More than 94% of City of Seattle employees are now vaccinated with less than 1% declining to submit verification or an exemption request.
“Seattle has the lowest cases, hospitalizations, and deaths of every major city while having one of the highest vaccinations rate because we have followed the science and advice of public health officials. Vaccines keep our children, colleagues, and community safe,” said Seatltle Mayor Durkan. “Over the last 20 months, our city employees and first responder have been on the frontlines of helping our residents get through the pandemic, and they continue to step up to keep Seattle safe and healthy.”
Of approximately 11,250 executive branch employees, 94.5% city employees are vaccinated, 4.6% have sought exemptions, and 0.9% have not submitted (97 employees).
More than 25 departments have more than 95% of employees vaccinated and 100% submission. As of the deadline, vaccination rates at the following departments were:
- Seattle Fire Department: 93% vaccinated
- Seattle Police Department: 92% vaccinated
- Seattle Department of Transportation: 95% vaccinated
- Seattle Parks: 95% vaccinated
- Seattle City Light: 93% vaccinated
- Seattle Public Utilities: 94% vaccinated
According to officials, departments will continue to review exemption request, and over the coming weeks, engage in an interactive process with individual employees to determine whether a permanent or temporary reasonable accommodation is available. During the separation process, if an employee commits to becoming fully vaccinated, the City may offer a last chance to get vaccinated, depending on the circumstances.
