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SAN JOSE – With COVID-19 vaccination rates rising from slow to dramatically improved among police officers in San Jose – as skepticism persists over vaccine integrity – their union has drafted a proposal to limit the term of the city in terms of vaccines and testing, and to avoid potential layoffs resulting from non-compliance.
A strong subtext of the proposal is that the San Jose Police Officers Association is trying to block the much stricter second phase of the city’s tenure that would threaten to end employees who don’t get vaccinated and don’t. have no approved exemption. Union officials fear that dozens of officers will resign or be fired as part of this planned second phase of the mandate.
The union, citing its assembly and assembly rights, proposed a plan to reconcile the approximately 1,150 sworn officers of the police department with a mandate from the city for vaccinations or weekly tests for city workers. Most of the proposal describes accommodations related to vaccination and testing, including provisions for medical or religious exemptions.
The wording of the POA proposal specifically cites how similar vaccination or testing plans are already in place for the federal and state government, and refers to the full FDA approval this week of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. as an incentive for agents to get vaccinated, especially with the highly infectious delta variant of the virus spreading across the country.
“This proposal really strikes a balance between maintaining security and preventing the spread of the virus,” said union president Sean Pritchard. “We encourage and continue to encourage our members to get vaccinated. However, we also respect an individual’s decision on something that affects them and their family.
The current embodiment of the city employee mandate dictates that non-compliance can result in unpaid leave. But the union is also responding to a plan proposed by the city to institute an even stricter standard requiring outright vaccinations, and limiting the weekly testing alternative only to those eligible for a vaccine exemption.
Failure to comply with the latter requirement will result in termination. Pritchard warned that the city’s move to the second phase of the mandate could result in the loss of 100 agents and “absolutely wipe out this department.”
The city generally intends to move to the more stringent phase in late September, with leeway to reconsider whether city officials determined it would have significant negative impacts on city services.
City spokeswoman Carolina Camarena said on Wednesday that the city is currently reviewing the POA proposal to determine how it might affect the city’s plans.
“We just received it, so we will review it and reassess it if necessary,” she said.
Vaccination adherence among officers has risen sharply after initially being poor, with the police department reporting that 86% of sworn personnel received at least one dose of the vaccine. This represents a jump from the estimate of 50% to 55% reported earlier this summer.
The estimated full vaccination rate for the entire population of Santa Clara County is just over 80%.
According to a source well connected to the SJPD, there are at least 200 agents who have still not been vaccinated, or whose vaccination status is unknown. The source said part of the vaccine opposition is rooted in claims of personal freedoms, but some officers openly subscribe to conspiracy theories and debunk vaccine misinformation, including the idea that the shots are purported vehicles for government-issued tracking chips.
The risk to officers and the people they contact is particularly pronounced given the public nature of their work. For example, as late as Tuesday, police officers in San José were tasked with cleaning the city council chamber of unmasked people protesting against the mayor and the council’s plan to require proof of vaccination for entry into the city. major city-owned event venues including the SAP Center and several theaters, museums and the main downtown convention center.
“The overwhelming message from our employee leaders is to demand vaccination to protect the health of all employees in our city,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said earlier this month regarding the tenure of city employees. “And we also have an obligation to our larger community and as long as city employees interact with our community, we need to make sure they can do so safely.”
Editor Maggie Angst contributed to this report.
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