Tipsheet

D.C. Mayor Mandates Vaccine for Healthcare Workers

Carson Swick
Carson Swick  |  August 16, 2021 4:00 PM

The District of Columbia will now require all healthcare workers to be vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced on Monday.

According to Bowser’s Twitter announcement, the vaccine requirement will apply to all licensed or registered health professionals, all Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers or Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and all unlicensed personal healthcare workers.

The mandate will go into effect on Sept. 30, by which everyone subjected to Bowser’s mandate must have received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or at least one dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccination. Those who do not comply will be unable to renew their licenses and registrations,  and they could face termination.

With the vaccine mandate, D.C. joins several other cities in enacting increasingly aggressive vaccine incentives as the Delta variant spikes across the country. Last week, New York City and San Francisco both announced that residents would need to present proof of vaccination to participate in many aspects of society, including dining at restaurants.

65.6 percent of all D.C. residents, including children, have received at least one dose of a Wuhan coronavirus vaccine. Fifty-six percent of all residents are fully vaccinated, though this number is much greater among healthcare workers.

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The vaccine mandate comes less than three weeks after Bowser re-instituted Wuhan coronavirus masks in D.C. for the first time since mid-May. Masks have been required at all indoor settings in D.C. since July 31, though Bowser was spotted maskless just hours after she announced this mandate.

The mayor’s apparent hypocrisy drew widespread criticism, though Bowser insisted that the photo of her dutifully taken by The Washington Examiner was “conservative media disinformation."