What the Oct. 17 mandate means

Gov. Charlie Baker instituted a vaccine mandate for all Executive Branch employees Aug. 19 with a deadline of Oct. 17 to be fully vaccinated. The order only granted exemptions for those who have medical or religious grounds to reject the vaccine.

Here’s the mandate:

• For managers, a fiveday suspension without pay

• “Continued non-compliance” will get you fired

• For union members, also a five-day suspension first with a 10-day unpaid leave to follow and then dismissal.

Republican candidate for governor Geoff Diehl is taking shots at the mandate as he runs against Baker — or possibly Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito — even before any news lands on a re-election run among the Republicans.

Baker has repeatedly said his decisions around coronavirus restrictions and mandates “follow the science” and are based on advice from myriad public health experts.