Philly Ends Covid-19 Shot Mandate for City Workers Except…

Philadelphia ended its mandate for all city workers and contractors to have the primary series of COVID-19 shots. The updated order excepted those who work as health care practitioners, who still must have received the primary series to maintain their employment.

The police and firefighter unions both fought and delayed the full implementation of the mandate but ultimately gave in to an arbitrator, who quickly ruled in the city’s favor on the mandate.

Approximately one hundred city employees were fired for refusing the shots. Many others retired or resigned. Critical positions in police, fire, health care, and education continue to be rife with vacancies, one of the most glaring outcomes of this policy.

Several court cases have found that public and health care worker mandates do not comply with the law and have been enjoined. The most recent being CHD’s victory in New York State, where it forced the State Department of Health to rescind the order. In the initial lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued there was “no rational basis” for the mandate when the NYSDOH “acknowledges the mandated vaccine fails to accomplish its stated goal, i.e., prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

The PA Chapter of CHD will be looking into the possibility of applying the legal template successfully applied in New York to the one corner of Pennsylvania where health care workers are still mandated to receive experimental shots against their consent.

UPDATE:  CHD member Lynn Landes got a rare mandate dissenting letter to the editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  See below: