San Francisco Becomes First Major U.S. City to Require All Government Employees to Get Coronavirus Vaccines
NO JAB, NO JOB
San Francisco’s city government announced Wednesday that it would require all employees, roughly 35,000 people, to receive a coronavirus vaccine or else face penalties that may include firing. It is the first major city in the U.S. to mandate all municipal employees be inoculated, though religious and medical exemptions will be permitted. “It’s about protecting the city as an employer from what we deem to be unacceptable risk,” said Carol Isen, director of the city’s human resources department. The mandate will take effect when the Food and Drug Administration issues full approval for the vaccines, as all three currently available are under emergency use authorization, and employees will have 10 weeks to get their shots. Employees will be required to report their vaccination status to the city within the next month. Roughly 55 percent have said they are already partially vaccinated, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.