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City Of Evanston To Enact Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy For Municipal Staff

EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- The City of Evanston announced Monday that it will enact a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for all municipal staff effective Nov. 15.

The policy applies to all city staff – including seasonal and part-time workers, contractors, volunteers, and interns. All must either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or must provide weekly COVID-19 test results to the Evanston Health and Human Services Department.

Exemptions may be granted to those with medical conditions or sincerely-held religious beliefs, the city said.

"Getting vaccinated is the single most important action we can take to protect ourselves, our families, our coworkers, and our community from COVID-19," Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss said in a news release. "This mandate will help keep our staff and residents safe, and I am grateful to Interim City Manager Kelley Gandurski and the rest of our team for acting swiftly to put this critical measure in place."

As it is, more than 82 percent of Evanston city employees are already vaccinated against COVID-19. The city wants the staff vaccination rate as close to 100 percent as possible, but concedes that some staff will not be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons.

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