DC Mayor Mandates COVID Vaccines For Government Workers, Teachers

WASHINGTON, DC — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday that all District government employees must get vaccinated against COVID-19 as case numbers continue to grow in the city.

The vaccine mandate includes all D.C. Public Schools teachers and staff, along with government contractors.

Employees must get fully vaccinated by Sept. 19. If they are not fully vaccinated — due to an exemption for medical or religious reasons — employees must submit to a weekly COVID-19 test and then test negative. Employees who choose to be tested will be provided with self-testing kits.

The D.C. government employs about 35,000 people. About 59 percent of the total D.C. government workforce has reported their vaccination status, as requested by the government. Among the employees who have reported their status, 54 percent are fully vaccinated.

D.C. officials developed the vaccination rules in collaboration with labor unions representing District workers.

“It’s been very important to me that we take these next steps together to ensure that everyone gets vaccinated,” Bowser said at a Tuesday news conference attended by D.C. leaders and labor representatives.

An increase in cases in the 25-to-34 age group appears to driving the surge in COVID-19 cases in the District, DC Health Director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt said at the news conference. About 90 percent of the people hospitalized in D.C. with COVID-19 are not vaccinated, she said.

Across the District, 55.1 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, according to DC Health data.

In late July, President Joe Biden imposed new vaccination rules on federal workers, requiring that they sign forms attesting to being vaccinated against COVID-19, or agreeing to face weekly testing, mandated masking, and social distancing at work if they choose not to receive the vaccine. The U.S. military on Monday announced that all troops must get the vaccine by Sept. 15.

Last week, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine required the 600 employees in his office to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam also announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate last week for state employees and urged unvaccinated people to get the shot as the state sees an uptick of cases and hospitalizations with the growing presence of the delta variant.

The vaccine mandate affects an estimated 122,000 people employed by Virginia. State employees will have to show proof of full vaccination by Sept. 1. Those who choose not to get vaccinated will be asked to get weekly COVID-19 testing and show proof of a negative test result.

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