A total of 113 Los Angeles city firefighters have been removed from duty without pay for failing to meet the city's COVID-19 vaccination mandate for municipal employees, the department announced Monday.
The policy requires municipal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 18, and those who are not vaccinated in the meantime must submit to testing paid by the employee.
In November, the department sent 222 notices to department personnel who had not yet submitted their vaccination status or requested an exemption.
The notices warned of the consequences of violating the mandate, and as of Monday, 113 firefighters were placed on leave without pay. The number of firefighters who are off-duty changes daily due to members updating their vaccination and testing status, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department's Cheryl Getuiza.