All City of Pittsburgh employees must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 22.
KDKA Radio’s Marty Griffin reports that a memo was shared late Monday morning.
“In order to protect the City of Pittsburgh employees from COVID-19 and fulfil the city’s obligation to the public all city employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 22,” the memo says. “Fully vaccinated means two weeks after a person’s second dose in a two-dose series and two weeks after a single dose vaccine.”
“We have all been through so much over the past year and a half as we watched COVID-19 shut down our businesses, our schools and sent people to shelter in place,” said Mayor William Peduto in a release. “The science is clear that getting the vaccine protects us from the severity of COVID and its variants that are once again filling our hospitals. Our employees provide essential public services on the front lines, interacting directly with our critical communities like seniors, youth and those experiencing emergencies. It is our responsibility to act collectively to protect both our employees and the public so that we can move on and continue our recovery from the pandemic.”
The city will host vaccination clinics for employees.
Medical and religious exemptions from the vaccine mandate need to be submitted to the Department of Human Resources and Civil Service.
Employees who are granted an exemption will be required to take a weekly test.
Discipline for those who fail to be vaccinated face unpaid administrative leave or could be fired unless proof of vaccination is shown.