Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a warning Thursday to city employees who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before a Dec. 18 deadline.
“Let me be clear: any employee who refuses to be vaccinated by this date should be prepared to lose their job,” Garcetti said in a statement.
He characterized the city’s mandate as “critical to protecting the health and safety of our workforce and the Angelenos we serve.”
In August, the L.A. City Council voted to require all city employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by early October unless granted a medical or religious exemption. City officials have since moved to extend that deadline to December, but both the Council and Garcetti would need to sign off before implementation.
“Employees must be vaccinated by Dec. 18, and we are putting a rigorous testing program into place in the meantime,” Garcetti said.
More than 66% of city employees have reported they will be fully vaccinated by the original October deadline. Thousands of city employees have still failed or declined to disclose vaccination status.
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