Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Employees working for the Bucks County Department of Corrections have to get vaccinated for COVID-19, according to sources and county government.
Sources with knowledge of county corrections operations said the policy has not gone over well with some staff who do not wish to be vaccinated for COVID-19. The decision by the county has led to some corrections officers seeking employment elsewhere or retiring, getting vaccinated to keep their jobs, and making the tough decision to wait to see if the county really will terminate their employment if they are not vaccinated by the deadline, sources said.
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James O’Malley, a spokesperson for the county, said the department staff will have to get vaccinated by the beginning of October or they will be released from their employment. He said employees can file for religious or medical exemptions.
The county has implemented mandates that staff in the Neshaminy Manor nursing home and corrections department are vaccinated. Both departments have staff and clients that are in close quarters and settings. Bucks County hasn’t required vaccinations for other employees, but it recently collected vaccination information from them.
The Bucks County Correctional Facility recently had a spike in cases among inmates. There were 47 positive cases reported recently.
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Since the pandemic began, the corrections department has seen 125 cases among staff. Most of the cases among staff came in April 2020, December 2020, and January 2021.
The county said it employs more than 340 people across the department.
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O’Malley said the county is working to make sure third-party vendors that serve the department are also vaccinated.
County corrections Director David Kratz, who recently took the top job, said fighting COVID-19 remains a priority for the department.
There were rumors some corrections staff were going to stage a sick-out on Friday. O’Malley said callouts were on the “high end of normal,” but department operations remained normal.
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Aside from the numerous public vaccination locations, county employees have been able to get inoculated at pop-up clinics offered in county government facilities, O’Malley said.
“We are making it available to employees in as convenient a manner as possible,” he said.
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