Charlotte shares city employees’ vaccine rate. Firefighters, CMPD trail other departments

Some 62% of nearly 8,000 Charlotte government employees are at least partially vaccinated, the city announced Wednesday.

That’s based on a workforce survey that had a 95% response rate, city spokesman Cory Burkarth said.

Vaccination rates vary dramatically across city departments, with the Charlotte Fire Department — with 1,224 employees — posting the lowest rate: 49%. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, with 2,407 employees, had a 63% vaccination rate, according to city data.

Meanwhile, the city’s internal audit department, with just 10 employees, notched a 100% vaccination rate. The city manager’s office, with nine employees, also had a 100% vaccination rate.

Charlotte is experiencing another coronavirus surge caused by the highly contagious delta variant. But local doctors say this is a surge of the unvaccinated, with unprotected people accounting for the overwhelming number of coronavirus patients requiring intensive care and ventilators.

In Mecklenburg County, 57% of residents are at least partially vaccinated as of Wednesday, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

City vaccine incentives

To bolster immunization numbers across the city workforce, Charlotte is now offering financial incentives.

Employees who are fully vaccinated by Sept. 30 will get $250. People who are only partially vaccinated must get their second shot by Nov. 19 to get their reward. Proof of vaccination is required, according to a city memo shared with the Observer.

If city employees collectively reach a 75% vaccination rate by Sept. 30, those vaccinated individuals would get an additional $250. To meet that goal, about 1,100 more employees must get inoculated, Burkarth said.

Some Council members have questioned whether the incentives will work. Council member Braxton Winston said the city should move swiftly to mandate vaccinations for employees to protect public safety.

City Manager Marcus Jones had said Charlotte will focus on offering vaccine incentives until the end of September, before rethinking the city’s “leniency” on immunizations and potentially imposing a requirement.

The city didn’t specify what penalties, if any, employees may face if they choose to forgo vaccinations. Unlike Mecklenburg County’s policy, the city so far has not announced a weekly COVID-19 testing requirement for unvaccinated workers.

Vaccination rates by city department

Here is the full vaccination rate by city department, based on employees who responded:

▪ Attorney’s office (39 employees): 92%

▪ Aviation (638 employees): 67%

▪ CATS (468 employees): 69%

▪ Corporate communications and marketing (36 employees): 86%

▪ CDOT (351 employees): 66%

▪ Clerk’s office (8 employees): 63%

▪ CLT Water (913 employees): 68%

▪ Community relations (16 employees): 88%

▪ City manager’s office (9 employees): 100%

▪ Economic development (18 employees): 94%

▪ Finance (95 employees): 86%

▪ Charlotte Fire Department (1,224 employees): 49%

▪ General Services (411 employees): 72%

▪ Housing and Neighborhood Services (218 employees): 65%

▪ Human Resources (54 employees): 91%

▪ Innovation and Technology (211 employees): 81%

▪ Internal Audit (10 employees): 100%

▪ Planning (109 employees): 87%

▪ CMPD (2,407 employees): 63%

▪ Strategy and Budget (15 employees): 93%

▪ Storm Water (185 employees): 74%

▪ Solid Waste (305 employees): 61%

This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Charlotte shares city employees’ vaccine rate. Firefighters, CMPD trail other departments."