On Thursday, the City of Phoenix informed its 14,000 employees that they have until Jan. 18, 2022, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Employees will have to submit a completed vaccination card as proof.
Those employees who show proof of vaccination by the deadline will receive a whopping $75.
Despite resistance to the vaccine and the shortage of police officers, the City is requiring all police officers and firefighters to choose between the jab or a job.
The City’s move comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to stay OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, on November 12. The court ordered that OSHA “take no steps to implement or enforce” the ETS “until further court order.”
OSHA issued a statement saying it “remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies,” but it “has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation.”
Still, Phoenix employees who do not not get vaccinated by the deadline will face “progressive discipline,” including termination.
The city must offer religious or medical exemptions to employees.