A number of San Francisco deputies will seek employment elsewhere or opt for early retirement if they are required to take the COVID-19 vaccine under a new imposed vaccine mandate, warned the city’s sheriff’s union on Friday.
San Francisco officials recently announced that all city employees will have to be vaccinated or face possible termination.
There are about 35,000 city employees. Religious exemptions or medical reasons may let some bypass the mandate, but those who refuse the shot and have no exemption will encounter consequences that could result in termination, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
The San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association published a statement on Facebook, saying they always supported safety measures against the virus but the issue at hand is that about 160 of their Sheriffs don’t want to take the vaccine due to their beliefs.
“The problem we are faced with now is the strict San Francisco Mandate which is vaccinate or be terminated. If deputy sheriffs are forced to vaccinate a percentage of them will retire early or seek employment elsewhere,” reads the statement.
The Sheriff’s Association notes that 160 of their 700 deputies are unwilling to take the vaccine, and that they can’t afford to lose them since they already have the lowest-ever staffing due to applicant testing restrictions imposed by the mayor.
“The majority of Deputy Sheriffs are vaccinated. Approximately 160 out 700 Deputy Sheriffs are not vaccinated [and] prefer to mask and test weekly instead of being vaccinated due to religious and other beliefs. Currently, the staffing at the SFSO is at the lowest it has ever been due to the past 9-month applicant testing restriction placed on the Sheriff’s Office by the May.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the San Francisco mayor for comment.
“It’s really a decision for the health and safety of our employees and our public that we serve,” the city’s director of human resources, Carol Isen, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
San Francisco and six other counties in the Bay area have reinstated a mask mandate for all indoor public activities due to the appearance of the Delta variant.
The mask mandate is to be obeyed by everyone, including vaccinated people, reported the Associated Press.
“It is unfortunate we have to do this at this point in the pandemic. None of us wanted to be here,” Dr. George Han, deputy health officer for Santa Clara County said, “but the virus has changed.”
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