The Los Angeles City Council officially terminated its vaccination mandate for municipal employees Monday, ABC 7 reported.
The council members voted to end the city’s vaccination mandate, a policy instituted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ABC 7. The decision was unanimous, with all present council members voting 13-0 to rescind the mandate, effective retroactively from June 2. This move aligns with actions taken by other Southern California cities and comes more than a year after the city lifted its coronavirus emergency declaration.
The ordinance ends the vaccine requirement for current and future city employees and allows those fired or who resigned over the mandate to seek re-employment, ABC 7 reported. The council credited multiple unions for their role in determining the mandate’s end date. At the council meeting, public comments overwhelmingly supported the mandate’s termination.
LA City Council ends employee COVID-19 vaccine mandate https://t.co/36lZciDVhV
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 11, 2024
Speakers expressed relief and frustration about the policy’s original enforcement and called for reinstatement and back pay for those who lost their jobs due to the mandate, the outlet stated. The new ordinance impacts about 86 city employees dismissed for not following the vaccination policy, but it does not guarantee their rehiring. They must reapply and undergo the standard hiring procedures led by department heads. (RELATED: PETER ROFF: COVID Is Over — But Did We Learn Anything From It?)
This move aligns with a wider regional and national trend away from pandemic-era health mandates, spurred by falling COVID-19 cases and public eagerness to resume pre-pandemic routines. Similar rollbacks of vaccination requirements are occurring in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and the University of California system, according to ABC 7.
