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Fulton commission to discuss COVID-19 vaccine mandate for county employees

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Updated  August 10, 2021 11:32pm EDT
Fulton County
FOX 5 Atlanta

Fulton employees soon required to be vaccinated

All Fulton County employees could soon be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A spokesperson for the Fulton County Board of Commissioners said Tuesday the board will consider mandating all employees receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The commission will take up discussion of the mandate during its meeting next week.

The latest epidemiology report from the Fulton County Department of Public Health reports the seven-day average for COVID-19 cases has been steadily increasing since July. Within the last month, daily positive cases have exceeded 200 per day in Fulton County for the first time since February. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designated Fulton County as an area of high transmission for COVID-19. The CDC also shows Fulton County has one of the highest rates of hospitalization in the state. CDC estimates less than 30% of the county's residents received one dose of the vaccine.

SEE ALSO: South Fulton implements mask mandate as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations rise

Millions still on the fence about COVID-19 vaccines

As the delta variant of COVID-19 spreads, 90 million Americans are still on the fence about the vaccine.

It's the most populous county in the state, inhabiting more than an estimated 1 million people according to U.S. Census data. 

Fulton County School System has mandated masks for all students, teachers and visitors in areas of high transmission. 

The U.S. government's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Sunday that he was hopeful the Food and Drug Administration will give full approval to the coronavirus vaccine. Fauci also predicted the full approval would cause a domino effect of vaccine mandates in the private sector as well as schools and universities.

SEE ALSO: South Georgia hospitals are filling up quickly, as delta variant spreads

A Kaiser Family Foundation study last week found three in 10 Americans remain unvaccinated. One in ten of those Americans have a "wait and see" approach, and 3% of unvaccinated Americans said they would get the shot only if required to do so.

The Associated Press and FOX TV DIgital Team contributed to this report. 

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