Baltimore City Will Require Weekly Testing For All Employees Who Are Not Vaccinated By Oct. 18
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Mayor Brandon Scott on Tuesday said all city employees who are not fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 will have to submit to weekly testing for COVID-19.
"Protecting the health of our workforce, residents, and their loved ones is my top priority. As we continue to navigate this pandemic—all while working to restore critical in-person access and assistance for Baltimoreans—the steps we take today to slow the spread of COVID-19 and the Delta variant could not be more important," Scott said in a statement. "I thank our City employees for continuing to provide high quality service during these unprecedented times, and look forward to working hand-in-hand with our Health Department to work towards vaccinating everyone who is not currently vaccinated."
In a release, Scott's office noted that, so far this year, 94.4% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and 95% deaths were of unvaccinated individuals.
The policy requires all city employees to report their vaccination status and applies to police officers and fire fighters, as well as part-time, contractual, probationary and seasonal employees, Scott said.
As part of the policy, the city will open free pop-up testing clinics at work sites across the city for employees. Additionally, 10 vaccination clinics for employees and their families are planned for the fall.
Two vaccination clinics held in August provided shots for 100 people, Scott's office said.