98.2% of Denver city workers complied with the vaccine mandate

At slightest 98.2% of Denver’s much than 10,000 employees person complied with Mayor Michael Hancock’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate earlier Thursday’s deadline.

For those who haven’t, Friday marks the archetypal time the metropolis tin nonstop disciplinary letters — though workers who garbage to beryllium vaccinated nether immoderate circumstances volition beryllium fired, metropolis attorney’s bureau spokeswoman Jacqlin Davis said earlier this week.

It is not wide however galore of those disciplinary letters went retired Friday. The city’s main quality resources section and the idiosyncratic quality resources offices of metropolis agencies including the section of nationalist information and the Denver Public Library are handling those, Davis said.

The nationalist wellness bid covered not conscionable each metropolis worker — from the Denver Zoo to the Denver Police section — but besides radical moving successful backstage and nationalist schools, nursing homes, stateless shelters and hospitals.

The metropolis has not provided figures connected however galore radical extracurricular its employment umbrella person met the requirement. But arsenic of 5 p.m. Thursday, 10,670 full-time metropolis workers had either been vaccinated oregon approved for a aesculapian oregon spiritual exemption, per the metropolis dashboard.

That’s a much than 34% summation successful compliance implicit the past 4 weeks and contempt a brace of legal challenges from constabulary and operation associations.

Hancock spokesperson Mike Strott said the metropolis intended to judge vaccine records and exemption documentation up until midnight Thursday. Exemption totals were expected to beryllium updated Friday, but arsenic of Sept. 24, 627 metropolis employees had been fixed exemptions and 52 were denied.

Aside from the radical who garbage to beryllium vaccinated and volition beryllium fired, radical who person yet to comply but inactive could volition look 10-day suspensions without pay. If they person not started the vaccination process aft those 10 days, they excessively volition beryllium fired, Davis said.

Those who are successful the process of being vaccinated but not afloat vaccinated (achieved 2 weeks aft a last dose is administered, by nationalist wellness guidelines) volition look nary discipline.

On Wednesday, a Denver District Court justice dismissed a lawsuit brought by 7 constabulary officers seeking to artifact the mandate. The justice said officers had not exhausted administrative remedies wrong the section earlier taking ineligible action.

Thursday afternoon’s statistic amusement 97.4% (or 1,748) of Denver Police Department employees are successful compliance with the mandate.

The Denver Sheriff’s Department has the lowest compliance complaint among metropolis departments of much than 100 employees astatine 93.9%. Two unvaccinated sheriff’s deputies died of COVID-19 earlier this year.