Thousands of LAPD employees plan to seek exemptions to city’s COVID vaccine mandate

Los Angeles police officers were on hand Aug. 14, 2021, in downtown Los Angeles, when vaccination opponents and counter-protesters faced off in front of the LAPD headquarters. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Sep 13, 2021 / 11:23 PM PDT

Updated: Sep 13, 2021 / 11:23 PM PDT

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Thousands of Los Angeles Police Department employees plan to seek exemptions to rules requiring city employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to preliminary figures obtained Monday by The Times.

More than 2,600 LAPD employees have indicated that they plan to pursue religious exemptions, while more than 350 plan to seek medical ones, according to a source in city government who was not authorized to share the preliminary data.

Under the ordinance, city employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 5 unless they are granted a religious or medical exemption. Employees who receive exemptions will be subject to regular testing for the coronavirus, according to the ordinance.

City officials pushed back a deadline last week for employees to seek an exemption to the vaccination requirement, instead giving workers until the end of Monday to indicate that they plan to pursue an exemption. As of early evening on Monday, nearly 3,000 of 12,311 LAPD employees had done so, and the number could grow before a midnight cutoff. Preliminary figures were not available for other city departments.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.