More than 95% of the city of San Francisco’s employees are fully vaccinated, the San Francisco Department of Public Health said Friday.
The deadline for city workers to get their syringes is November 1, but some agencies working in high-risk environments, such as the San Francisco Police Department and the San Francisco Fire Department, have required that staff be fully completed by Wednesday are vaccinated.
A total of 1,443 of the city’s approximately 35,000 employees remain unvaccinated, which is only 5% of the workforce. In San Francisco as a whole, 75% of residents are fully vaccinated while 80% received at least one dose.
Of SFPD in particular, around 5% of employees, including 76 police officers, remain unvaccinated. SFPD has 2,117 employees. 35 fire brigade workers and 39 sheriff workers are also unvaccinated. The FDF did not immediately provide a further breakdown by department.
Employees who do not get vaccinated on time will be put on paid administrative leave until the start of the regular hearing, the SFDPH said. Further hearings will decide whether the unvaccinated person’s employment relationship will be terminated.
The SFDPH allows employees with certain religious beliefs or medical problems to apply for waivers from the vaccination order. So far, around 800 vaccine exemption applications have been made.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented the city, its employees and residents with unprecedented challenges,” said the SFDPH. “To protect the health and safety of citizens and employees, the city has issued its vaccination guidelines.”
