While OSHA hasn’t finalized this rule yet, the county says they had one big consideration to make was staffing. Bernalillo County’s communications director, Tia Bland, said it was a balancing act right now as to what mandates to issue and how many people will leave because of those decisions.
Bernalillo County said they weighed the pros and cons of getting a vaccine mandate, and one of the biggest downsides is having a large group of workers who don’t want the vaccine.
“Some of these people have alerted the district leadership that some of these people would consider retiring sooner rather than later if a vaccine were to become a requirement for work in the district,” Bland said.
A lot of these people work in the already strained public safety departments, so instead of a mandate, they’re taking other steps.
“There were a couple of things that needed to be considered and one of the things the district manager took into account is whether or not Covid’s current safe practices and procedures seem to be working, and in this case, that’s how they feel,” said Bland.
These Covid-Safe practices include mandatory masks inside, staggered work schedules, and conducting virtual meetings as much as possible.
But Bland adds that those requirements could change as quickly as the pandemic.
“If the situation worsens, the district manager has the power to request vaccinations from employees if she deems it necessary,” said Bland.
But for now, the county is strongly encouraging its staff to get vaccinated, and the city said they are in the same boat.
Albuquerque city spokeswoman Ava Montoya told KOB 4 in a statement:
“The mandates take into account the reality that municipalities depend on adequate staffing in order to provide important services. We are grateful that the majority in our community and workforce campaigned to get vaccinated and will continue to make it as easy as possible to get the vaccination. “
While both the city and county do not require vaccines for their employees, they reward those who receive the vaccination with extra vacation days.
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