Miami-Dade drops vaccination requirement for new employees after new Florida law bans it

Miami-Dade County’s vaccination requirement for new police, firefighters, bus operators and other county employees lasted roughly four months — ended by a Republican-backed bill barring local governments from requiring inoculation against COVID-19 as a condition of employment.

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the ending of the vaccine requirement in a memo to department directors Monday night.

The Democrat in a nonpartisan post cited the law passed by Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican. In the memo, Levine Cava said House Bill 1B “prevents local leaders from making responsible decisions to protect the workforce and broader community.”

In a statement Tuesday, a DeSantis spokesperson called the law change a positive for Miami-Dade because it eliminates a barrier to hiring police and firefighters. “The people of Miami-Dade County should not miss out on qualified first responders simply because of their COVID-19 status,” said DeSantis spokesperson Christina Pushaw.

Pushaw said that because people vaccinated for COVID-19 can still spread the virus, “there is no justification for discrimination employment practices.”

Scientific research published this year shows vaccinated people are less likely to become infected with COVID-19, and also less vulnerable to serious medical complications if they do catch the virus.

Levine Cava announced the hiring requirements in August, along with testing rules for non-unionized county employees that can be waived if a worker has proof of COVID-19 inoculation.

That type of test-or-vaccinate requirement wasn’t preempted by the legislation passed in a special session called by DeSantis. The ban on vaccine requirements for new hires applies to local governments in Florida, not to private employers.

While Levine Cava promoted the test-or-vaccinate policy as something she wanted to impose across the county’s 29,000-person workforce, she made the rules part of union negotiations over the summer and fall. No union accepted the requirements, leaving about 15% of the payroll covered. Of those, about 85% opted out with proof of vaccination, according to county figures.

Rules for new hires covered nearly 260 people offered jobs between Levine Cava’s Aug. 5 announcement of the vaccination requirement and mid-October, according to the most recently available county statistics. Of those, 7% declined their offers over the vaccination requirement, according the county’s Human Resources Department.

This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 11:05 PM.