31 state employees terminated over vaccine mandate
(The Center Square) – Gov. Ned Lamont said 31 executive branch employees have been terminated from employment for not following the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
In a news release, the governor announced that nearly 95% of executive branch employees are fully vaccinated or testing weekly for the novel coronavirus, but 5% of employees are not in compliance with the mandate that was issued Aug. 19.
According to the release, the vaccination rate among executive branch employees stands at 84%, which is an increase of nearly 4% since Oct. 22. Meanwhile, 11% of employees are testing weekly for COVID-19.
The state has placed 35 employees on unpaid leave and an additional 42 will be placed on unpaid leave for refusing to comply with the state mandate, according to the release. The remaining 5% of employees who are not in compliance are submitting weekly testing and working to become fully vaccinated.
Currently, according to the release, there are 634 employees in the Department of Corrections who are non-compliant, the highest number of any department in the executive branch.
The executive branch employs 30,517 people, according to the release, who have the option to become fully vaccinated or wear masks and submit to weekly testing. Of those, 25,646 are vaccinated, accounting for 84% of the workforce. There are 1,403 employees who are non-compliant with the mandate.
The executive branch also employs 3,678 who work in the healthcare field and are mandated to become fully vaccinated. According to the release, 3,324 are fully vaccinated, accounting for 90% of the workforce with 153 remaining non-compliant.
According to the release, the judicial and legislative branches have their own vaccination and testing requirements and each branch is monitoring compliance.
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