As the vaccine deadline for San Diego police officers approaches, the head of the city's police union is worried that the department will see departures over it.
San Diego has set a Dec. 1 deadline, which originally was Nov. 2, for all city employees to be vaccinated, KSWB-TV reports. That means employees, including police officers, must receive their first shot in the next two days.
“I believe we will lose a significant amount of people,” said Jack Schaeffer, president of the San Diego Police Union. “I don’t know what that number will look like when all is said and done.”
According to Schaeffer, there already has been push back against the mandate from officers, and that could be an early indicator on how many in the department might respond to the deadline. He added that 40 officers have applied to other departments, and dozens more have said they wouldn't comply.
“I just have the feeling that it’s going to be significant,” Shaeffer told KSWB. “There are people that are very passionate, very determined in this situation, and if they can’t reasonably accommodate them, we are definitely going to have a staffing shortage.”
