A strict vaccination policy for Burlington city employees prohibits the ” or testing” exception for all new hires, according to a recent press release from Mayor Miro Weinberger.

August 20 Weinberger announced a new vaccination policy requiring all City employees to either be vaccinated or submit to regular COVID-19 testing, effective October 11. More than 95% of employees have submitted proof of vaccination, with 56 employees beginning weekly testing.

New hires are required to show proof of vaccination with no option to meet the policy requirements through testing.

Weinberger also explicitly supports the Biden administration workplace vaccination directives. “I welcomed the news from the Biden Administration that it has directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to require vaccination or weekly testing for employers with 100 or more employees. This is an important step forward in expanding vaccination among the U.S. workforce. I hope that employers across the City will follow our lead and require vaccinations regardless of the size of their business. It is incumbent on all of us to do what we can with the tools we have to bring Burlington’s vaccination rate as high as possible.”

Under the City’s new vaccination policy, employees are considered fully vaccinated 14-days after their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or 14-days after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Boosters are recommended for those eligible but not required at this time.

Also, the UVM faculty union has called for UVM to require all faculty members to be vaccinated, “other than those with standard exemptions.” UVM has made no formal statement about the proposal. At present UVM requires vaccination of all students but does not – yet – require staff and faculty vaccination.