Posted on 10/18/21
| News Source: WBAL
A vaccine mandate for Baltimore city employees is taking effect today.
The policy includes probationary, contractual, seasonal, part-time and temporary employees, as well as police and firefighters. Police have been pushing back against the mandate. They want it included in their collective bargaining with the city. Employees who are not fully vaccinated by today will have to show a negative test every week to continue reporting to work at their city jobs.
Mayor Brandon Scott announced the vaccination mandate for city employees on Aug. 31.
"Protecting the health of our workforce, residents, and their loved ones is my top priority. As we continue to navigate this pandemic — all while working to restore critical in-person access and assistance for Baltimoreans — the steps we take today to slow the spread of COVID-19 and the delta variant could not be more important," Scott said in a release from August. "I thank our city employees for continuing to provide high-quality service during these unprecedented times, and look forward to working hand-in-hand with our Health Department to work towards vaccinating everyone who is not currently vaccinated."
That release stated that the city will organize pop-up testing clinics for employees, which will be free of charge and conveniently located to worksites across the city.
Additionally, the city will continue to hold vaccination clinics for employees and their households, with 10 dates planned for this fall. Two employee-focused vaccination clinics were held in the month of August, helping vaccinate more than 100 people.