All city of Phoenix employees will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 18 under the federal mandate, according to an email sent to city workers Thursday.
The email also said employees not in compliance with the vaccine requirement by the deadline will be subject to discipline up to and including being fired.
City officials said religious or medical accommodations will be available for those wishing to opt-out of the policy, but won’t be guaranteed.
Last month, the Tucson City Council approved an ordinance saying city employees who haven’t received at least one shot of the vaccine and have not received an approved exception or accommodation by Dec. 1 will be subject to termination.
Meanwhile, Arizona on Thursday reported over 4,000 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases for the second time in a week as virus-related hospitalizations continued to climb.
The state Department of Health Services’ coronavirus dashboard reported 4,184 additional cases and 56 more deaths, increasing the pandemic totals to 1,228,076 cases and 21,808 deaths.
As of Wednesday, 2,403 virus patients occupied hospital inpatient beds, the most since February.
Beginning Tuesday and again on Wednesday, only 6% of the state’s inpatient beds statewide were not in use, the lowest percentage since the pandemic began.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
