Police, fire anti-vaxxers put residents at risk

Don’t call Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and the City Council’s bluff over COVID-19 vaccines.

Most city employees have gotten the jab, but about 300 rebellious ones now have until Dec. 1 to do so or face termination — thanks to an Oct. 19 Council vote.

Ironically, those fighting the city’s vaccine mandate the hardest are police officers and firefighters who regularly interact with the public.

“To terminate over 50 of our employees is going to lead to the closure of emergency response apparatus and potentially the closure of fire stations,” Josh Campbell, the head of the Tucson

Firefighters Association, told News 4.

Talk about self-serving and a total disregard for the public’s health. Police and fire are paid to protect Tucson residents, not to endanger them because of their politics.

Tucson residents are lucky to have Romero and some council members willing to stand up to the bullying of city unions and state government.

Why should the city keep cops and firefighters who are willing to potentially expose residents to a deadly virus or let structures burn or worse, let residents die?

That’s exactly what Campbell is saying. His firefighters would rather shutter “emergency response apparatus” than comply with city’s vaccine mandate — even with exceptions for those who, for medical reasons, can’t or shouldn’t get it.

That’s utterly ridiculous. But vaccine mandates will, unfortunately, remain a lighting rod between Democrats and Republicans.

From the get-go, Tucson has faced a hostile Republican-led state government that’s laser-focused on scoring political points at public health’s expense.

Gov. Doug Ducey and all other Republicans seeking public office have declared war on COVID-19 mandates as a campaign tool.

The governor banned mandates and Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich – who’s running for U.S. Senate – quickly sided with Tucson Police Officers Association that filed a lawsuit against Tucson’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement.

Brnovich argued that Tucson’s ordinance violated a state law set to take effect last month, but a judge thankfully invalidated it and other laws passed as part of the state budget.

Tucson also has the federal government on its side. President Biden has mandated that employers with more than 100 workers must require the COVID-19 vaccine or weekly tests.

Surely the fight isn’t over.

Workers collectively do have tremendous power to create havoc — as we’ve seen across sectors.

No doubt the police, firefighters and other Tucson workers vowing to disrupt “emergency response apparatus” can do so.

But again, why would anyone keep employees who instead of protecting the residents deliberately put their lives in danger?