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San Francisco to require vaccinations for all city employees

A vaccination centre at City College of San Francisco, on March 4, 2021. (Jeff Chiu / AP) A vaccination centre at City College of San Francisco, on March 4, 2021. (Jeff Chiu / AP)
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SAN FRANCISCO -

San Francisco city workers will be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus when a vaccine receives full federal approval.

The policy covering 35,000 municipal workers may be the first by any city or county in the U.S., the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.

Employees who refuse to get vaccinated and don't get a medical or religious exemption could be fired, the Chronicle said.

The three COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the U.S. are being dispensed under emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.

They are expected to receive full approval in several months. San Francisco city employees will then have 10 weeks to get their shots.

San Francisco, a compact city of nearly 900,000 residents, has had some of the strictest pandemic-related restrictions in the country and its vaccination rates are very high.

The vaccination policy for city employees covers a wide range of jobs but it does not include teachers, who are school district employees.

"It's really a decision for the health and safety of our employees and our public that we serve," said Carol Isen, San Francisco director of human resources. "It's about protecting the city as an employer from what we deem to be unacceptable risk."

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