Over 600 Orange County firefighters unvaccinated
Concern grows over plan to address gaps if they miss the deadline
About half the men and women who respond to 911 calls for Orange County Fire Rescue have so far resisted Mayor Jerry Demings’ mandate to get vaccinated for COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs.
Some are defying his order, questioning its lawfulness and the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines, while also wary that hundreds of first-responders could be fired if they don’t meet Demings’ inoculation deadline of Sept. 30.
“Who will be left to answer 911 calls and respond to the sick and injured,” asked veteran Orange County firefighter/paramedic Maria Bernard during a public appearance with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “Losing potentially hundreds of firefighters will directly affect the safety of our citizens and community.”
DeSantis has threatened to fine local governments requiring employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19, blamed for 50,000 deaths in Florida.
More than 1,860 Orange County residents have died of COVID-19 since March 2020, according to the Florida Department of Health data.
Demings, who has two firefighter sons, said he was sympathetic to vaccine-hesitant first-responders but added, “We’re in a difficult spot.”
“It certainly is not my desire to terminate any of our employees and we have not to date terminated any of our employees because they refuse to take the vaccine. I hope that we don’t get to that point,” the mayor said. “But regardless of what you think about the vaccine, where you land as an individual, there’s still some lawful authority that we have as an employing entity over the employees that we are directly responsible for.”
As legal adviser for Demings’ vaccination mandate, Orange County Attorney Jeff Newton cited a myriad of Supreme Court rulings as precedent for protecting public health, dating back to 1905, when smallpox and other infectious diseases were the most common cause of death in the U.S.
“I have no concern whatsoever with respect to this county’s ability to require vaccines for its employees,” Newton said this week.
Asked about possible terminations and contingency plans, OCFR spokesperson Lisa McDonald referred inquiries to the mayor.
“Honestly we’re not even at that point yet,” she said. “We’re not going to speculate on anything right now. Anything can happen.”
Public Safety Director Danny Banks said the county’s top priority will continue to be protecting the community and service will not be interrupted.
Employees must show proof by Sept. 30 they have received a shot of the singledose Johnson & Johnson/ Janssen COVID-19 vaccine or the first dose of the double-shot Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. Second doses must be completed and vaccine certification submitted by Oct. 31.
Jason Wheat, the Florida State Firefighters Association’s 2019 firefighter of the year, was among a handful of firefighters or their spouses who addressed the mayor and Orange County commissioners at a meeting Tuesday, appealing for the right to decide for themselves whether to get vaccinated.
“This is not a debate for or against the vaccine,” Wheat said. “This is an argument for having the freedom of choice and what is best for us . ... ”
Wheat, who said he had COVID-19 15 months ago, preferred to rely on his immune system’s antibodies rather than vaccine.
“Until the benefits and risk of taking the vaccine can be more definitive, there’s no way that this should be a mandatory requirement for employment,” he said.
Wendy Williams, another veteran first-responder for the county, said she was not an “anti-vaxxer” but an informed paramedic/firefighter.
“We’re not here to deny anything,” she said. “If you’re thinking the vaccine is going to be beneficial for you — depending on what kind of medical illness you have — take it. I have had COVID. I have the antibodies. I’m not worried about helping my brothers and sisters in the community.”
Many, but not all, people produce natural antibodies after a COVID-19 infection.
Some studies have shown that natural antibodies are less effective and last for a shorter amount of time, compared to vaccine immunity to the virus.
As of Thursday, 690 of the county’s 1,337 unionized firefighters — 51.6 % — had received at least one dose of vaccine, including 576 described as “fully vaccinated,” and 104 of the department’s 119 non-unionized staff had gotten at least one dose. About 78% of the county’s other 6,077 employees have received at least one shot of vaccine.
Since the pandemic started, 383 OCFR firefighter/paramedics have missed work for a confirmed COVID-19 infection, McLaughlin said.
University of Idaho Associate Professor Bert Baumgaertner studied people’s attitudes toward vaccines even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and, while he’s not aware of any research focused on firefighters or first responders, he said many factors affect someone’s opinions about vaccines.
“It’s not just about correct information,” said Baumgaertner, whose research found that political ideology and trust in scientific entities also may affect someone’s outlook on vaccines, with more conservative people less likely to trust governmental scientific experts as well as vaccines.
An individual’s political or group identity also can greatly influence a vaccination decision — if, for instance, many fellow firefighters or coworkers are not vaccinated, said Cornell University Professor Gretchen Chapman, who leads the Ivy League school’s department on social and decision sciences.
“Vaccine hesitancy for the COVID vaccine is particularly polarized politically,” she said. “Once those social norms are in place, it’s really hard to change the behavior.”
Vaccination hesitancy also had been a concern among Orange County jail correctional staff with many recent reports showing inoculation rates lagging for both first responders and law enforcement officers. But just over 80% of corrections staff have gotten at least a first dose or submitted a request for exemption, including employees in non-officer posts, jail spokeswoman Tracy Zampaglione said.
“At this time the numbers look promising that the jail operations would only be minimally impacted or not impacted at all as only 18% of corrections staff have not filed for an accommodation or at least obtained one dose of the vaccine,” she said. “We will continue to monitor the numbers as the deadline approaches.”
Zampaglione said the department has worked with county officials to make vaccines easily available and provide inoculation information.
EMS Medical Director Dr. Christian Zuver will host an employee webinar Sept. 24 to answer lingering questions or concerns about the vaccine. McLaughlin said the county also created an online COVID-19 vaccine resource library for employees and the public at orangecountyfl.net.