A total of 113 Los Angeles firefighters have been placed on leave without pay for refusing to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to local reports.
The policy requires all city employees to get vaccinated by Dec. 18, or submit negative test results twice weekly at their own expense, ABC7 reported. If a requested exemption is approved, then the employee must undergo a weekly test at the city’s expense.
The fire department sent 222 notices to staffers, who had not submitted their vaccination status or applied for an exemption, warning of the suspension without pay.
As of Monday, 113 firefighters had not complied and were removed from duty for the alleged breach.
Firefighters who continue to resist the vaccine mandate “will be entered into the process for termination of their employment,” LA Fire Department spokesman Cheryl Getuiza told the local station.
The news comes a few weeks after the department announced that an LA firefighter is under investigation for allegedly taking his vaccine noncompliance letter and wiping his buttocks with it before discarding it on the ground.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/100-los-angeles-firefighters-suspended-pay-vaccine-mandate