A COVID-19 vaccine mandate and passport in Boston — just as virus cases and hospitalizations surge ahead of Christmas — will likely spark a legal fight from unions and other groups.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Monday is set to announce a slate of new coronavirus vaccine policies as the highly contagious omicron variant quickly spreads and COVID-19 hospitalizations spike.
Wu wouldn’t specify the new vaccine policies when asked on Sunday, but city unions over the weekend told their members about a “major change” in particular: City employees will have to get vaccinated, and they can no longer test out of the vaccination mandate. The workers could get fired if they don’t get the shot.
“We are taking steps to ensure that we are increasing protections all across the city as we see cases going up, and to make sure Boston is on the front lines of what we need to do to keep our city safe,” Wu said on Sunday, outside Brighton’s Corrib Pub for the Allston-Brighton toy drive.
“We’ll have more news tomorrow on policies and the latest on COVID,” she added.
The city’s 18,000 employees have had the option to either be vaccinated or get tested regularly.
A memo from Boston Firefighters Local 718 says the city will mandate vaccination for employees and that the testing option will be gone.
“This is a major change from our current policy, which includes a testing option for our members that have elected not to be vaccinated,” John Soares, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718, wrote in the memo.
“We have notified our attorney of this policy change, and we are in discussions with our brothers and sisters from the other city unions,” he later added. “As you know, this is a complex issue, and it has raised much controversy not only in Boston but across the nation. We are reviewing our legal options and will be meeting with the city’s office of labor relations.”
The letter from Boston Firefighters Local 718 was first reported by Live Boston over the weekend.
Wu on Sunday was asked about union pushback to the administration’s policies.
“We’re in a moment where health must come first — that is for the general public and for each and every one within our workforce in City Hall and across the city of Boston,” the mayor said. “So we’re going to take measures to ensure that everybody is safe and protected, and that Boston will follow the science and the data on what we need to be doing.”
Wu had recently said “everything is on the table” in the race to slow the spread of COVID-19 as cases and hospitalizations surge during the holiday season. She has left the door open for vaccine passports to enter businesses, including restaurants.
Soares in the firefighters’ memo wrote that Wu is mandating a vaccination passport to enter buildings in the city.
Shana Cottone, an organizer of Boston First Responders United, said her group is ready to “take this to court if we have to.”
“We implore her (Wu) to leave the testing option in place. Testing has been that middle ground,” Cottone said. “Can the city afford to lose tenured, well-trained, experienced police officers, firefighters and EMTs? These are the people who would be terminated.”
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