Boston City TV, MA Boston Mayor's Office, 24 Jan 2022

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From YouTube: City Employee Vaccination Update - 1/24/22

Description

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hosts a press conference at Boston City Hall to give an update related to the city employee vaccination requirement.

A

Morning, nice, to see you all we're just here to give a quick update on the tremendous progress that we've been seeing in terms of our employee vaccination policy. I am so grateful to so many of our employees, who have now over the last week or so continued to go out there get vaccinated, get boosted so just to review the numbers since december 20th, more than sixteen hundred employees have submitted proof of vaccination.

A

Additionally, and so we are now at more than 94 of our entire city of boston, workforce that are vaccinated and in compliance with the city's new policy.

A

That is a total of 18 270 employees who have gotten vaccinated in line with this policy.

A

I'm incredibly encouraged by this progress, and we continue to have very productive conversations with our union partners about the collective bargaining impacts, and we are giving this one more week to make sure that we realize that progress almost all department, almost every department, is at more than 90 percent vaccination rates across the city, and so a couple examples just to get into the the weeds on this.

A

Our boston public schools are at a 94 percent vaccination rate. Boston police is at more than 95 percent boston. Fire is at 91 percent. The boston public library is at 95 percent inspectional services at 96 percent and our parks department at 97 percent vaccination, several departments- many many of them- are fully at 100 percent vaccination.

A

So thank you so much to our registry and treasury departments on the second floor here in city hall, to the clerk's office, to the office of economic opportunity and inclusion for our to our youth, employment and engagement office to our office of streets, who are all at 100 percent vaccinated.

A

So as you've seen, we are giving our employees one more week to get vaccinated, and that means that there will be no unpaid leave between january 25th and january 30th. We're going to continue prioritizing communication with our employees and unions, and there will be multiple vaccination clinics hosted throughout this week as well.

A

Okay, so I will hand it over now to our executive director of the boston public health commission, dr pisola ojukuchu, for an update on our coveted numbers across the city.

B

Thank you, mayor wu and thanks everyone. Obviously, vaccination is the most important tool that we have to mitigate the impact of covet 19 and that's why this requirement for city employees is just so critical. I just wanted to say a few words just about what we're doing citywide to ensure access to vaccines for our city employees over the course.

B

The last few weeks we've held numerous vaccine clinics for boston, fire, boston, police department, the boston public school staff, including teachers, paraprofessionals and other critical front line workers, and in addition, we have been holding twice weekly vaccination clinics right here at city hall. Tomorrow is our next clinic here from on tuesday from 10 to 4 p.m and thursday from 12 to 6 p.m.

B

I think that this is just really incredibly critical, as we try to encourage vaccination just across the board. I would say that there is quite a bit of reason to be hopeful right now in the city of boston. For several weeks in december, into early january, our vaccination rates didn't increase.

B

More recently, we have seen a significant increase in new vaccination uptake from the first to second week. In january we noticed a 36 percent increase city-wide and then from the second to the third week. Another 17 percent overall 70 of our residents are currently fully vaccinated and more than 82 percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

B

I also just wanted to update you on a couple of metrics in regards to the surge. I know everybody is obviously following that very closely.

B

As you may recall, our highest positivity rate in boston was over 32 percent as of last friday, so this is through last friday the 24th, our community positivity rate, is now 18.9 percent, though we continue to see increased new cases. Our number of new cases is down about 50 percent from the previous week.

B

Our emergency department visits are down by 16 percent and I think the things are overall going in the right direction. I just want to encourage you that it's important for us to make note of the fact that hospitalizations still remain extraordinarily high and they're up 12 percent from the previous week. So we need to continue to be cautious, continue to mass, continue to test and isolate in order to get through the surge so I'll stop there.

A

I think everybody's looking for how many employees are not in compliance, is that what you're asking I don't have that number? We know that the total is 94 vaccinated. As of this point, and that is 18 270 employees.

A

We're giving our employees one more week, because conversations are going very well with several of our municipal union partners and looking to make progress and see where we are at the end of this week. But this policy will be implemented and we're getting there. We are basically there yeah who are frustrated, especially the protesters who are.

B

Standing outside feel like this is unfair.

A

So grateful to the vast majority of city employees who have already gotten vaccinated and the more than 600 employees who have additionally gotten vaccinated since the census policy was announced. We know that across our workforce everyone is trying to do the right thing and we know how important vaccinations are to keeping individuals and families and our communities safe. So we'll continue working with our city municipal union partners.

A

This policy does represent an important step in our pandemic and in this moment of emergency, so we'll continue to work with everyone over this week and this policy will will be going into effect shortly.

A

Yes, there have been- um let's see, my last number was 609 exemption requests that have been received. Our individual departments, our personnel departments- are still working through these because it is a case-by-case analysis and there's medical documentation required in many cases as well. So a number of these have been granted and a number are still being processed.

B

On december 20th, why are we giving these employees.

A

Even in the last week, as the deadline loomed, we saw great progress in people just taking that extra step, making their way to a vaccination clinic. This is part of the collective bargaining process, with our municipal unions as well, and so we have been seeing some major steps forward over the weekend with several of our unions and so we're looking to continue that and give it a few give it one more week to make sure that we can get close to an agreement. There.

