NBC 7’s Mari Payton broke down employee vaccination rates from cities within San Diego County.
Wednesday marks the deadline for employees of the city of San Diego to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or risk losing their jobs.
NBC 7 Investigates contacted officials in that city and others around the county to determine how they compare in their vaccine rates.
The city said it received 193 new requests for exemptions since Nov. 30, bringing the total number of such requests to 946. A vast majority of those, 912, are religious-exemption requests.
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As of the Dec. 1 deadline, 80% of city employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to San Diego officials. Only 64% of the 1,270 officers with the San Diego Police Department, however, have been fully vaccinated. Seventy-nine of them have not reported their vaccination status in any way.
Encinitas and Del Mar are the only other cities in San Diego County with vaccine mandates. While other localities aren’t requiring current employees to get vaccinated, Carlsbad and Chula Vista are making it a requirement for new employees.
NBC 7 Investigates is collecting information on vaccination rates from local governments as well as police and fire departments. The latest responses are below.
Carlsbad
The City of Carlsbad would not release vaccination rates broken down by department. The city told NBC 7 that 81% of its staff is fully vaccinated.
Chula Vista Police Department
CVPD said 75% of its officers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Del Mar
Del Mar’s vaccine mandate goes into effect Dec. 15. As of Wednesday, 84% of its employees are fully vaccinated, city officials told NBC 7.
Encinitas
Employees with the city of Encinitas are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The city said 98% of full-time, non-fire employees are vaccinated. Exemption requests are being considered for the other 2%.
The city told NBC 7 that 69% of Encinitas firefighters are fully vaccinated. Their deadline to get vaccinated has been extended until Jan. 31 as the city and fire union continue to negotiate on the mandate.
Oceanside
Oceanside does not require its employees to report their vaccination status. Forty--seven percent of police officers and 58 % of firefighters have voluntarily reported that they are fully vaccinated.
