After the announcement of the federal health emergency surrounding Covid-19 ending, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced that the county will follow along with the federal government. Many of the policies in place will now be changed as a result of the ending of the health emergency.
The county’s requirement for employees and new hires to be vaccinated will be lifted and the generous COVID leave that the county had implemented at the beginning of the pandemic will also be ended.
"Following the ending of the Federal Health Emergency on May 11, it is time for Allegheny County to do the same," said Fitzgerald. "At the height of the pandemic, it was important to keep our fellow employees and the public we serve safe by having our employees vaccinated. While we still encourage people to protect themselves against COVID, the lifting of the emergency by the federal governments suggests to us to be consistent."
In September 2021, Fitzgerald announced that county employees and new hires would be required to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as a prerequisite for employment. That requirement will no longer be in effect.
However, county employees are still entitled to receive a Covid-19 vaccine at no cost under their existing health care plans.
Allegheny County also began offering paid COVID-19 leave early on in the Covid-19 pandemic for their employees. This benefit preceded the federal implementation of a paid leave requirement and has remained in place.. That policy will also end as of May 31. County employees have access to established accrued paid leave benefits including sick, vacation, and personal time which remain in place and are available to all eligible employees to use.
The ending of the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) has also impacted what information is available to the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD). There have been changes at both the federal and state level that have changed what is required to be reported and how information is gathered and distributed. As a result, many efforts are being suspended.
"The response to the pandemic required everyone within county government, the health systems, countless community partners and residents working together to keep everyone as healthy as possible, while limiting the spread of the virus, especially during the outbreak’s earliest days," said Patrick Dowd, Acting Director of ACHD. "This transition to a right-sized response to COVID-19 is an appropriate one as case numbers continue to drop to their lowest level in three years. We have built an effective and efficient disease outbreak response blueprint during the pandemic and, if another global public health threat emerges, are ready to respond at a moment’s notice."
The Health Department’s clinics, Immunization, Public Health, Pediatric Dental and Tuberculosis, are ending their masking requirement for staff and patients, effective immediately. The Health Department will announce further changes to its COVID-19 response, as information becomes available