Tucson passes new COVID-19 policy that may require vaccines for all city employees

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TUCSON (KVOA) – Tucson City officials may need to get the COVID-19 vaccine soon after Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Tucson City Council approved a new vaccine policy on Friday.

On July 15, Governor Doug Ducey issued an executive order banning universities and community colleges from requiring masks, receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, submitting COVID-19 vaccination documents, and performing COVID-19 testing. The governor then doubled the Grand Canyon state’s mask requirement by enacting House Law 2770 – which allows Arizona corporations not to enforce a mask mandate – and House Act 2898 – which prohibits schools from enforcing mask requirements nationwide.

After Ducey stated that Arizona will still not allow mask mandates even though the Centers for Disease Control Prevention updated their guidelines to include the use of masks for all residents indoors in response to the nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant caused to be recommended, Romero moved to make the use of masks mandatory in all urban establishments on July 28th.

During Friday’s emergency meeting, the Mayor and Council of Tucson discussed the requirement of COVID-19 vaccines for its employees.

Tucson City Manager Michael Ortega recommended the city implement a vaccination mandate for its employees after a recent survey found that around 1,000 city employees are not vaccinated against the COVID-19 vaccine. The city approved Ordinance 6-1 on Friday, with Ward 4 city council member Nikki Lee voting against the measure.

“The City of Tucson and I, as the mayor of our great city and as an employer, have a legal duty and obligation to provide and maintain safe and healthy workplaces for our employees. If that were a personal health decision, then” would be one Thing, “said Romero.” Choosing not to get vaccinated not only affects personal health, but unfairly exposes others to the risk of disease, including staff and members of the public. Children under 12 who are not eligible to the vaccination are affected. “With an increased exposure rate to COVID-19. As the mother of an 11-year-old who cannot be vaccinated, I cannot do this to my child.”

Under Approved Ordinance No. 11869, the city must obtain proof of vaccination of at least 750 unvaccinated employees by August 20.

If the city does not meet this threshold by August 20, all city employees have until August 24 at 4 p.m. to demonstrate that they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, or must be provided with one five-day lock expect no payment.

“It was only this morning that we learned of a father-in-law of a staff member we have here in the mayor’s office who died of COVID-19. He was a veteran. He was vaccinated,” said Romero. “But he was immunodeficient. It’s unfair to others. Personal freedoms, once they fall behind your personal freedoms and affect the health and safety of others, are no longer just your freedoms.

Additionally, the ordinance allows the city to offer certain incentives such as a floating vacation and an 80-hour pandemic vacation. The ordinance also listed medical and religious reasons for exempting employees from the vaccination order.

“Some of my concerns, especially given the influx of advocacy we heard today, when we open the door to many people who no longer want to work for the city, I have concerns about our ability to provide core services,” said Lee. “People make the decisions they make. Incentives and negative incentives may not even get us to the numbers we need.”

I also encourage private employers to take a similar approach.

The vaccine is safe, effective, free, and widely available.

Find a location near you: https://t.co/aFqHMxhfsQ

– Regina Romero (@TucsonRomero) August 14, 2021

At the county level, the Pima County’s board of directors on Tuesday did not approve a vaccination mandate for all of the county’s employees.

On Friday, Arizona reported over 3,000 additional virus cases and 23 deaths for the first time in six months. That brings the state’s total to 958,992 cases and a death toll of 18,435. In Pima County, according to the state, 50% of the population received at least one dose of the vaccine.

To register for a vaccination appointment, visit podvaccine.azdhs.gov or azhealth.gov/findvaccine or call 1-844-542-8201.

To learn more about vaccination sites, visit azdhs.gov.

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