A

Our office of labor relations has been meeting with every single collective bargaining unit in the city. We have a proposal out with the boston police, patrolmen's association as well, and continue to have meetings with others throughout this week.

A

So um when a policy is according to the collective bargaining laws and and the the arrangements with the city and its municipal unions when there are when a policy is implemented, that is going to have impacts on a workforce, there's, what's called impact bargaining that goes on, and so we've been in conversations with each of our municipal unions about what these impacts might look like again, the vast majority of our workforce is already vaccinated but, for example, the implementation of details of this, in terms of, um for example, with the the bppa proposal that is now being sent to their their membership.

A

There is a there are some details about. If someone is vaccinated a certain number of days after the deadline, could they have the chance to re-interview for their job or come back to their job? It's that those kind of specific process details.

A

Is it accurate that.

B

The city intends to honor the provision of the moa with the boston teachers union.

A

um We're still in conversations with the boston teachers union, but that is that is not the um that is not where we are at this moment.

A

Because we are getting close with in conversations with several of our municipal unions and so to respect the collective bargaining process and to honor the tremendous progress that we continue to see as workers access the vaccination clinics, we're hosting we're giving it one more week.

B

He listed some of the departments. I know you didn't list every single department, but based off those numbers is the fire part of the firepower. The.

A

Worst, compliance so far, um it's it's hard to so I think from a technical. The technical answer is no, because there are some departments that are very, very small, and so, if even one person is not vaccinated, then it kind of skews the numbers, but in terms of our very large departments, the numbers basically are in line with the city-wide average, which is 94 percent.

A

um The plan at this point is that, when this policy comes into effect, those who are not in compliance with the vaccination policy will receive notification and be placed on unpaid leave.

A

That is what's on the table right now with bppa, and we continue to have conversations with other unions as well.

A

We continue to meet with all of our municipal bargaining units and the office of labor. Relations has been going through all of our impact bargaining sessions and conversations, and so we are looking to do the right thing for the city in terms of keeping all of our constituents and city workers safe. So I'm really grateful that 91 percent of our fire department is already vaccinated and the vast majority of our city workforce overall and we are working within the legal rights of the city to implement what is best for our public safety and public health.

A

B

The public interpret your second first government as a wavering in your commitment to enforcing this.

A

Policy, the second.

C

A

We are very clear that this policy is necessary and important for the public safety and health of city workers, as well as the public at large and we're working to through the collective bargaining process, to implement this in a way that will bring our municipal partners along with us. So I'm feeling good about the progress we're seeing in this one more week that we are giving our workforce to get vaccinated.

A

Another extension.

A

This should be one more week for our city workforce. We will not wait until every single city worker is there before implementing this, but because we have seen such progress over the last week and because there have been some important steps forward in conversations with our municipal bargaining municipal union partners. This week is important for one more week that our employee employees will have.

A

The deadline right now is january 30th, and I expect that all of our city workers who choose to get vaccinated will do so before this time. We're making several vaccination clinics available this week as well, and then we will move into implementation of the full policy.

A

I want to acknowledge how much strain and stress all of our city workers have been under over the last two years of the pandemic, and so, while we do know that we will have the staffing levels to be able to keep everyone safe and maintain city services without any sort of interruption.

A

We have plans in place along every department on those lines, but I want to honor the work that our city workers have put in and make sure that we are moving towards a staffing and support structure for all of our city workers that people feel like they have the supports. They need to be able to continue to do this work in a very difficult time.

A

I am just heartbroken on behalf of the city of boston for the the family of that commuter and have read the tributes to her and what an incredible person she was.

A

It is unacceptable that we are seeing anyone doing what they should be able to do every day without thought, go up, walk, walk around our mbta infrastructure safely or take a train and go to work or or just know that they are.

A

Accessing the right to get around our city and our region, so we will continue to work in partnership with the mbta to ensure not only reliability and expanding the service to the levels that we need, but also safety as a baseline for everyone who interacts with our system.

A

Do you think that this sets you back in terms of collective bargaining,.

A

We are now two months into some very intense conversations with many of our union partners across the city. It's been incredibly productive and we're getting to a good place with several of those unions, and so this is not. In addition, this is not instead of conversations related to larger collective bargaining and the contracts. Overall.

A

This is an important part of what we need to keep our workforce and our city safe, and we are bargaining it on the timeline that, with the urgency that that requires, but if, if anything, it's set the tone and created the conversations that will be productive heading into larger contract negotiations as well.

A

I won't rule anything out because our labor relations team is still talking with each individual union, but in terms of what's been offered so far to the bppa. I think those those terms are are what's on the table for that particular union and that's that's the what we've put out there so far.

B

You're right, we have increased access to testing throughout the city. We have testing at the bowling building at the uh lila g, frederick middle middle school, and then we will be opening testing at the jubilee church in matapan. So we have definitely increased access to testing and that's an important strategy, but it doesn't supplant or remove the need for vaccination testing.

B

Even if you're testing regularly does not catch all transmissible infection, what we're doing with vaccination at least the initial primary series, then you know hopefully getting people boosted really decreasing the risk of new infections, decreasing severe hospitalization, there's really a wide array of benefits to vaccination and that's what we hope that all of our city workers will take advantage of, as well as the city residents of boston in general.

A

So testing will be in addition to vaccination.

C

Okay, great, thank you. Everyone.

B