Flip a coin: this is the chance every city worker in Phoenix has received the COVID-19 vaccine, despite the looming threat of a mandate for the workforce of 14,000 people.
It is below the national average of 63 percent of residents and is below the national average of 71 percent of those who received at least one dose.
City guides were ready to adopt mandatory vaccinations on Tuesday, despite fierce opposition – including hundreds of demonstrators who tore up vaccination cards on the steps of the town hall.
But a Georgia court ruling on Tuesday slowed the Biden administration’s vaccine rules for federal entrepreneurs.
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Thousands of workers who have not yet been vaccinated are therefore given respite as the city reversed its decision to temporarily suspend the mandate, which was due to come into effect next month. Anyone who refused could be disciplined. or even fired from their job.
The city’s mandate now depends on Biden’s executive order surviving in court. For the time being, it is to be feared that the vaccination rates among workers will not improve.
Phoenix would have been the first of Valley towns to approve a vaccine mandate. City lawyers argued that the city was forced to adopt the policy after Biden issued an executive order requiring all companies and government contractors to choose: test employees regularly and at great expense or require vaccines. Phoenix is bound by the rules of other federal government contractors, lawyers alleged. Workers had until January 18 to get the shock or risk their jobs.
“While I continue to believe that vaccination is the best defense against COVID-19, we owe it to our employees to take legal action,” said Jeff Barton, Phoenix City Manager.
The latest figures show that city workers – especially those in the city’s fire and police departments who follow national trends – are lagging behind vaccination rates.
About 61 percent of people in Maricopa County ages 12 years or older are fully vaccinated, data shows. Only 51 percent of city employees are fully vaccinated among those who volunteered the information, city spokesman Dan Wilson confirmed to the Phoenix New Times.
Instead of the whip, the city has used the carrot in recent months. Employees can receive US $ 75 in cash upon presentation of proof of vaccination.
But the approach has so far been unsuccessful, especially among the city’s fire brigades and police, where significantly fewer workers are vaccinated.
About 41 percent of the Phoenix Police Department are vaccinated – about 1,600 out of 3,900 sworn officers and civilians. That is only 6 percent more than in August. In the past three months, only 250 more employees have been stabbed since then.
Some workers have a deep distrust of the vaccine and its effectiveness.
Phoenix Police Officer Fay Winter alleged in a public comment she delivered to the city that the vaccine was “poison”.
“I am against putting [the vaccine] in my body, even if it means losing my job serving the citizens of Phoenix, “wrote Winter.
Others have questioned the vaccine’s effectiveness, despite several large-scale clinical studies denying such claims. Other studies have shown that the vaccine significantly reduces the chances of hospitalization and death, but it also reduces the chances of the virus spreading. Serious side effects are rare.
“The vaccines do not stop infection, transmission or death,” Phoenix police sergeant Paul Weishaar wrote to the city. “If they don’t work, why do you have to force them on everyone?”
Officials said they “lose people” every week, compounding the city’s chronic police shortage. The police union – and even some city councilors – claim the mandate would encourage workers to resign in droves.
“A lot of people have made their choices,” said Jim Waring, councilor for District 2 in Phoenix. “People feel strong about it.”
It’s even less likely that you will meet a firefighter at work who got the stab.
Around 35 percent of firefighters are vaccinated, around 700 out of 2,000 employees. This is despite the fact that COVID-19 is widespread among its ranks, according to the TV channel 12News. According to the city, 49 firefighters have contracted COVID-19.
“Fires will not be put out,” said local anti-vaccine activist Merissa Hamilton of how labor shortages will worsen if the mandate is approved.
But that hasn’t happened in other cities with vaccine mandates.
More than 90 percent of Tucson employees were vaccinated last month, while about 10 percent remain unvaccinated due to religious or medical exceptions. Likewise, 97 percent of Salt River Indian Community employees have been vaccinated, although some firefighters have been laid off.
The employees of the Phoenix fire department should already be vaccinated against other diseases, said Mayor Kate Gallego. Before the pandemic, this policy was not an issue, she said.
Some councilors believe that the mandate should pass regardless of the court ruling.
“I find it very worrying that we are exposing potentially vulnerable members of the public” [to COVID-19]”Said Yassamin Ansari, councilor for District 7.
The public cannot decide whether or not to get a vaccinated worker when they call for help, she said.
Meanwhile, the city council is again considering ways to sweeten the deal for vaccine-reluctant workers. One idea on the table: a $ 1,500 bonus for those who succumb to the needle.
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