DC Mayor Says Executive Agency Employees Must Be Vaccinated
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday gave all government employees whose agencies report to her office until Sept. 19 to be fully vaccinated, calling it a “job requirement.”
According to the mayor’s office, roughly 36,700 people are employed by the D.C. Government, including employees of the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
To date, 21,746 employees have reported their vaccination status to the D.C Department of Human Resources.
Of the employees who have responded, approximately 19,907 employees, or about 54% of the total workforce, reported being fully vaccinated.
While this vaccination requirement applies to employees who work in agencies that report to the mayor, which includes approximately 32,700 employees, all independent agencies are highly encouraged to adopt the requirement, Bowser said.
Employees may be entitled to an accommodation on medical or religious grounds that exempts them from the vaccine requirement under certain circumstances.
Employees who seek an accommodation from the vaccine requirement on medical or religious grounds must consult their agency’s Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator and each request will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, the mayor’s office said.
Currently, all D.C. government employees who are fully vaccinated and update their status in PeopleSoft receive an eight-hour time-off award. Additionally, all D.C. employees are able to use two hours of administrative leave per dose to get vaccinated.
From January 2021 when less than 1% of the total D.C. population was fully vaccinated to June 2021 when over 50% of the total D.C. population was fully vaccinated, D.C. has seen a 95% decline in COVID-related deaths, the mayor’s office said.
Current data from D.C. Health shows that of the approximately 300,000 fully vaccinated individuals, the district has recorded only 546 breakthrough cases, or just 0.18% of all fully vaccinated individuals.
