure we're ready for on this football team. That's what I've got to stay focused on with our players and our staff and the people in this program. So we've had those conversations, but that doesn't change what I said before.”

Harsin tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 24, but said he was asymptomatic and returned to the team the week of the opener against Akron on Sept. 4.

After its bye week, No. 18 Auburn returns to action Saturday night against No. 10 Ole Miss. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.