A debate has sparked over whether or not the City of Dallas is “effectively” requiring firefighters to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Dallas Fire Fighters Association (DFFA) is claiming the City fired a newly-recruited firefighter and caused several more to quit over its COVID-19 vaccination policy, which Dallas Fire-Rescue (DFR) Chief Dominique Artis previously claimed does not include a vaccination requirement.
DFFA President Jim McDade told CBS News, “If you ask the recruiters, ‘Do I have to be vaccinated for Covid-19?’ They’re telling you, ‘No.’ That’s not true. Once you’re hired, you’re in. During your orientation period, they’re telling people, ‘Now you have to be vaccinated for COVID.'”
He said the policy has caused multiple recruits in each incoming cohort of prospective firefighters to drop out.
McDade reportedly provided a City document to CBS News entitled “Termination Action.” The document reads, “Member was terminated because he refused to get vaccinated for COVID-19.”
However, a DFR spokesperson, Jason Evans, said this was an “error.”
“The comments section contained a note indicating the reason for termination was ‘a refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19,’ which was inaccurate and listed in error,” Evans claimed, per CBS News.
“This error was subsequently corrected,” he said. “DFR does not typically comment on personnel disciplinary proceedings, but the Department does not require the COVID-19 Vaccination as a term of employment.”
While DFR does not explicitly require that firefighters be vaccinated against COVID-19, there is “effectively” a vaccination requirement, at least according to Dallas City Council Member Cara Mendelsohn, who posted about the situation on Twitter.
The City of Dallas requires all new firefighters to be trained and certified as paramedics. That training is provided through the Brookhaven Campus of Dallas College.
In a March 25 memo, Deputy City Manager Jon Fortune said, “While neither DFR nor Brookhaven requires the COVID-19 vaccine, the hospitals with which paramedic students must complete their clinical rotations do require the COVID-19 vaccine.”
The memo claims that DFR is willing “to work with members who were unwilling or unable to be vaccinated.”
However, with no paramedic training programs without hospital rotations in the area, prospective firefighters that do not want to get vaccinated face a significant barrier to entry.
“[If] hospitals are requiring vax and you can’t get a paramedic license without the hospital rotations, effectively there is a vax requirement,” tweeted Mendelsohn on Wednesday. “So just tell the recruits that before they say yes to the job. Other cities have the same issue.”
During a March 7 City Council Public Safety Committee meeting, Mendelsohn asked Dallas Fire Chief Dominique Artis, “Are you requiring COVID vaccines for your recruits?”
He replied, “No, we do not.”
Responding to follow-up questions by Mendelsohn, Aris said vaccinations were not required for recruits to go through paramedic training and were not required by Brookhaven school.
Fortune’s memo was sent out two weeks later to clarify Artis’ comments.
“I’d heard there was an issue about requiring the vaccine for continued employment after not requiring it for hiring,” Mendelsohn tweeted on Wednesday. “I’m glad they followed up with a memo but why not explain the situation when asked? And why not just tell recruits it is required?”
