ST. LOUIS — Nearly 6,000 city employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 15 or undergo weekly coronavirus tests under a new policy announced Wednesday by Mayor Tishaura O. Jones.
"St. Louis is joining the ranks of major public and private sector employers across the country who are requiring vaccination to protect public health," Jones said in a statement issued amid a continuing surge of COVID cases in Missouri and nationally.
"By encouraging vaccinations, we help keep our hospitals running, protect our children and save lives."
Personnel Director Richard Frank, who administers St. Louis' civil service system, said he had issued a regulation reflecting the mayor's position on addressing the pandemic.
Under the new rule, employees who don't want to be vaccinated for religious or medical reasons can opt for weekly testing.
City workers who get vaccinated by the deadline still will qualify for $100 gift cards the city previously offered to spur employees to do so.
It wasn't immediately clear whether several independent city offices that aren't part of the civil service system will follow suit. More than 700 people work in those agencies, such as the offices of the collector of revenue, recorder of deeds and sheriff.
Nick Dunne, Jones' spokesman, said he didn't know what percentage of city workers already have gotten COVID shots.
Meanwhile, Webster Groves' city council on Tuesday night voted to require its municipal employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations by Oct. 1 or obtain a medical or religious exemption.
And the St. Louis County Council is considering a bill proposed by Councilwoman Shalonda Webb that would require more than 2,700 merit system employees of the county government to be inoculated against COVID-19 or face regular testing.
County Executive Sam Page has signaled support for such a requirement.
The Ferguson-Florissant School District earlier this week became the first local district here to require employees to be vaccinated.
Various cities across the country have imposed vaccination mandates, including Los Angeles, where the city council on Wednesday did so for city employees effective Oct. 5.
This week, New York City began requiring patrons at bars, restaurants and other such venues to show proof they've had at least one dose of vaccine. New Orleans and San Francisco are also implementing such rules for some businesses this week.
