Vaccine Mandate for State Employees Will Keep Us All Safer

Governor Ralph Northam announced that all state employees in Virginia will be required to be fully vaccinated by September 1, 2021 today. Requiring vaccines will protect the health and safety of everyone in our community, and we are celebrating this important step forward. 

“Our own health depends on the health of the person next to us, and the person next to

them. By requiring vaccines for state employees, we are ensuring the health and safety of everyone in our community,” LaTwyla Mathias, Executive Director at Progress Virginia, said. “We are all better off when we are all healthy—especially the most vulnerable among us. That’s why we can’t allow politics to get in the way of what is necessary, like ensuring as many people as possible are protected against the COVID-19 virus with a vaccine. We will only get through this pandemic by working together. We’re glad that the state is relying on science by requiring vaccines for state employees.”

Background:

According to the Virginia Department of Health:

  • 54.2% of Virginians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a total of 4,629,762 people.
  • 60.7% of Virginians have received at least one dose of a vaccine, a total of 5,183,938 people 
  • As the Delta variant spreads, the number of cases in Virginia has started to increase again with a 7-day average of 995.4 cases per day. 
  • Throughout the pandemic, there have been 702,819 cases of COVID-19, 31,595 hospitalizations, and 11,547 deaths. 
  • 669 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 173 of whom are in the ICU. 

There are nearly 120,000 people employed by the Commonwealth of Virginia.