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YOUNGSTOWN -- Yet another deadline for city employees to provide their COVID-19 vaccination status has come and gone.
Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said Nov. 18 he was giving city employees until Tuesday to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. Brown had set a goal of at least 75 percent of city employees vaccinated by that date.
If the rate was below 75 percent, the city planned to implement a policy requiring all employees who failed to provide proof of the vaccinations to undergo biweekly testing with the cost covered by the city.
Because of the lack of available COVID-19 tests, Brown said Tuesday that he was delaying the deadline.
"When I started the process to implement testing mandates for employees, the omicron variant had not been discovered," he said. "Therefore, I cannot set unrealistic testing requirements on city employees when the supply and demand of testing kits and sites are not readily available at this time."
City Health Commissioner Erin Bishop said her department has experienced delays in accumulating the data. That is because, she said, the health district has been busy distributing COVID-19 at-home test kits while also giving inoculations and she needs an updated employee list.
"The list I have included seasonal park workers who no longer work here," she said. "I have to get a more current list."
A Monday statement from the city said about 50 percent of city employees -- there are about 700 of them -- have been vaccinated, but that doesn't "reflect the need for necessary booster shots."
About 50 percent of the city's employees had shown proof of vaccination in mid-November, Brown said Nov. 17.
The city distributed 15,000 at-home COVID-19 testing kits it received from the Ohio Department of Health as of Tuesday, Bishop said.
The city's Monday statement said: "The urgency for city employee vaccinations remains a priority. Employees will be allowed more time to vaccinate and get booster shots."
The city didn't provide a new deadline Monday.
The statement added that booster shots are needed and "the impact of the current rate of infection has changed the landscape for COVID-19 vaccines, boosters and verifiable testing."
Brown initially had considered making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for city workers and requiring those who were unvaccinated to pay for weekly or biweekly tests.
Brown said he came up with the compromise of at least 75 percent and testing the rest at the city's expense after meeting with union leadership.
But the presidents of the police officer and firefighter unions, who had previously objected to having a vaccine mandate, said that while they met with Brown in November, they didn't agree with his decision.
City workers were told Oct. 8 to share COVID-19 vaccination information voluntarily no later than Oct. 15 in preparation for an inoculation mandate. It wasn't until Nov. 5 that it was determined that about 50 percent of the city's employees were vaccinated.
But also on Nov. 5, unions representing police officers and firefighters voiced strong objections to the requirement.
That is why Brown said he decided to meet with union officials to discuss the proposal.
Brown first discussed the possibility Aug. 23 of mandating that all city employees be vaccinated or get regularly tested. It was the same day he announced a face-mask mandate, effective a day later, for all those inside city buildings, except the Covelli Centre.
It came up in a discussion by city council about giving $1,000 bonuses to all city employees who have either been vaccinated against COVID-19 or would get inoculated. That proposal was defeated Oct. 20 by a 4-3 vote, but Brown continued to favor the vaccination mandate for city workers.
dskolnick@vindy.com