The Sedgwick County Commission unanimously approved a vaccine mandate for select county employees.
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Around 550 COMCARE and County health department employees would be affected by the federal mandate, since they accept Medicare and Medicaid funding. County officials said if they rejected the mandate, they would risk losing $11 million in federal funding.
EMS and Fire personnel are not covered by the policy.
Both Commissioner Jim Howell and Chairman David Dennis said they support vaccinations, but they don't support the federal mandate. They stated they were reluctantly supporting the measure, so as to not lose federal funding.
The county must have a policy in line with the mandate by January 27 and it must be fully implemented by February 28.