San Diego passes vaccine mandate for city employees

San Diego lawmakers passed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for city employees and police force members on Monday.

The city mandated that all city employees must show proof of vaccination or request an exemption by December 1. Employees who do not comply with the mandate within 30 days will be fired.

The mandate applies to new hires, elected officials, board members, volunteers and contractors working with the city.  

“The way out of this pandemic is through vaccines,” said Mayor Todd Gloria, “and the city of San Diego should lead by example.”

The City Council members voted 8-1 to approve the mandate. Chris Crate, the only council member to vote against the mandate said he is concerned about the police officers the city could lose due to the rule.

“Part of that is recognizing the big picture: A city-wide vaccine mandate would create an alarming situation in which the San Diego Police Department could lose hundreds of police officers overnight,” he tweeted.

As of November 24, 709 of San Diego’s 1,979 officers have not been vaccinated, according to the city.

The San Diego Police Officers Association was the only labor union out of six to reach an impasse with the city. Instead of mandatory vaccination, the union wanted officers to have an option to get tested for the virus. However, the city voted in favor of the mandate.

The attorney representing the union, Bradley Fields, told the City Council that the mandate could cause “a public safety crisis that the city will not be able to overcome.”

“They’re kind of trading a public health crisis for a public safety crisis,” said the Police Officers’ Association President Jack Schaeffer. “Losing a couple 100 people would be catastrophic for this department.”