(CNN) — About 4,500 Chicago police officers didn’t report their vaccination status by October 15 as mandated by the city, officials said Monday.
That means roughly 35 percent of the city’s 12,770 officers could be placed on no-pay status in the foreseeable future.
The Chicago Police Department had the lowest response rate of any department in the city.
Of those who did report, about 85% say they are vaccinated, according to data released by the city. Specifically, 6,894 indicated being vaccinated, while 1,333 reported they have not.
Those who said they are not vaccinated are required to opt into twice-weekly testing for COVID-19 until the end of the year to remain in compliance with the city policy.
The city required employees to be either vaccinated or test two times a week by October 15, and then report their status by that same deadline. Those who did not report their status risk being put on unpaid leave.
City officials said the disciplinary process will be ongoing and likely happen on a rolling basis, but that this also “starts the process” of trying to get a final number of employees into compliance. The vaccine reporting portal is still open.
One city official said, “It’s not going to be an immediate ‘we’re firing you.’ ”
The first step is employees will be sent home in a no-pay disciplinary status, as the city vaccine policy is a condition of employment. As of Monday afternoon, no one has been disciplined but that process can now begin at any time.
“It’ll hopefully wake them up quickly,” that city official said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot told reporters Monday afternoon that a “very small number” of officers were not complying after going to police headquarters or their district buildings and being asked in person whether they had entered their information online.
Lightfoot said she isn’t concerned that the city will have a meaningful shortage of officers for the next few weeks, but mentioned that it has contingency plans.
Most city departments had at or near a 100% response rate to the vaccine reporting requirement.
Citywide, 25,015 out of 31,483 employees reported their vaccine status as required by the mandate — a response rate of roughly 80%. A total of 21,088 employees marked they were vaccinated while 3,927 said they were not.
The Chicago Fire Department had the second-lowest response rate of any department with 72%, despite most of that percentage indicating they were vaccinated.
One city official noted those who indicated “no” on being vaccinated include those who have only gotten one dose.
The officer’s union — the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police — filed a lawsuit Friday in Cook County Circuit Court last week alleging Lightfoot, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown, the city and the police department have failed “to comply with the collective bargaining agreement’s status quo.”
Lightfoot said the same day that the city filed a lawsuit against the police union and union President John Catanzara because her office believes the union is encouraging an “illegal work stoppage to strike, pure and simple … and we’re not having that.”
The mayor said then that she doesn’t want young officers to destroy their careers over bad advice.
“Over what? Going to a website, clicking yes or no, and if no, saying that you’re going to sign up for testing? Really, that’s worth it?” Lightfoot said.
Catanzara had spoken out against the mandate to report vaccine status, telling officers they are not required to comply, and the police department has its own Covid-19 policy.
Covid-19 is the leading cause of death for officers across the country, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
