At a special meeting on August 30th, the Carbondale City Council voted to require vaccines for city employees.
The vaccine mandate will include interns and volunteers. Anyone who qualifies for an exemption will be required to undergo weekly COVID testing. Current employees will have until October 15th to be vaccinated and the vaccine will be a condition of hiring for new employees.
Two employees spoke out against the requirement during the meeting. Councilman Adam Loos responded to the concerns with frustration.
"The failure of people to get vaccinated has prolonged this pandemic. A lot of what we just heard is misinformation, I wish people would stop spreading that. People are out of time. There is no more time to dither. Get vaccinated or don't, and if you don't, then there are consequences for that," Loos said.
The city also voted to implement a city-wide, indoor mask mandate. Businesses that do not follow the mandate may be subject to ticketing and fines. If individuals refuse to wear a mask indoors, they may be asked to leave and be cited for trespassing if they refuse.
Councilman Tom Grant weighed in on the debate surrounding masks.
"We all go to church, or most of us, or we all worry about our fellow man, and then we refuse to wear a mask for ridiculous reasons like you're imposing on my rights. Well, what about the rights of everyone else to not have you get them sick by you not wearing a mask?" he asked.
