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NEW: No employees fired as a result of vax mandate, county says

The COVID-19 vaccine (via Arlington County/YouTube)

Yesterday was the deadline for all Arlington County government employees to get vaccinated, obtain an exemption, or get fired. So far, no one has been fired.

“We’re happy to report that as of today, all Arlington County Government employees are in compliance with the vaccine policy,” county spokesman Ryan Hudson told ARLnow on Monday. “Approximately 99% of permanent County employees are vaccinated, with 125 individuals having received accommodations.”

As of Feb. 15, just six out of the county workforce of roughly 3,500-4,000 full-time employees had not yet been vaccinated nor obtained a valid exemption under federal guidelines. As of this morning, everyone was in compliance, Hudson said.

“No one was terminated,” he confirmed. “All County employees are in compliance with the policy.”

The news comes as Covid cases continue to decline in Arlington and as Arlington Public Schools held its first day of mask-optional, in-person school since the start of the pandemic.

As of this morning the seven-day moving average of new Covid cases in Arlington fell to 29 per day, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health, down from the peak of 646 daily cases on Jan. 12.

Daily hospitalizations, meanwhile, are averaging 0.3 per 100,000 residents, well below the CDC’s new 10 hospitalization per day per 100,000 residents threshold for Covid levels in a community being considered low.

Six Covid-related deaths have been reported by VDH over the past week.

The CDC’s new ‘community level’ indicators (via CDC)

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  • Launched in January 2010, ARLnow.com is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Arlington, Virginia. Started by a Pentagon City resident who has spent the past several years working in local TV news, ARLnow.com seeks to distinguish itself with original, enterprising, up-to-the-minute local coverage.

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