Somerville Issues Vaccine Mandate For City Employees

SOMERVILLE, MA — Somerville is requiring all city employees to get vaccinated by Nov. 1.

Mayor Joseph Curtatone made the announcement Sunday, saying "we must use every tool available to rein in the devastating impacts of this virus."

"We’ll be doing our best to make this easy for employees, and we will be working with our union representatives to develop reasonable accommodations for medical and other exceptions," Curtatone said.

City staff includes all full-time, part-time and temporary employees working for any department of public safety agency, excluding school staff. The Somerville School Committee will take up a mandate for public school employees at its meeting Monday night.

Requests for medical and religious accommodations will be considered on a case-by-case basis. City officials are developing protocols for enforcement and accommodations in collaboration with employee union representatives.

People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their final vaccine dose, so employees must receive their final shot by Oct. 18.

The city will offer staff vaccination clinics and share information on other vaccination providers. Staff will be able to report their vaccination status through an online portal, which will be administered with "full confidentiality" by the Department of Human Resources, officials said.

"The vaccines are proving to be highly effective in preventing serious cases of COVID-19, even with the variants," Health and Human Services Director Doug Kress said. "That is why it is vital for everyone who is eligible to get the vaccine. There are still tens of thousands of people regionally and more than 100 million people nationally who do not have this protection, just as a highly contagious variant is causing a new round of outbreaks. Until we have the overwhelming majority of our population vaccinated, the potential for this virus to do serious harm will persist."

Vaccination is available for free to all Massachusetts residents ages 12 and older. No insurance, no I.D. and no immigration information is required. Walk-in, no-appointment options are widely available. To find out how and where to get vaccinated locally, visit somervillema.gov/vaccine or contact 311 at 617-666-3311.