MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (WDVM) — On Tuesday. the Montgomery County Council discussed mandating a stricter vaccine requirement for county employees, but County Executive Marc Elrich says he doesn’t want to do something that could have a worse outcome than the problem they are trying to fix.
Elrich said he has “slightly mixed feelings” about a firm vaccine mandate, just a few days before the deadline for county employees to submit their vaccination status. Employees will have the option of getting fully vaccinated or to submit to weekly testing. But some members of the council want to eliminate the testing option.
Elrich said the county needs to consider that if a large number of firefighters, police officers, and correctional officers decide to not get vaccinated, the public safety consequence is not worth it.
“I’d like to do it, but I don’t want to do something that produces an actual worse outcome than the problem we’re trying to fix,” said Elrich.
Currently just under 60% of the county employees have submitted their vaccination status and 95% of those people are fully vaccinated.