Boston Mayor Backs Vax Mandate amid First Responder Opposition

Mayor Michelle Wu is defending the toughening of the city's coronavirus vaccine mandate as an expanding group of first responders takes aim at the new changes.

"We're in the midst of a surge right now, but we're moving as quickly as we can," Wu said when asked about the pushback to her hardening of the city's vaccine mandate in the face of the Omicron variant. Wu on Monday announced that various establishments including bars and gyms would need to require proof of vaccination, and that municipal employees would need to get the jab.

Up to this point, the city employees could provide proof of weekly negative coronavirus tests rather than get vaccinated.

"We're also launching weekly open sessions with various department heads within the city of Boston internally to make sure that we can talk through any questions," Wu said at an unrelated press conference on Tuesday when asked about pushback.

"Some of the hardest decisions we make are the most important ones to make," Wu continued, "And we see a lot of emotion around many issues. But oftentimes, emotion is also tied to unpredictable feelings, confusion or instability. So one important step that is part of leading the way and coordinating with our regional partners and cities across Massachusetts, is to provide that clarity and provide that predictability for everyone."

The press conference on Tuesday, which otherwise was about several new housing initiatives, was a much more staid affair than the one on Monday when Wu rolled out a raft of vaccine-mandate changes. That one was barely audible over the chants of protestors who'd been unhappy with the changes.

Among them was Boston Police Sgt. Shana Cottone, the president of the recently created Boston First Responders United group that for the past couple of months has been pushing back on state and local vaccine mandates, who told the Herald on Tuesday that more and more first responders are joining the organization. She said she'd held a meeting geared toward female first responders on Tuesday afternoon, and now has 50 more members on her side.

"It's such a slap in the face to all the employees that make the city function," Cottone said of the mandate. She said she believed the vax-or-test mandate was a fairer approach. "Where did 'my body, my choice' go?"

Cottone continued to say that the group is working with an attorney to look at possible legal options. Similar legal challenges to the state's mandate — which hardened before the city's did — had no success.

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