Mayor David Martin Issues Vaccine Mandate For City Employees

STAMFORD, CT — With the delta variant emerging across the country, Mayor David Martin is hoping to stomp out an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the City of Stamford.

On Friday, Martin announced that all city employees must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 7. If an employee is not immunized by then, they will be required to submit a negative COVID-19 test once a week. The cost of COVID-19 testing for employees will be fully covered by insurance and can be taken during work without penalty.

Employees may request an exemption from the vaccine mandate for medical and religious reasons. Exemption requests must be submitted to the city's Human Resources Department by Aug. 20. Those exempt will still need to submit a weekly negative test.

Stamford is the first municipality in the state of Connecticut to require such a vaccine mandate for city employees.

"In addition to the fact that the vaccines are extremely safe and they're extremely effective, fundamentally, I have an obligation to keep the workplace safe for the employees," Martin said, adding that he's also aiming to keep the public safe when they come in and interact with city workers. People must also wear masks indoors in the Stamford Government Center, police station or other city facilities.

Gov. Ned Lamont issued an Executive Order on Thursday that gives municipalities the option of requiring masks in indoor public places within their local jurisdiction for all residents, regardless of vaccination status.

Martin said Friday he will be reviewing the order in the coming days.

"I anticipate we will have some sort of mask mandate in the City of Stamford and we will come to that decision by the middle of next week," Martin said. "Unless these numbers reverse themselves over the weekend, I can't imagine why we wouldn't want to have mask mandates to protect people."

Martin said the city is not considering having residents provide proof of vaccination for entry or participation at restaurant or entertainment venues in Stamford.

Martin's vaccine mandate announcement comes as COVID-19 cases continue to rise both around the country and at the local level due to the contagious delta variant. Martin said the variant is "changing the challenge" of the pandemic.

On June 21, Stamford was experiencing less than one COVID-19 case per day on a seven-day moving average. As of this week, there were 25 new cases per day.

Hospitalizations in Stamford have also increased. On June 22, zero COVID-19 patients were being treated at Stamford Hospital. As of Aug. 4, there were 10 patients in-house, with two in the Intensive Care Unit.

Dr. Henry Yoon, Stamford's top medical advisor, spoke about the delta variant and how it's impacting the fight against the pandemic.

"The data suggests that the delta variant is approximately 50 percent more contagious or virulent than the alpha strain that was really predominant earlier," he said. "We're dealing with a different virus in many ways. We have to adjust our plan of attack, our plan of defense when it comes to getting through this pandemic."

Yoon stressed the importance of mitigation practices like masking, distancing, and vaccinations.

"The landscape different than it was 18 months ago. We have more information, we have more data, we have more experience. We've shown that the mitigation strategies work. We have more weapons against COVID," he added. "At the end of the day, all of these mitigation strategies including vaccinations are going to be a major part of ending this pandemic, but it's something that's a must. We're not going to be able to do it without it."

Martin expressed frustration at the current uptick in cases after a consistent lull over the past few months.

"Like almost everyone, I was hoping that with vaccinations we would put this issue aside and by this time we would be down to essentially one case or fewer on a regular basis. We can't wait another month to get this going. If we can't turn this around, the cases will go even higher, more people will be sick, more will be in hospitals," he said.

"I'm using the authority I have to help protect my employees and protect the people of the City of Stamford. I am proud of this community, but at the same time frustrated and saddened by what's happening with coronavirus, and I'm also frustrated by some who seem to still believe they're somehow immune to this."

For vaccine and testing information in Stamford, click here.