PA's Largest Counties Imposing Employee Vaccination Mandates

PENNSYLVANIA — Amid the latest surge in coronavirus cases, officials of four of the state's most populated counties have mandated their employees be vaccinated. Ignoring the order could cost some of those workers their jobs.

Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania on Wednesday joined Philadelphia, Montgomery and Bucks counties in the eastern part of the state in issuing the vaccination requirement for all workers without religious or medical exemptions. Employees of those counties provide services to approximately 4.1 million of the state's 13 million residents.

Like all of the state's 67 counties, those four show high transmission rates of the coronavirus, according to Thursday data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Full vaccination rates for those 12 and older were 71.2 percent in Bucks, 69.4 percent in Montgomery, 67.9 percent in Allegheny and 59.7 percent in Philadelphia.

Allegheny, which includes Pittsburgh, is requiring all workers under county Executive Rich Fitzgerald be vaccinated by Dec. 1 or face termination.

The new policy does not apply to employees of the courts, county council and the independently elected offices of the controller, district attorney, sheriff and treasurer. But the edict is in effect for about 5,000 workers - more than 75 percent of whom have been vaccinated, according to the county.

The remainder need to get the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine or their second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines before the deadline.

"As we continue to see cases of COVID in our county, and different populations being affected than were previously, it is even more important that our workforce be protected so that the public that we serve is protected as well," Fitzgerald said.

Philadelphia, which has consolidated city-county services, announced in August that employees will be required to be fully vaccinated or double-masked when working effective Sept. 1. As of last week, only 31 percent of city employees had provided proof of vaccination, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week.

Two weeks ago, Montgomery County directed all county and courts employees to be be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or else be required to undergo weekly testing. The order was harshly criticized by Republican county Commissioner Joe Gale, who labeled the decision "outrageously un-American."

County Chief Operating Officer Lee Soltysiak disagreed.

"Keeping people safe is at the heart of public service," Soltysiak told Patch in an emailed statement when the edict was announced. "We should leading the way in creating a safe and welcoming environment for our constituents and coworkers."

In Bucks County, 2,400 county and court employees must be vaccinated by Oct. 29 or they will lose their jobs. To make vaccination as convenient as possible, employees are permitted to visit nearby clinics during work hours. The county also has continued to host pop-up vaccination clinics at county facilities.

“When you work for your local, county, state or federal government, the job comes with an inherent duty and commitment to protect and serve the public,” said Diane Ellis-Marseglia, chair of the board of commissioners.

“Getting vaccinated protects not just our employees – and we need healthy employees in order to assist the public – but also serves to strengthen our community’s resistance to this killer virus, keeping everyone safe, keeping kids in school, and keeping businesses open.”

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