A Hartford police officer is “in bad shape” from COVID-19, the department said, touching off questions about vaccination policies at one of the state’s largest police departments.
While vaccines or regular testing are mandated for the state police and in several Connecticut cities — New Haven, Norwalk and Stamford — there is no such policy in Hartford.
The capital city doesn’t requires vaccines or tests for its nearly 400 police officers and other city employees and doesn’t track how many have gotten the vaccine voluntarily. As a result, it’s unclear how many Hartford officers are protected against the coronavirus.
Being vaccinated not only protects against getting seriously ill from COVID-19, but reduces the risk of people spreading the virus to others, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. According to state numbers, 78.6% of residents who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week were not vaccinated.
But police departments nationally have become a focal point of the conflict over vaccines. The situation in Hartford is unfolding against a backdrop of increasing tension nationally between police departments and city officials over vaccine mandates.
More than 460 U.S. law enforcement officers have died from COVID-19 infections tied to work, making the coronavirus the top cause of death for officers in 2020 and 2021, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. The New York Times reported last week that more American police departments in recent weeks are considering vaccine requirements, but are meeting resistance from officers and their unions.
Some city leaders, the New York Times reported, say they fear the unpopular mandates will drive officers to leave departments that have already been crippled by mass departures, and at a time when gun violence is surging nationwide.
Statistics in some cities show police officers are vaccinated at lower rates than other employees. That’s been true in New Haven, where Mayor Justin Elicker said 65% of police department members had been partially or fully vaccinated as of Oct. 13, compared to 78% of all city staff.
But while Hartford has not ruled out a mandate in the future, Bronin said he has doubts about whether a vaccine-or-test mandate is the right approach for the city of Hartford.
“That involves significant logistical work on the city side and it’s unclear yet, based on the data I’ve seen, how effective that is in driving up the vaccination rate when there is a test-out option,” he said.
He added that implementing a vaccine mandate in Hartford would likely divert health officials from other priorities for several weeks.
“It’s just not clear to me that is the right use of resources in a world in which resources are finite and challenges are not,” he said.
Hartford police have not released the name, condition or vaccination status of the officer battling COVID-19.
Bronin added that all large employers in Connecticut, including municipalities, may soon be subject to vaccination mandates under a forthcoming federal rule announced recently by President Joe Biden. Biden announced in September that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will issue a new emergency vaccination or testing requirement for employers of at least 100 people.
While OSHA has yet to release the detailed rule, it’s expected that it would apply to state and local government workers in some states, including Connecticut, which has an OSHA-approved job safety and health program.
In the mean time, the New York Times reported, some city leaders fear implementing local mandates will drive officers to leave departments that have already been crippled by mass departures, and at a time when gun violence is surging nationwide.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s top medical adviser on COVID-19, took to Fox News on Sunday to urge police officers and other public service employees to get vaccinated.
“Think about the implications of not getting vaccinated when you’re in a position where you have a responsible job, and you want to protect yourself because you’re needed at your job, whether you’re a police officer or a pilot or any other of those kinds of occupations,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Hartford County, and much of Connecticut, continue to see “substantial” levels of community transmission of the coronavirus, as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while New Haven, Windham and New London counties experience “high” transmission.
As of Monday, 77.8% of all Connecticut residents and 89.2% of those 12 and older had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 69.9% of all residents and 80.3% of those 12 and older were fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Rebecca Lurye can be reached at rlurye@courant.com.
