PORTLAND, Oregon (LifeSiteNews) – Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler will not be able to impose a coronavirus vaccine mandate on the city’s police force after receiving legal guidance from his city attorney and Oregon’s health department on September 8. In Portland, the mayor is also the police commissioner.
Wheeler had attempted to use an August 19 executive order from Democratic Oregon Governor Kate Brown that mandated coronavirus injections for all healthcare workers in the state.
“Health care workers will be required to be fully vaccinated by October 18 or six weeks after full FDA approval, whichever is later,” the order mandated. An alternative regular testing regime has been removed.
Wheeler wanted to apply this to the police force. However, guidance from the Oregon Health Authority clarified the language of Brown’s executive order. The language will make it difficult to enforce the mandate on all police officers.
“While a police officer may have some medical training, or may even be a licensed health care provider, it is likely not a fundamental part of their job to provide direct or indirect medical care in a healthcare setting,” the fact sheet said. “If a police officer has a job that by definition requires them to provide medical care to individuals, then the rule likely does apply.”
“I am disappointed that we can’t hold all of our City employees to the same vaccine requirement,” Wheeler said in a statement, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. “However, state law prohibits us from requiring vaccinations for police officers unless there’s a federal or state law, regulation or rule that mandates they get vaccinated.”
“Our City leaders have decided we want to lead by example, and science has proven that vaccines are the most effective tool to end this pandemic,” Wheeler said.
The police union for Oregon cops had opposed the mandate. “The city’s police union had pushed back forcefully against the citywide vaccine mandate, warning such a requirement would lead to mass resignations within an already short-staffed force,” OPB reported.
However, the decision came before President Joe Biden announced sweeping new vaccination requirements. It remains to be seen if the vaccine mandates for employers with more than 100 employees would apply to cities as well, or if the administration will attempt to expand its injection requirement.
Oregon executive order punishes better trained employees
Under the Oregon executive order, the more medical training and roles a government worker takes on, the higher the possibility he or she will be forced to be vaccinated.
The more qualifications and responsibilities a public safety employee takes on, the more he is to be required to get jabbed.
For example, firefighters are likely to be covered under the August 19 Oregon executive order. This is because most firefighters are trained to give medical care at the site of an accident.
The order also applies to dentists, audiologists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists.
Police and firefighter unions in other regions have pushed back against vaccine requirements.
“Our goal is to stop the mandated vaccinations for all City employees as well as the citizens of this great country,” a Los Angeles police and firefighter advocacy group called Roll Call 4 Freedom said recently. “We can either be known as the ones who helped lead the charge to freedom, or we can set the vaccine mandate precedent for other agencies and watch our freedoms end.” The group is planning to take legal action against Los Angeles’ inoculation mandate for city workers.
The police union representing Chicago cops has also come out against a vaccine mandate. The city’s inoculation requirement led to a bus driver shortage when school started, stranding almost 1,000 students with disabilities.