As city manager it is my responsibility to ensure that city services are provided to Cordova’s citizenry: that first responders can respond to emergencies and provide for public safety, that drinking water and sewer services are available, that our streets and facilities are maintained, that garbage services are delivered, and that city facilities remain open.
In the past three weeks, the city has had to scramble to provide these services due to COVID-related absences. Some city departments are operating with skeletal staff, imposing extra work on other employees. Some city facilities have been forced to reduce hours or temporarily shut down. As the sole provider of most essential public services, city of Cordova simply cannot afford to let COVID run through its workforce.
My decision to require all city employees to either vaccinate or get weekly tests was made to mitigate the potential spread of COVID amongst city employees and ensure that we can continue to do the people’s work.
I fully respect city employees’ right to be in control of their health choices. There is no dispute that it is an individual’s personal choice to receive the vaccine which is why the city is offering the choice between vaccination and regular testing. We are doing our best to protect employee privacy and city employees who get tested will do so during the community testing pod available to ALL Cordovans. CCMC has set up these pods with privacy in mind.
We are not alone in this action: the federal government and many other employers and municipal governments are now requiring vaccination or testing. All branches of the U.S. military will REQUIRE vaccines for all service members beginning Sept. 15. Businesses now requiring vaccinations include the NFL, Microsoft, the city of New York, United Airlines and Google, among others.
Cordova has had well over 100 cases in the past month with several patients medevaced to Anchorage hospitals, and more than one person placed on blood thinners due to concerns over life-threatening blood clots resulting from COVID complications. I am worried for the lives of those whom COVID hits hard, and so far ALL of those people in our community have been unvaccinated.
I stand by my decision to require vaccination or testing of all city employees, and will continue to follow the advice of the CDC and our medical professionals in any COVID-related decisions. The science shows the COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to stop the virus. Weekly testing of those city employees who are not vaccinated is how we can ensure those who are most likely to be impacted by the virus are aware of their COVID status, and are not infecting others or jeopardizing necessary city services.
