Employees Of The City Of Rockville Are Mandated To Get The COVID Vaccine

ROCKVILLE, MD — City employees in Rockville will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 15 , the mayor and city council decided. Employees can apply for religious or medical exemptions, and those approved will need to get tested weekly. The policy will apply to all employees — full-time, part-time, on-site and remote.

"COVID-19, including the highly contagious delta variant, continues to pose a serious health risk, especially to individuals who are not fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Maryland Department of Health, and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services," the city of Rockville said in the announcement. "Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent transmission and the severity of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths."

The move comes as Montgomery County debates requiring the vaccine for all of its employees. Members of the County Council proposed a bill to start the requirement, which was met with criticism from County Executive Marc Elrich.

"Montgomery County leads the nation in vaccination rates for large counties; however, to stay ahead of this terrible virus and prevent further spread, it is imperative that all county employees are vaccinated as well," said Councilmember Will Jawando, who proposed the bill, in a statement at the time of the proposal. "We must ensure the health and safety of our workforce and of the residents they interact with on a daily basis."

Elrich said the mandate could force staffing shortages.

"The recently proposed legislation to mandate vaccinations or be terminated is unneeded. This brinkmanship legislation is not smart policy," Elrich said in a statement last week. "It will lead to staffing shortages, diminished public safety, additional financial costs to our taxpayers, and time-consuming legal entanglements – all outcomes I have successfully worked with our employees to avoid since the beginning of the pandemic."