Berkeley becomes the newest city in the Bay Area with a mandate to have its workers vaccinated against COVID-19.
City manager Dee Williams-Ridley wrote in a message to staff on Wednesday afternoon that the city is meeting with workers’ groups to discuss a policy requiring full vaccination of all workers by October 15.
Officials last week contacted the unions representing the city’s workers to begin “meet and confer” discussions on the mandate, wrote Williams-Ridley, “to ensure that we are proactive in addressing employee concerns about vaccination policies approach”.
“All of us in the city of Berkeley will be safer in the workplace when we are vaccinated,” she wrote.
Our health officer recommends employers to use whatever tools they have at their disposal to increase # COVID19 vaccinations in the workplace – something we as a city aim to emulate by requiring all city employees to vaccinate.
– City of Berkeley (@CityofBerkeley) August 11, 2021
The requirement would come with limited exemptions for workers with certain medical conditions or religious beliefs, city spokesman Matthai Chakko said.
This is a stricter policy than what Mayor Jesse Arreguín called last week, which would have allowed unvaccinated city workers to receive regular COVID-19 tests instead. San Jose and Walnut Creek have followed suit, announcing requirements that allow employees to get tested instead of vaccinations, and Governor Gavin Newsom has announced similar guidelines for state employees and teachers across California. San Francisco has mandated that all city employees must be vaccinated within 10 weeks of receiving full state approval for any of the vaccines, although workers in certain high-risk environments may need to get their vaccinations earlier.
In her message to workers, Williams-Ridley encouraged those who have not yet been vaccinated to plan now which vaccination schedule they will opt for so that they are fully protected by the proposed October 15 deadline.
Workers have until early September to receive their first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID vaccine, which will take five and six weeks, respectively, to be fully effective. The Johnson and Johnson single-dose vaccine will be fully effective two weeks after vaccination.
The city is organizing a vaccination clinic on Thursday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. in the parking lot behind the town hall. You can book an appointment on site through Carbon Health or walk to get a vaccination.
- Golden Gate Fields vaccination site. Photo: Kelly Sullivan
