PHILADELPHIA — The City of Philadelphia announced the following updates as it continues to work to implement its workforce vaccine mandate previously announced in November 2021. While the City issued a vaccination mandate for all employees—those represented by unions and those unrepresented (exempt)—it is important to understand that legally the City must negotiate the impact of this new requirement with its labor union partners: the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), AFSCME District Council 33 (DC 33), AFSCME District Council 47 (DC 47), and Local 22 (Firefighters) before it officially goes into effect for employees represented by those unions.

“As vaccines continue to be the best way to protect Philadelphians and save lives, we’re proud that nearly 22,000 City employees have gotten vaccinated and at least another 1,300 have an approved exemption to the vaccination mandate for City employees—representing nearly 81 percent of all City employees,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “We also commend those employees who’ve taken the first steps to getting vaccinated—receiving at least one dose of the vaccine by today.”

The first union to agree to the mandate was with DC 33 and the City reached an agreement with DC 47 earlier today. One of the conditions in the City’s agreements with DC 33 and DC 47 is that any eventual deal with the other labor unions that includes more favorable terms must automatically be extended to their members—including any extension to the January 14 deadline (to either get a first dose of vaccine or submit an exemption request).

Due to this and based on pending agreements and discussions with the City’s unions, the vaccine mandate deadline for employees has been adjusted to Monday January 24, 2022. As interest arbitration proceedings continue for certain uniformed employees, the implementation date may be subject to future adjustment. Employees have through and including January 24, 2022 to comply with the City’s vaccination mandate.

The City expects a full award from the interest arbitration panel governing the FOP contract to be handed down in the next two weeks. The City will continue to assess the impact of these awards on the agreements with the remaining labor unions.

City employee vaccine rates of employees fully vaccinated by departments as of Tuesday, January 11, 2022 are available online. The percentages reported online should also be understood as minimums as they have been developed using data on vaccine administrations that took place in Philadelphia.