New Orleans RTA mandates COVID vaccines for employees

By Jessica Williams

Source: The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate

The Regional Transit Authority is requiring its employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the first governmental agencies to issue a vaccine mandate since the shots became widely available earlier this year.

The agency told its 800 employees Friday that they must show proof of vaccination or proof that they have scheduled their shots before returning to work on Thursday, July 29. Those who refuse to get the shots will not be allowed to work unless they have a medical condition that prevents their vaccination or can cite a religious reason for avoiding the shot, according to an agency memo.

The RTA also plans to reinstate mandatory daily temperature checks and regular, on-site COVID-19 testing for all employees, officials said. The agency, which runs public buses, streetcars, paratransit vehicles and ferries in the city, had already reinstated a mask mandate for its staff.

Agency officials said the steps are necessary because cases of the highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19 have spiked in New Orleans in recent days. If all employees are protected against the disease, it can stop the spread of the virus in the community, they said.

"This decision was made to protect the health and safety of our transit operators, administrative employees, and our ridership as the region sees increased COVID-19 transmission rates among the unvaccinated individuals," said RTA CEO Alex Wiggins.

The move has the support of Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who said in a statement that the delta variant has caused "a pandemic among the unvaccinated" and that the RTA has taken the right step to prevent its spread.

It was not immediately clear if Cantrell plans to issue a vaccine mandate for the 4,000 municipal employees that staff City Hall and other agencies. A spokesperson did not immediately provide clarity on that point Friday evening.

The RTA's announcement follows similar vaccine requirements issued by Tulane, Loyola, Xavier and Dillard universities, though those mandates have largely been geared toward college students. Ochsner Health, the largest health care system in the state, said it would require the vaccines for its staff once they were formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which is expected sometime later this year. Vaccines in the U.S. are currently being distributed under an emergency use authorization.

Discussions about vaccine mandates in workplaces and schools have swirled ever since three separate versions of the shots were authorized by the FDA in late 2020 and early 2021. Legal questions have surfaced, namely whether it is a violation of individual rights to force employees to receive the shots.

Schools have had a longstanding practice of requiring student inoculation against various diseases. Hospital systems also typically require certain vaccinations.

While public officials in cities and states across the U.S. have said they are weighing vaccine mandates for employees, only a few have taken the step. Last month, San Francisco leaders created a mandate for all city workers, saying that the shot would be required and that employees could lose their jobs if they refused to comply.

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