Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse police union will oppose any possible coronavirus vaccine mandate for city employees, according to union president Joseph Moran.
Mayor Ben Walsh has issued a vaccine mandate for all city employees with the option for workers to opt out and be tested once a week. Those who do not want to be tested must be vaccinated by Sept. 7.
Moran said in a statement Thursday that the issue would be addressed in negotiations scheduled for the week of Aug. 30.
He did not say whether the union is opposed to regular testing as an opt-out option. He did not immediately return a call for comment.
Moran said he polled officers and the majority believe it is “simply wrong” for the city to ask all officers to be vaccinated.
Last week, Walsh said the city’s current policy was created after negotiations with the city’s labor leaders. Employees can seek an exemption to the policy for “reasonable medical or religious accommodations.”
Walsh was not able to say last week how many city employees are vaccinated, but did say rates were particularly low among the police department and the public works department.
“The police department has lagged, DPW has lagged, there are some others,” Walsh said. “...We want to make sure no matter where you work in city government you feel safe and protected.”
About 42% of all Syracuse residents are fully vaccinated for Covid-19 and 58% of people have at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Onondaga County Health Department.
Three days ago, the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to the Pfizer vaccine, the first novel coronavirus vaccine to receive approval.
“Mandating becomes much easier when you have full approval,” Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University told the Associated Press. “I think a lot of businesses have been waiting for it.”
Vaccine mandates have started being handed down by public agencies around the country, including for all U.S. military members.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon ordered that all service members must be vaccinated immediately after the FDA gave full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.
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