By Eric Curl
Oct. 22, 2021 – Time is running short for any employee holdouts to comply with a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy implemented by the Housing Authority of Savannah on Sept. 14. The policy requires all employees to get vaccinated by Oct. 25 or be placed on administrative leave without pay.
As of Oct. 21 there was about 16 more employees who needed to get their shot, with almost 79 percent of the housing authority’s 76 full-time employees vaccinated, according to HAS officials. No employees had quit as of that date in response to the mandate, officials said.
Following the board’s 4-1 vote to approve the policy, Executive Director Earline Davis sent out a memo to employees in which she described the vaccine as an important tool to help stop the pandemic.
“In accordance with HAS’ duty to provide and maintain a workplace that safeguards against known hazards, we are adopting this policy to help protect the health of our employees and their families, our customers, visitors and the community at large, from infectious diseases that may be reduced by vaccinations,” Davis said. “In making this decision, executive leadership reviewed recommendations from the EEOC, SHRM and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Chairman G. Lind Taylor joined board members Darrel Daise, Thomas Henry and Wanda Parrish in supporting the mandate, while Edward Gresham voted against the policy, according to the September meeting minutes.
The policy allows employees to request an exemption from the requirement for medical or religious reasons by completing a Request for Reasonable Accommodation form, which will then be reviewed. Accommodations will be granted for qualifying reasons when they do not cause undue hardship for HAS and/or pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others on HAS sites, the policy states.
The policy also says that employees will be paid for time taken to receive vaccinations.
On Wednesday, the US Food & Drug Administration expanded authorizations for COVID-19 vaccine booster doses for eligible populations who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and for Janssen recipients 18 and older. As of Thursday, 56 percent of Chatham County residents had received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
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