Nearly 2,500 D.C. health-care workers remain unvaccinated following Thursday’s deadline to receive at least the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with nearly 70 percent of them requesting a religious exemption, according to city officials.
The overwhelming majority of government and health-care workers in the District who have reported their vaccination status say they’ve gotten at least one shot, but District lawmakers have homed in on the D.C. Fire & EMS Department, whose employees are among a relatively small group of government workers that are subject to the stricter requirements for health-care workers.
About 267 of the department’s more than 2,000 employees have sought exemption from getting the vaccine, according to city officials — with the vast majority of them citing their religion. The 20 requests that have been reviewed so far were denied.
“To hear from the city administrator that we had an outsized number of religious exemption requests from one agency caught my attention,” said D.C. Council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large). “Across the country we believe in religious freedoms. But I think there is a high skepticism of individuals using religion for religion’s sake, as a shield to avoid something they don’t want to do.”
Not including D.C. fire department personnel, there are about 82,000 licensed health-care personnel who are required to get vaccinated as part of the city’s mandate, according to the mayor’s office. Of the 51,000 or so licensed employees who had reported their vaccination status as of Friday morning, about 49,000 said they were partially or fully vaccinated. Seventy-five percent of the 1,640 licensed health-care workers who reported being unvaccinated are seeking a religious exemption.
More than 12,000 of the roughly 13,000 unlicensed health-care workers who reported their status to the city said they were partially or fully vaccinated; 62 percent of the 823 unlicensed personnel who reported being unvaccinated are requesting a religious exemption.
Firefighters who are against the vaccine mandate say the exemption requests are a reflection of genuine expressions of faith that, for many, have grounded them during the difficulties of the pandemic. They also responded to safety concerns by citing unvaccinated firefighters’ adherence to the current weekly testing option, with the need to show a negative result to assume duty.
“For many of us, they have spiritual beliefs that are connected to what they do with their body,” said Will Jones, 31, a third-generation Washingtonian who began his firefighting career five years ago with the department. Jones, who is one of the organizers of the DC Firefighters Bodily Autonomy Affirmation Group, which was created after the mandate was announced, said he was worried about unvaccinated firefighters losing their jobs.
“It would be a nightmare continuing to do what we’re supposed to do in the city with losing a couple hundred firefighters,” Jones said. “It’s not anti-vaccine as much as it is, ‘What is the ethical way to move forward with this?’ in order to continue to protect and serve the city.”
Group members represent a “whole spectrum of spiritual beliefs,” including Christian, Jewish and Muslim members, Jones said.
Norman Brooks, 37, a firefighter who has served for about 15 years and is a member of the group, said the mandate is a “violation of people’s basic rights.”
“As far as my beliefs go, there are certain scriptures that pretty much speak to letting God handle the situation,” Brooks said. “I believe people should get the vaccine if that’s what they believe is best for them, but as far as for me, my beliefs, it’s not for me.”
In a statement, the group says it has obtained legal counsel should the religious exemptions be denied.
By Thursday afternoon, 89 percent of all D.C. government employees had reported their vaccination status, with 75 percent confirming they were fully vaccinated, said City Administrator Kevin Donahue. He said the majority of exemptions have come from D.C. fire because it is the largest employer within the city’s government that is subject to the stricter mandate for health-care workers.
Asked at a news conference last month about how D.C. would confront challenges with staffing that could arise because of the vaccine requirements, Bowser emphasized that her priority was public safety.
“Our fire and EMS workers are in very precarious situations, they go into people’s homes, they provide health care in the back of an ambulance, they live together,” Bowser said. “We see the extension of this mandate for our health-care workers, especially our D.C. government employees, as a way to keep our communities safe.”
In neighboring jurisdictions like Montgomery County and Alexandria, officials say government employees will be offered a test-out option, and they are not tracking exemption requests at this point — although Montgomery is considering eliminating the option to test out.
There are some other licensed health professionals who work in D.C. government, such as nurses and physical therapists in schools, who must also be vaccinated or get an exemption. In mid-September, Bowser announced that all teachers, school staff and early child-care workers in the District must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Nov. 1, eliminating a testing option for that population as well.
Now that the Sept. 30 deadline for health-care workers has passed, D.C. Health will begin reviewing documentation and proof of vaccination for all workers covered by the mandate, including D.C. fire workers, Donahue said. Health-care employees could ultimately lose their licenses if they remain unvaccinated without an exemption, while D.C. fire workers could be suspended or terminated.
Donahue said each exemption request is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and those who cite a spiritual belief must meet a threshold of whether it’s deeply held that qualifies for a reasonable accommodation not to get vaccinated. Those who disagree with the decision can appeal and in the meantime, they’ll be subject to weekly testing.
D.C.'s religious accommodation request form notes that a request could be denied if it creates an “undue hardship” on the agency. It also specifies that these requests cannot be based on political, sociological, philosophical or moral beliefs.
Henderson said her concerns were largely fueled by the fact that D.C. fire personnel live in close quarters where they probably interact without personal protective equipment. She envisioned a scenario where an entire firehouse could be shut down, or severely stymied, because of an outbreak.
In response to safety concerns, Jones pointed to the weekly testing requirement.
“We’ve been serving safely and courageously throughout this pandemic,” Jones said. “We are currently testing. People are providing negative tests before they’re assuming duty.”
On a call between the D.C. Council and members of Bowser’s administration Friday morning, several council members continued to ask about vaccine exemptions, including Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), who questioned whether the Department of Health would consider removing religious exemptions from vaccine policies altogether.
The volume of requests, she said could suggest “there might be some abuse or some loose interpretation of the religious exemption.”
City officials say they understand the desire of vaccine-hesitant firefighters to continue serving the community, and Donahue said he hoped the result would be a fully vaccinated workforce.
“The goal of all this is not to suspend or fire any workers, the goal is to get them vaccinated,” Donahue said. “And hopefully, the inevitable, impending requirement of getting vaccinated will provide further incentive for those holding out to get a vaccine.”
Julie Zauzmer Weil contributed to this report.
