SFMTA: 275 Employees Yet To Comply With COVID Vaccine Mandate, Warns Of Possible Disruptions
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency warned of possible disruptions to transit service and parking enforcement next month, as nearly 300 employees have yet to comply with the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
SFMTA officials said as of Monday, 275 employees not on leave are either unvaccinated or have not reported their vaccination status. The city's vaccination policy requires all employees to be fully vaccinated by November 1, 10 weeks after the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to at least one of the authorized vaccines.
"This is an important improvement from two weeks ago, but it's still a significant number," the agency said Tuesday. "If 275 of our employees are still unvaccinated or unreported as of November 1 and are put on leave or terminated, it will significantly impact transit operations and parking control in San Francisco."
At the end of September, SFMTA officials said 640 employees, or about 11% of the agency's workforce, had yet to be vaccinated or disclose their vaccination status to them.
SFMTA warned that a shortage of available employees would lead to increased gaps in transit service in November, as the agency is already missing a "significant number" of runs due to operators being unavailable.
Officials also warned that losing parking control officers could force the agency to partially suspend enforcement on abandoned vehicles, booting and commuter shuttles. Enforcement of residential parking permits and meters could also be reduced.
The agency said in a worst-case scenario, disabled placard enforcement and enforcement around the Chase Center could be impacted.
"We very much hope that this situation will improve over the course of the next month, but, as we hope and work for a better outcome, we are simultaneously planning for the worst," the agency said.
