Onondaga County mandates that school employees get vaccinated or face weekly testing

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — All interfacing employees of Onondaga County schools will have to provide proof that they’ve been vaccinated or agree to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing if they haven’t been vaccinated.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon on Tuesday signed an executive order making it mandatory in every school district in the county. Onondaga County will also mandate mask coverings for all daycare providers as well.

A back-to-school testing program for school faculty is also planned.

McMahon spoke during a Tuesday morning briefing at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center in Syracuse.

McMahon elaborated on what the executive order means for the county’s schools.

“That is all faculty — that is any third-party vendors that are in the buildings,” he added. “So, we’ll have a vax or test policy with every school district in Onondaga County.”

McMahon explained his rationale for the executive order. Though the delta variant is posing a challenge with rising cases, he contends the county’s relatively high vaccination rates are preventing it from “being overrun” by COVID-19, and he would like to keep it that way.

“It’s proven that [the vaccine] helps prevent you from getting the virus, and, in addition to that, [it prevents a hospital stay] and even worse-case scenarios. So, we want to encourage the vaccine for everybody, but if whatever reason, you’re not [getting the vaccine], we can’t take the risk of the virus getting into these buildings,” the county executive said.

In addition to that, Onondaga County is also mandating mask coverings for daycare providers throughout the county, “under the same premise.” The children attending these facilities are most likely in the age range that’s not had the chance to get the vaccine yet.

Onondaga County will also be holding a back-to-school testing program for all faculty. McMahon said he’s seeing “a lot of anxiety” in his email inbox and on social media related to schools starting up not long after the crowded State Fair concludes.

“We’re … building up that infrastructure to do that but we’re going to put a layer of mitigation with the faculty and staff going back to school, getting a test, whether you’re vaccinated or unvaccinated, and again, we expect cooperation from all of our partners. If we have to mandate that, we will,” said McMahon.

McMahon also noted that officials believe in-person learning is very important for the students in Onondaga County.

“Public health is so much more than just COVID. We have to look at the impacts of that. And that mental health [concern] was something that we certainly saw … the addiction issues, suicides, 911 calls related to mental health doubling year over year. These are impacts of this. These are impacts of isolation. So, we know how critical it is to continue in-person learning,” McMahon said.